Werribee Zoo/Ocean Road/Surfworld Museum

Sunday, April 21, 2013

We checked out of our hotel and went to the Makers' Market near the Arts Center. It wasn't very big which surprised us, so we headed down the road.

This is one of the open buses.

The gazelle wanting some attention.

We liked how the giraffes had to spread their front legs to eat.

We liked the signs at the zoo.

Dagan just had to play.

We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo. I thought the kids would enjoy seeing the animals roaming freely. We went to the open bus right away. We gave the kids the window seats. We saw camels, American buffaloes, giraffes, rhinos, ostriches, water bucks, hippos, and some other unique gazelle. A couple of funny things we saw/learned on the bus tour. One, the male camel builds up saliva in his mouth, flings it all over, and shows his lips to attract the ladies. Two, the male gazelle rubs his legs against the female trying to get her attention.  He only had one horn which didn't make a difference to her. Third, for a different group of gazelles if the male loses his horns, he loses all the girls, too. Finally, a giraffe can pick his nose and clean his eyeball with his tongue.  After our ride, we walked around the rest of the zoo. We saw African wild dogs, cheetahs, lions, monkeys, gorillas and some more animals in the wetlands.  It was fun to be in a different type of zoo.  It reminded me of the wild animal park I went to in San Diego.

Adam and I always wonder what they are discussing.

Sydney coming through a ropes course.

The lions reminded us of how Topaz sometimes sleeps.

Dagan is slowly catching Sydney.

We motored along the Great Ocean Road. At first, we were not near the ocean, but wound our way that direction. Dagan saw a sign for the Surfworld Museum, so we decided to stop. I think every shop in the area was selling surf gear. The museum was interesting. The part we liked the best was the movie that showed two Australians surfing in all 50 American states. In the states without large bodies of water, they surfed on land, in corn fields, on potatoes, in rivers, behind boats, etc.  It made us laugh. This is where Bells Beach is located. This is a famous beach where surf competitions are held in Australia.

We continued on the Ocean Road.  Now, it was curving right next to the ocean with a national park on the other side. It was pretty, but not spectacular yet.  We have seen lots of beautiful coastline since we have been here. The best part of the drive is that the road was very close to the coastline.

 We had a quiet evening. We will be off again tomorrow.