Perth offers many current and and exciting events, but sometimes it’s nice when an old and familiar place is brought new life. The Perth Zoo is ancient by Australian standards. It opened its gates on the 17th of October 1898 and has become a sort of landmark for the Perth area. Located in South Perth, the Zoo is easy to access from almost anywhere in the metro area and a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon.
From the 12th of March until the (now extended date of) 17th of July, the Perth Zoo has been transformed into “Zoorassic Park”! It turns out that nineteen life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs have set up camp around the 41 acre (17 hectare) park. With a childhood dream of becoming a palaeontologist, Ryan had to go play with the dinosaurs, and I was more than happy to accompany him.
The dinosaurs are situated around the left side of the park; from the entry way through the Main Lawn, the Walkabout Lawn, and the Australian Bushwalk. Since we had both been to the zoo before, the focus was on finding each of the dinosaurs and even getting a photo with our favourites.
Ryan had to get a photo with the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex and its entourage.
I have always had an affinity for the “long-neck” dinosaur variety (thank you Land Before Time), so I chose to have my photo with the Apatosaurus, which I renamed the “little long-neck”.
The day at the zoo was lovely and I’m so glad we got out of the house for a walk around the delightful property. Since the park was initially established with an extensive botanical collection, there is no shortage of beautiful, lush foliage. We even found several hidden nooks of the park that provided an excellent background for impromptu portrait shots.
It’s funny how well establishes places can become part of the background and are easily overlooked when planning a weekend outing, but I promise the zoo is not to be missed. If you can see past the hoards of screaming children and seek out the song of the birds, or maybe even the call of the lions, and whisper of the century old vegetation, the Perth Zoo is the perfect sanctuary amongst the urban sprawl. It’s no wonder that the nineteen dinosaurs decided to rest their bones at this zoo for a few months.
