Wednesday – March 4, 2026 – Sydney
The featured photo today is a selfie of us at the entrance to the Taronga Zoological Park. This is a zoo with an excellent display of Australian species as well as traditional zoo animals.
Around midnight on Tuesday, MSC Magnifica disembarked from the International Cruise Terminal and moved to Athol Harbor near Mosman – where we anchored both days last year. This time our cabin was on the opposite side of the ship, so we didn’t have a clear view of the skyline, bridge and Opera House. We were anchored very near where we planned to visit today – the Taronga Zoological Park.
To take today’s excursion we needed to tender from the ship to the area named The Rocks. The tender we boarded was what I would call a luxury tender – nothing like what we usually ride. There are a couple photos showing that ride – very comfortable.
We boarded our bus and drove across the Harbor Bridge to the suburb named Mosman where the Taronga Zoo is located. There is a screen capture that shows that location in today’s gallery. We were to have around 3 hours to explore the zoo – beginning with a private tour of the Australian section. As we waited for our guides to arrive it began to sprinkle. We were worried we might be in for a wet morning but that didn’t materialize – to our delight.
The animal we wanted to see today is one we didn’t see last year – the koala. This excursion did not disappoint! On the way to and past the koala area, we saw many other animals which you will discover as you view today’s photo gallery. A couple – the dingo and kookaburra – were not among those we saw last year so they were a pleasant surprise today. Lots of birds native to Australia and at the end of the day in the zoo, we even saw an animal native to South America – the capybara. It looks like a giant rat – I mean REALLY giant! We also saw one of Kelsey’s favorites – the Tasmanian devil. This one was a female that didn’t look especially fierce, It even stopped to pose for photos. Although we did see koalas, most of them were asleep. The guides said they spend up to 20 hours each day sleeping so it is not surprising we caught most of them napping. If you pay a fee, you can arrange a special viewing with the koalas – we didn’t know that was available and didn’t have time to do so – but it would have been fun (at least for us – don’t know how much the koalas like it). Visit to the gift shop, grab a couple shirts and a stuffed mom and baby koala and on the bus we jumped.
On the drive back to the ship our guide told us that the zoo had offered what they called “Road and Snore” overnight stay at the zoo. They did this as a promo when they opened the newly remodeled tiger area in November of 2022. Early in the morning, 4 lion cubs and their dad escaped from their enclosure after the cubs (who had been playing with the fencing) were able to cause a lacing cable to unravel and open a hole in the fence. All the overnight guests were rounded up and protected in a bathroom while the keepers rounded up the lions and returned them to their enclosure. No one was hurt – lions or people. This reminded Jan and I of our trip to Africa in 1985 when hyenas chewed up the wooden bar in the restaurant of the tent camp where we stayed in the Masai Mara.
We hadn’t had anything but fruit before leaving for this excursion so we decided we would pick up sandwiches and bring them back to the ship. We stopped at a Subway at Circular Quay for the sandwiches, then the before and after opera shop for chips. With our food in tow, we walked to the Man O’War Steps near the Opera House to board a tender to the ship. On the way back we passed the point where the wife of the first governor of Sydney used to wait each day hoping to see ships arriving from England (so she had someone with whom to talk). Back in our cabin we devoured the sandwiches and some of the chips. We had a great day in Sydney today and are looking forward to returning in 2028.
You’ll find the photo and video gallery here.
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