When I was at uni – a million years ago – I studied a subject call Science, Technology and the Modern Industrial State. It was actual a cross-over for me from the Arts Faculty into Science. It was more of a history subject than a science one, which meant I loved it, probably for the same reasons that most of the science students I knew (and for whom it was compulsory), hated it. Anyway, in the years that have passed, I have forgotten most of what was specifically taught in that course, but I do remember the lecturer saying that you can tell that a city is prosperous by the number of cranes on the skyline. I can’t see a crane without thinking about this. I used to think about it when the Sunshine Coast University Hospital was under construction and I think one day I counted seven cranes on that project alone. I can’t drive into Brisbane without counting cranes (and in the lead-up to the Olympics, I expect this will drive me mental!)
Where I did not expect to see cranes was Dubbo. Yet as we drove in to the town centre, there was not one, but two of them, and one of them was attached to the first “high-rise” we had seen in a country town since we left Toowoomba (and there weren’t that many there). Not only that, but one of them was attached to a ten-storey residential building! This, combined with the very small number of empty shops on the main street makes me think that Dubbo is doing OK. It also has a huge social club called Club Dubbo, where I think they missed a great opportunity to call “Clubbo”, but I that may be why I am not iin charge of naming things
Of course, Dubbo is a pretty major regional centre, and the number of caravan parks and motor inns (on incongruously called the Abel Tasman Motor Inn, complete with artwork of his olde shippe, like he was a noted citizen of the western plains!) are proof of its appeal to tourists – us included – and the number one draw card is undoubtedly Taronga Westen Plains Zoo. Although we technically had two days in Dubbo, we (which really means me), had to do some washing and even though we had only been on the road five days, all of that seemed to be spent eating, so we needed a day to…digest. So, we decided to concentrate on the zoo, and save other attractions like the gaol, and the caves for another visit.
Now I’m not going to lie, I have always envisaged Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo to be a vast sprawling affair taking up most of the western plains. In my mind’s eye, I saw lions roaming these vast plains, hunting zebra and bongos and various exotic antelope species and being trampled by the odd elephant. Maybe somewhere there would be a Jurassic-style electric fence to keep them all in, but it would be so far in the distance that neither you, nor the animals were ware of it, and the tourists would be guided around in open-sided Jeeps, taking their lives into their own hands, lest a lioness leap from her camouflage in the grass. I thought it would be the closest thing that animals got to being in Africa, except in Dubbo.
So I have to say I was a little bit disappointed to find that it was about one kilometre away from the caravan park we were staying in, and that from the inside of the zoo, in parts, you can look across the enclosures to see the busy Newell Highway, and a brand new sparkling retirement village (another new build – even without cranes!)
Having said that, it is a lovely zoo and very user friendly. It is all organised around a roughly six-kilometre track which you can walk around, or drive in your own car and park near the various exhibits. Another option is to hire an electric cart – something a bit more “industrial” (read – no electric steering) than your average golf buggy. We opted for this, because there is something to be said about the open sides of the buggy. You feel closer to the action. Mind you, the animals still totally ignore you unless they think they are about to be fed, many go so far as to stand in the farthest corner of their enclosure with their backsides facing you, and some just stay in their dens because they are nocturnal and aren’t getting out of bed for anyone! (Hint: the giraffes get carrots at 10:00 am, so there are plenty milling around the fence from about 9:30!) The path is one-way, but you can go around it as many times as you need and I think this is very sensible, especially on weekends and public holidays when the zoo is very busy. We went on a non-holiday Friday, and it was very civilised. We also noticed that it was much busier in the morning and had thinned out considerably in the afternoon.
We also opted to do the Lion Encounter. It was probably a bit less than an ‘encounter’ than an experience, but it was only $29 per person and that seemed pretty reasonable. You get to go on an ENCLOSED bus (seriously, but disappointingly reducing the chance that a random child will be snatched by one) and are taken into the lion enclosure just as they are released from their night pen. There are also bits of animals scattered around the enclosure which they go hunting for, and it means that they come right up close to the bus so you can get a good look – at least for the couple of minutes it takes them to find and devour their snacks before they retreat to a distant rock, or worse, their day den.
Anyway, we had a lovely day, but if I am to be honest, zoos are great for kids who have never been to one before and for whom everything is new. Personally, I continue to go to zoos because I appreciate the vital work they do in preserving species that we humans have done our best to wipe out, and I know my entrance fee helps out with that. But for the most part, a zoo is a zoo is a zoo.
Hang on? Did we miss the aquatic bird enclosure? I don’t recall seeing any cranes.
The Tent, The Trailer, The Caravan 