Zoos and aquariums are always my go-to attractions when I’m travelling. I love animals, and I always wanted to be a vet nurse growing up. And since I went to the Sea Life Aquarium last time I visited Melbourne, I had to see the animals at Melbourne Zoo.
First opinions as we walked into the zoo were really good. It felt really comfortable and I just got an overwhelming feeling of childhood joy. We started with the Australian animals that you see at every zoo or wildlife park here, but they were still so cute and not-so-cuddly. We moved on to the butterfly house, another staple of any Australian zoo. We spent quite a while here just watching hundreds of butterflies flutter by, taking photos of the diverse colours and patterns, and waiting for one to land on our shoulders. Well, apparently not on my shoulder, but my friend’s hands and bag. In fact, four butterflies landed on her, and sadly, not one even touched me. Nevertheless, I still felt this childish wonder in the butterfly house. The same I would have when I visited places like this as a kid. The whole zoo itself was very healing for my inner child, I didn’t want to leave. Not that we could for a while actually, because those same butterflies that landed on my friend, didn’t feel like lifting off. We didn’t want to hurt them so we kind of just stayed there for a bit in awe of everything floating by. It wasn’t for quite a while until the butterflies finally decided to flutter by, off of my friend and onto the next unsuspecting visitor.
We finally moved on to the other sections of the zoo. Looking at the larger and more exotic animals like the elephants, giraffes and hippos was so wild. Being able to see all these precious animals from all around the world was so special to me as an animal lover, as well as a travel lover. I also enjoyed being able to explore the zoo at our own pace. There wasn’t a set path you had to follow, more of a bunch of smaller paths to walk along. You could choose which animals you wanted to see in what order, and which ones you wanted to spend more time viewing. The elephants were one of those animals. They look so gentle for their size and power. There was even a baby elephant we saw there with so much infant energy. Towards the afternoon most of the animals were worn out and very tired, but not this little bundle of joy.
The lemurs were also adorable! Not as large as the elephants of course, but just as special. I don’t really see lemurs all that often at Australian zoos. This enclosure was actually really interesting because you can walk through it just like the butterfly house. I found it really funny though that they had signs on the doors saying to hide your food because the lemurs are known to steal it. Now, these animals weren’t as energetic as the baby elephant, in fact, most of them were sleeping. But there was this one lemur that was just sitting right next to the path staring at us. One of the keepers was sitting with the animals and talking with us, telling us about the curious lemur that was one of their oldest at the zoo. As we continued chatting, he just kept staring. I guess we were interesting or something.
The last section we looked at was the aquarium. It wasn’t as large or diverse as I’ve seen at other zoos but I was definitely excited about the seal and fairy penguins. The seal looked so graceful under the water, I just stood there for so long watching it swimming around all over the enclosure. One thing I would love to see more of at zoos are the names and background information of all these animals, to see the more personal life of every unique creature we see. We sometimes hear this at shows or when there’s a zookeeper there, but if we’re going at our own pace we’re not going to hear it every time. I want to build a connection with the creatures in front of me. I want to know how I’m seeing them and their story before today. I want to know them.
Once I was able to finally step away from this beautiful seal, we moved on to the tanks of seahorses and starfish. Their enclosures were so colourful and vivid. Despite this, it was really calming to see. It was like everything went quiet. Well, to be fair there weren’t that many people in this part of the zoo so it was pretty quiet already, apart from a couple of kids and their parents. I’m not sure if this was because of the time of day, or the aquarium is just usually quiet at the zoo, but it was a nice change from the busy day we’d had. Despite what I just said, the next animals were not calming and quiet at all. We walked up the ramp back to the outside for the little penguins. They must have just been fed because they were all splashing around in the same area of water making a busy scene. They were really cute though, I have to admit. Not the most graceful when they’re eating but definitely adorable.
The last stop at the zoo was the gift shop, duh. If you know me, you know I can’t leave anywhere without getting some sort of souvenir, and I think this one was extra special for me. I spotted a little stuffed seal toy, not the most grown-up thing to buy, I know. But you see, I used to have one very similar to this as a child named Stella. I’d take her everywhere with me, kind of like an emotional support seal. I don’t remember a lot of my childhood, but this memory seemed to flow back to me when I saw the stuffed seal at the souvenir shop and I couldn’t pass it up. I had a lot of anxiety on this trip, being one that made me step out of my comfort zone. This just made me feel more calm, just like Stella did when I was young.
Zoos aren’t really what you think of when you’re planning a trip to Melbourne. Usually, you look at the Queen Victoria Markets, or the Skydeck, or even Crown Casino. But it was nice to have a chill and fun time looking at different animals here. It was a nice change from the busy atmosphere Melbourne brings.
All photos in this post are taken by me.
The Travel Journal 
Leave a comment