Shortly after we left the Werribee Mansion, we were on our way to the Werribee Open Range Zoo!
The zoo was really big, and as its name suggests, animals were allowed to roam around freely in wide spaces, while we cruised through these spaces on a special bus, driven by a tour guide. The ride took about 45 minutes, and was one of the main highlights of the place.
Anyway when we first stepped in, we were greeted with a Safari-themed entrance. Even the signs that guided us around the park were pretty interesting!
I got myself a copper coin with the Werribee Open Range Zoo wordings engraved on it, as a souvenir.
And we had lunch at the Meerkat Cafe - named because there was a meerkat enclosure right next to it. I think I saw 3 or 4 meerkats in the enclosure. They were pretty cute! One of them was willing to pose for us.
And here's the handsome meerkat who was willing to pose for us. He was one of the only ones who stayed to entertain the visitors, while the others went into hiding.
A bus which served as a landmark for us, amongst the trees. The arrow basically showed us the direction in which we had to head - in order to catch the safari ride.
There were also some baby animal models - not too far away from the shops. Speaking of which, I bought an adorable lion plush toy as a souvenir, and of course, we got gifts for others!
On the way towards the safari bus ride. We missed the first one - so we decided to take the next one. We made it just in time, before the bus actually set off.
During the safari ride, we toured the open area and the animals were allowed to come close to the vehicle. They seemed rather tame, but of course we had to stay in the vehicle at all times and not stick any limbs out! Photography was definitely allowed :D
One of the first pairs of animals spotted - antelopes. This species of antelope had long horns made of keratin. Both males and females had horns, but in this case, the male lost one horn as he had a fight with another male. The guide actually passed around his lost horn for us to look at!
Anyway this pair was pretty intimate as well - the male kept attempting to mate with his partner! And it was caught on camera :P
A few camels were also roaming this area. These camels had only one hump instead of two. They were rather sluggish and preferred to eat rather than walk around.
Passed through some gates and encountered a group of zebras grazing.
And more antelopes - but these were bigger ones. These 2 were females.
The zebras and antelopes preferred to keep to themselves, but the giraffes were more friendly. I even heard that one giraffe gave the windscreen of the bus a big, slobbery lick before moving on. This time, they didn't do so.
All the giraffes were male, and there were 7 of them. The oldest one was nearly 15 and the youngest was probably about 1 and a half to 2 years old. They were very friendly and even surrounded the vehicle for a closer look, before going on to the grass for their feast.
The giraffes decided to leave us alone as they were more preoccupied with food, so we drove off and encountered some rhinos. These guys were colossal, and seemed to be on good terms with more zebras, as well as yet another species of antelope. These antelope weren't as fast, but made it up for their large sizes.
There were also some ostrich eggs as there were ostriches roaming around. These eggs were supposedly abandoned, but from the vehicle, they were very clearly seen.
We also spotted a massive hippo coming out from the water. Hippos usually cool off in the water, but it was winter - so I guess there wasn't much of a need to remain in the water for long periods of time.
We then took a drive away from Werribee - towards the towns of Ballan and Gordon. The change in landscape was pretty drastic.
The first part of the journey was basically nothing but flat land.
But as we climbed a number of hills and winding roads, there were more trees.
And then the trees seemed to decrease as we moved down the hills.
We also spotted a house on stilts in one of the empty spaces, near the CFA training centre in Fiskville. We drove past a number of landmarks, and the Fiskville training centre was just one of them.
And then we drove back to Melbourne - through Bacchus Marsh and Melton. This stretch was long, but eventually we got back to Melbourne.
And that's it for Day 3! I spent Day 4 just relaxing and doing nothing much, but on Day 5, I went back to the city to visit. Day 3 was probably the most hectic as we spent lots of time outside the city. As for the last few days, I spent more time relaxing and even went for a Seraphim Trio concert (which was absolutely amazing!) over the weekend.
Do stay tuned for more updates!