Donhill and Warrandyte Probus Trip to Werribee Open Zoo.
Early on Thursday 9th October a group of 48 of us descended on the car park at Rieschiecks Reserve, Doncaster and, amidst much chatter and excitement, boarded the coach. I think some music was playing in the background but I'm not sure because we were all too busy chatting!
We arrived at the zoo in good time and were literally blown of our feet when we exited the bus- a huge gust of wind welcomed us.
We were, however, blessed with a sunny day in spite of the wind and some of the animals weren't daft- they hid away and sheltered. There was plenty to see, however, especially on our safari tour on an open sided safari bus where we could watch giraffes, zebras, many different species of antelopes, camels, ostriches and hippos. A group of small antelopes obligingly strolled right across out path with a big male herding them along. He was the only male and he looked very proud of his harem!
The Safari Park is much larger than I remember (okay it was 40 odd years back) and driving through it with various creatures clinging to the windscreen and scary lions is now a thing of the past but we were comfortable and probably saw a lot more than in days of yore!
After our Safari Tour most of us went and had lunch and coffee in the meerkat cafe, being entertained by the little creatures whilst we munched and chatted. Interesting that the little cute things rolled over and over together in play fights much like some human kids do. They seemed to almost like us watching them and put on a good show.
After lunch we went to see the huge gorilla, he was BIG. Also along that path was a cheetah far in the distance and if you wanted to, you could also look at the little wallabies but as we see them fairly often anyway we decided to walk back and hunt down the elephants. By afternoon several had emerged because the wind had dropped slightly and we were lucky to see the babies- very big babies . They all seemed to be in superb condition as were all the animals we viewed. Many of the zoo personnel are actually volunteers and all proceeds go towards looking after and preserving the animals.
Joyce Begelhole did a wonderful job in organising the tour and it was lovely to meet with members of Warrandyte Probus Club. Everyone was very punctual and very chatty and our bus driver did a superb job negotiating the freeway and the city and helping those who needed it on and off the bus. I have a feeling this might be the first of many coach trips!
Jane Johnson
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