The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is wonderful. You are never looking at the animals through fences as the paths are built up higher so you get to look out over the enclosures.  The zoo is about a 5km road with paths crisscrossing their way around the enclosures.  We drove as we felt it would be easier with Teddy however we think (as did most other people) bikes are definitely the way to go. 

You can ride your way round the park with wide paths and slow traffic on the roads, it is fairly safe for younger ones (if they are up to the task).  The zoo hires out bikes ( and all the paraphernalia including baby seats or tag along carts) and golf carts if you don’t want to use your own car.  If your kids can manage it – we think bikes are the best way to go.

Make sure you plan your day in advance, the Taronga Western Plains Zoo website has all the information about talks for the day.  You really get to learn more about the animals when you listen to the talks, you also find they are much more active when the keepers are feeding them too especially the elephant.

One thing that you really should splash out and treat the kids to is feeding the giraffes.  We love to do at least one thing that will put our kids outside their comfort zones when we are on the road, and feeding giraffes carrots was it this time!  One at a time the girls lined up, Jas was no worries and loved it, Jemma was a little scared and kept dropping the carrot as soon as the giraffe touched it with its tongue, but nothing compared to Teddy.  Ted and I fed the giraffe together, we both held the carrot and out came the big blue tongue directly at Teddy – slight flinch but he held the carrot until the giraffe took it.  I was so very impressed, no tears and not really scared, just refused to feed any more after that – could have been because we got surrounded by big blue tongues! It was such a wonderful experience to get up close to these beautiful animals, and the keepers were so knowledgable.

While we were waiting in line to feed the giraffes, Jemma had a question so up to the keeper she went (with me for moral support)
“How long is their hair?”
“What a great question, no one has ever asked me that before! Their hair is sort of like a horses hair but their mane is much shorter.”  She told Jem about the “Hairdressing” giraffe that used to eat all the other giraffe’s manes which kept them very short.  Jemmy loved hearing about that.

About half way along the route, there was a milk bar with sandwiches, I must say for an attraction I was pleasantly surprised by the prices.  We stopped for lunch and the kids enjoyed running around on the grassy picnic area right beside the zebras.  Another tip – take along some sausages for lunch, there are great BBQ areas dotted all around the parks.  Even though it was school holidays, we found it quite pleasant to get around and not too busy.  The children could take as much time as they wanted and because we had the car Teddy could catch a quick nap.

So, the Zoo verdict from the kids… They’ll be writing their own stories soon but I think the girl’s fav animals were the giraffes and Teddy loved the otters.  A fantastic day out that wore them out completely, BUT never fear, if you don’t fit it all in the one day, your ticket allows you two days entry to the zoo – what a brilliant idea that is!

Our second day in Dubbo we decided to check out the Macquarie River and let the girls test out their new scooters, and Teddy his Scuttlebug (you’ll see more on this one soon, SUCH a great idea for little ones when travelling).  The… walk is a wonderful way to see the river, a path that the girls could easily ride around and we could stop and have a paddle in the water.  Again, lots of picnic areas and BBQ’s dotted along the route.  We did about 3kms return trip although the full length is about 6kms.  We had perfect weather and the river was just beautiful. A fantastic family outing that is for sure.

So, Pack up and off to Inverell