March 25, 2018 A free day in Sydney

Sunday Mar. 25

Today is a free day before we leave for Melbourne  tomorrow. We planned to go to the zoo via ferry and the concierge said it was very easy since we are so close to the Quay and ferry terminals.

After breakfast we walked down to the Quay to find the zoo ferry. We were able to buy a combination ticket which include round trip ferry ride and entrance to the zoo.

The ferry ran every 30 mins. It took us about 25 minute to reach the pier for the zoo and a 10 min walk and bus ride to the zoo entrance.

As you can see from the photo the zoo  admission was pricey. Afterwards we thought the price should have been reduced since the zoo was undergoing a renovation and a lot of the exhibits and animals were closed.

Since the zoo is located on the side of a hill we had to take a sky gondola to the top where the actual entrance is.

https://taronga.org.au/sydney-zoo

We walked around the top area of the zoo which featured native Australian animals. There were either one of ea. species or several of ea. species.

We then walked down to the tiger experience which was very  interesting. We walked into a set designed like the cabin of a plane and it was flying us to Indonesia to a tiger reserve.
Once we "landed" we walked through a village to the tiger enclosure.

After we visited the tigers we headed to the elephant exhibit. There were 3 adult elephants and a baby elephant. The keepers came out with a hose and were washing down the elephants to their delight. 

After we left the elephants we headed to the giraffes. This location was great as we could see across the bay downtown Sydney and the Harbor Bridge. 

We proceeded further down the hill going through the aviary and then to the penguin and seal exhibits. 
Only the fairy penguins were out and they were so cute darting around underwater.

By now it was 1:30 and decided to head back to the Quay.

We liked the Four Frogs cafe so we stopped there for crepes and coffee and then back to the hotel.

Watching the Greek 4pm news we saw that because it was Greek Independence Day there was a big celebration at the Opera House. The mayor of Melbourne who is Greek was there as well as Evzones (Greek Soldiers) from Greece participating in the event.

We had searched for a Greek district but found out all the Greeks have moved to a suburb 30 mins away. There are few Greek restaurants in the central bus. district and they are either very expensive or a Greek fusion menu.

I found a Greek Taverna in the outer part of the city and made reservations for dinner at 8pm. The live music would start at 9pm.
We took an Uber to the taverna which was in an alley off the main street.

We had a delicious dinner - I had the roast lamb and potatoes and Sophia had the pork strips. 

 After dinner we stayed to hear the music for awhile and then Ubered back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Melbourne.