“Roo Valley”

A beautiful hot sunny day today, so we had decided it was time for another trip to the zoo. We got down there quite early, at 9.30. We particularly wanted to see their new exhibit, just opened in the last couple of weeks, Roo Valley, which is home to male red and grey Kangaroos and in the other side little blue penguins. The Little Blue penguin is the smallest species of penguin. It is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, they are often called fairy penguins because of their small size. In New Zealand, they are more commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage. The kangaroo space is a walk through space, where you are sharing the space with the kangaroos. Most of them were staying close to their shelter area, but a couple of them were more adventurous. The staff ask you to keep about 3 feet away from them, but at one point, I was having a job keeping my distance, since when I moved away, the kangaroo followed - he obviously hadn’t heard the lesson on social distancing! It was such fun seeing them hop around and seeing them up close - they really are such strange animals! The new penguin area was also great, giving you the opportunity to see them above water and underwater. However they move so fast in the water, I didn’t succeed in getting an underwater shot of them, but I did succeed at the new home for the African penguins. ( see extra) This space is three times larger than their former habitat and includes a much larger indoor bedroom area to encourage breeding and expand nesting sites. We had a great day, I took lots of picture, and we returned home for about 4 pm so we had time for a cup of tea and a bit of a rest before going out to handbell practice.. then it was a late dinner when we got home.
My heart is breaking for all the fires on the west coast - all those who’ve had to evacuate, those who’ve lost their homes and belongings, all those affected by the smoke-laden air - and all this on top of COVID-19. What a year!