Healsville Sanctuary

We decided we wanted to take Aurora to the zoo on her birthday. Glen got the day off work, it was meant to be a gorgeous day (sort of our first really hot day this spring), but what we didn't take in to account was that it was school holidays. Before kids, Glen and I basically avoided going places during school holidays because with the state's kids out of school for two weeks most places are packed. We got a bit of a slow start to the day because we skyped with my mum in the morning so by the time we got out to the zoo (lunch time) the parking lots and surrounding areas were PACKED. We drove around for a good 20 minutes looking for a spot. Glen -thankfully- suggested taking a drive out to Healsville Sanctuary instead. Aurora was asleep in the car so we figured we'd try our luck out there. It was busier than usual but there was plenty of parking spots and by the time we got out there people that had arrived first thing in the morning were starting to leave.

Glen and Aurora near the dingo enclosure.

We've been to Healsville about 5 times since 2007 (we went when we first visited and have gone about 4 times since moving) and it's somewhere I LOVE to visit (we took mum there last year). Healsville is set up like no other zoo I've been to, basically they have huge open enclosures that you can enter and get up close to the animals (if they're in the mood). These sort of open enclosures are very popular down here. If you're there at the right times you can even take part in a "meet the keeper" session and feed the animals and listen to a talk about them (we've managed to see most of them now).
I love going and feeding the kangaroos and giving them a pat, they're so soft! This time because we were a bit late we didn't do any meet the keeper sessions (we also figured Aurora wouldn't be too into some of them). So we took our time and wandered around (normally we rush between things to make keeper sessions). They've done a lot of work since we were there last year and have even built a huge new parrot enclosure.

Aurora loved the sculptures around the sanctuary.

One of the best things about Healsville is that it's all native Australian animals. It really gives you an appreciation for the unique wildlife down here. They also do great conservation work which is important for making sure certain species don't go extinct.

One of my all time favourite pictures, taken in 2007.