Today we went to the Werribee Open Range Zoo with Kayla’s some of Kayla’s family members during the school holidays. As I’m a Zoo member, I swapped my work days so that I could attend too and try and get some value out of my membership (you really need to use it 3+ times per year for it to be worthwhile and I’ve only been once before now).
Tribal Eats Kiosk
Whilst we waited for everyone to arrive, I had some fried chicken and chips from the Tribal Beats Kiosk. It cost $10 and the second piece of chicken was kinda cold on the inside so I threw it out. Charlie had a lot of fun picking up rocks from the footpath and putting it back in the garden.
Werribee Zoo Bus Tour Photos
We had a very positive experience on the Werribee Open Range Zoo Bus Tour. As it was a nice sunny day, all the animals were very happy to come up nice and close to the bus and we had a great view of pretty much everything.
Female Ostrich
One fact I learned on the bus tour was that the brown ostriches are females and the black ones are males. Here is a female that was trying to eat bugs off the front of the bus, then the mirror then came in for some fingers from the passengers. Some of the feeders had to come and distract it so we could safely get past it without hurting it.
Male Ostrich
Here’s a male ostrich, this is how they normally look in cartoons.
Indian Blackbuck
These are all female blackbucks except for the male one on the far right with the horns.
Eland
I’m pretty sure this is an Eland.
Eland Again?
I think this is also an Eland eating some grass near a big pile of poop.
Baby Zebra
The baby zebras were a highlight for everyone. They were very cute and came up nice and close to the bus.
“A Zebra Crossing”
Another animal we had to stop for was a zebra. The driver was very excited to make a joke about this being a real-life “zebra crossing” and I felt like I was on the Disney Jungle Cruise with the bad pun.
Giraffe
This giraffe is 6 metres tall. He’s a big boy.
Another Giraffe
Seeing the majestic giraffes walk by the bus felt a lot like the scene in Jurassic Park where they first see the brachiosaurus.
A Crash of Rhinoceros
I really like this photo of the rhinos.
Nan Tan + Charlie
Charlie spent a lot of time on Tanya’s lap as he is just under 3 and required to sit on a lap.
Happy Alex
Alex sat with Kayla behind me. He wasn’t very interested in the ride.
The Cousins
Hayley and Zac sat up the front of our bus with Charlie and Nan Tan.
Pula Reserve Map
Here is a cute map of the Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Hippo Beach Water Playground Photos
The Hippo Beach water play area was packed with kids so it was hard to get photos without random children in it, so some of the better features are not shown, such as the hippo that was shoots water out of its butt.
Here is a shot of Charlie having a lot of fun getting wet.
A very wet boy… who didn’t have a change of clothes…
Hayley and Charlie had a lot of fun. We had to borrow some spare dry clothes from the cousins to dress Charlie after this.
Hippos
Being a hot day, the real hippos were chilling in the water in their enclosure nearby.
Werribee Zoo Meerkat Cafe
The Meerkat Cafe is definitely the best place to eat the Werribee Open Range Zoo. One side of the restaurant has a great view of the actual meerkat enclosure. The service can be very slow and its way faster to order your food via the QR code than to line up 20 minutes to order food that takes another 20 minutes to arrive. If you order online you instead get a text message instead of using a buzzer. It will save you about 20 minutes or more at peak times.
Werribee Zoo Clothes
Here’s Alex with Aunty Em, she had to buy some new Werribee Zoo shirts and shorts as she got very wet at the Hippo playground. We will have to remember to bring spare clothes for both kids… and adults who want to get wet next time.
Greek Salad
The salad was $16 and was a cheaper option compared to burgers and whatnot. It was nice but not very filling. It looked a bit undersized.
Meerkats
It is very hard to get a photo of Charlie and the meerkats at the same time. You can see one on a rock in the centre of the frame.
Also the Meerkats
The meerkat is now out of focus.
Time to Go Home
After spending about an hour at the Meerkat cafe it became clear that the kids were ready to go home so we left early and everyone else stayed a bit longer and saw the lions and some other things. I later went to the post office and some op shops.
Werribee Open Range Zoo Membership Upgrade
If you go to the Werribee Zoo and think you might return within 12 months or go to the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary
