Australia Zoo

On Friday, I got up early, visited the Milk and Beans café, and took a short walk on the beach. There was still time to get ready for and drive to choir practice. We are learning a song called “The World Today” by John O’Donnell. I spent the rest of the time before services practicing the hymns I’d play that day. The messages were inspiring and special music featured a solo from a local member.

After services, I went directly to the signup table, changed into casual clothes and met with a group of young adults to drive over to the Australia Zoo.

The Australia Zoo was so large it was hard to see everything, so we prioritized those features that were unique to Australia. We saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats, quokkas, and all kinds of lizards, snakes and birds, to name a few. Particularly special was the crocodile show. The Irwin family presented one of their crocodiles at feeding time. In fact, this particular crocodile, Agro was in the TV series Crocodile Hunter with Steve Irwin!

We ate a late lunch at the zoo café, but had to quickly get moving again, as time was limited and there were a lot of animals yet to see. I had the opportunity to pet another koala and several kangaroos. It was hard for the large group to all stay together, as different people wanted to see different things, and the group I was with didn’t make it quite in time to the Africa section before the animals were moved for the night, but we did spy some zebras in the distance.

I returned later than expected from the zoo, and was invited to join some friends for dinner. Since it was relatively close to where I’m staying, I walked there and was glad for the extra exercise. We ate a nice dinner of steak and salad. We shared fascinating conversation, then I got a ride back to my place.