Next plan is to go to Taronga Zoo. However, this part is where I was bit in the ass HARD by not looking a little deeper into the plans.
I started to look for the next available ferry going to Taronga Zoo Wharf using Google Maps, and the first one I found was by the Captain Cook Cruises. But I found out that this was a ticketed ferry – so I had to line up to a counter and book the first ferry going for that wharf. But I just missed it by half a minute tops. So the kind lady booked me the next roundtrip one – at most thirty minutes after the one I just saw depart. So to spend time in this weird midday weather – blazing sun but chilly winds – I had gelato at Gelatissimo. And on time, I was on my third ferry of the day out.
To be fair, I did think of doing a bus from Manly to Taronga Zoo, and yeah it was possible. But for me that day, I thought that I should try to maximize the ferry thing. I do not know when I’ll ride this fantastic sea ride again, and maybe it’s going to be years, so for me, even if it’s redundant, hey, ferry’s fun. As many times as I could.
Soon we were in Taronga Zoo Wharf.
And this path needs a bus. The lady attending the bus stop told us that it *was* possible to skip the bus but only if we could walk lots. For me, nah, zoo’s going to be lots of walking already, so I had to conserve steps. And soon enough, the bus was there, and we were off to the zoo entrance around 10 minutes to 2pm.
Near the entrance, there was a gift shop. I skipped it because I thought that another gift shop will greet me near the exit. Bad idea.
The zoo itself was amazing. I did the full left area first as it had the kangaroos, wallabies and taz devils. I did the right side briskly, as it had the basic zoo animals – tigers, giraffes, lions – and then the top area. Lots of shots below:
I had a jolly fun time going around the zoo snapping away, selfies and shots galore. However… I kind of lost time. It was nearing 4pm, and the loudspeakers kind of alerted me that closing time was near – it was 4.30pm on winters. I kind of panicked briefly, but when I checked my maps, I found myself I was less than 30 minutes from the exit headed to the wharf. But what I did not know was that the gift shop near the exit has closed early already. I got there and it was closed. Sucks. But oh well, silver lining is that I might want to come back again.
By 4.30pm, I was back on the wharf. Thankfully I had booked the ferry already, so all I had to do was board, and I was back on Circular Quay by 5pm, and the sun was nearly down.
So, the last thing I want to do in Sydney was… buy books.
See, one thing I found during my research last May was that Sydney has a branch of Books Kinokuniya. I bookmarked it as “nice to do” in my itinerary list. But seeing as I still have two hours to kill after the zoo, I decided on the spot that Books Kinokuniya it’ll be for the last Sydney spot. It closes by 7pm, so I knew I had little time left too.
So I plotted my way from Circular Quay to Town Hall using the T3 line, which was the most convenient. Around 5.30pm, I was in front of Books Kinokuniya.
I made a beeline towards the Japanese translated light novels section, and it wasn’t hard to find. I bought the first three volumes of “The Apothecary Diaries”, and the first volume of “My Happy Marriage”. One thing that struck me in that store was the sheer amount of lesbian and gay works from Japanese authors that was available. In other bookstores I knew in Pasig and Singapore, I can only find scraps and pieces. Of course Singapore is more conservative. Pasig has a few volumes of gay manga, but just a smidge. Sydney has shelves and stacks of those works. Man, I’d love to buy some. But as I already committed to four books, the Apothecary books were thick AF, and I am on the edge of my Sydney budget, so I cannot buy anymore. Next time!
Once done, I had to go back to the hotel to shower and sleep. Before going back, I dropped by the Ezymart near my hotel one last time. I wasn’t that hungry for some reason, so I bought a small tub of hummus packed with crackers, a bottle of Gatorade and a slice of banana bread. Should be enough for a light dinner and a light breakfast tomorrow. It was 8pm, and I had loads of fun that day. I spent an hour just watching more Netflix.
Didn’t took long for me to get back to a sleepy state. Also, I found my fever temp problem wasn’t a problem during the day anymore. But the runny nose was occasional, so I still had to wear a mask and have two handkerchiefs.
Tomorrow… is a cross-city flight from Sydney to Melbourne, and one quick Melbourne thing to do. First time I had to cross a country using plane before – in Japan I was able to go from Tokyo to Kyoto using the Shinkansen. Should be a fun day, methinks.
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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