I can’t quite spare the time or the money to whisk myself and my three teenage boys off to Africa for a safari right now, nor for a trek deep into a jungle, or a cruise down the Amazon River.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
So, if we want to see a large concentration of exotic animals quickly, easily and affordably, we hit up a zoo.
We love our Victorian zoos.
From Healesville to Mansfield, Werribee to Melbourne, Halls Gap to just out the road 30 minutes from Shepparton to Kyabram, we’ve wandered the grounds of each locale’s zoo several times over the years.
Among those are some of the best I’ve seen in my travels around the world.
But, we were due to check out another interstate variant.
Along with my parents in their car with a couple of my nieces, and us in our car, we took a seven-hour drive to Dubbo, set up camp for the night and headed to Taronga Western Plains Zoo the next morning, thinking this 300 ha open-range space would be much like Werribee Open Range Zoo.
While it definitely had its similarities, there were many points of difference.
For starters, you can drive your own car around the 5.5km circuit on the grounds if you so desire.
Or, there are golf carts and bicycles to hire for the journey, of which we hired one of each.
The carts made more sense than a car.
Being low to the ground, easy to slide in and out of, open-sided and speed-limited to little more than walking pace, they allowed us the same experience as walking, just a touch quicker and were void of voices complaining of sore feet.
The bike, which we took turns riding alongside the cart, offered a slightly different experience again.
You could take it right up to fences and onto other paths that carts were restricted from travelling on.
This zoo allows such great visibility of its creatures, with many moat-like trenches dug around enclosures to house fences below spectators’ line of sight.
The animals were unfazed by ogling audiences and moved freely before us gawkers, allowing plenty of opportunity to capture incredible and often up-close images of them.
Like most tourist attractions, there are many opportunities to part with more of your hard-earned once you’re inside the gate.
At Dubbo’s zoo, there were animal encounters, safari bus rides, guided early morning walks, keeper talks, pedal boat hire (seasonal), wildlife hospital tours and even a ‘Pride Lands Patrol’ experience, which involves going inside the zoo’s three-hectare lion habitat, housing nine lions, aboard a purpose-built patrol truck.
We weren’t quick enough, early enough or organised enough to get on the safari bus, but without any add-ons, the zoo itself was an incredible experience.
Because of its size, the zoo can accommodate 500 animals in large, naturalistic enclosures.
My favourites are always the giraffes and Taronga Western Plains had more than I could count.
Many of the zoo’s species came in impressive volumes, such as the multiple rhinos, elephants and hippos, which, by the way, we witnessed flipping onto their backs in the water in an unexpected spectacle of weighty agility.
The Siamangs captured our attention enough to make us stand still in observance for quite some time as they tight-rope walked and swiftly swung around their massive outdoor jungle gym, play fighting and performing, separated from us by a small body of water.
Unusually, I hadn’t done much homework before visiting, so I wasn’t sure about which animals we’d see.
Perhaps the biggest – and most welcome – surprise for me was stumbling upon the zoo’s otter enclosure.
Little tool-wielding otters, guys!
You know, those immaculately-groomed, familial-social creatures who hold paws when they float?
Absolutely adorable.
All zoos seem to have something exclusive — or at least semi-exclusive — to their wider territory, and while I’m probably forgetting other unique animals, experiences and inclusions, otters might have been Dubbo’s.
Otters might just be Dubbo Taronga Western Plains Zoo’s answer to Sydney’s Taronga Zoo’s capybaras.
Dubbo might be a little too far for Sheppartonians to visit on a regular weekend, but if your family can cope with a bit of endurance driving, it wouldn’t be a stretch to head there for a long weekend.
With a few other interesting things in the vicinity however, you might want to stay a while longer.
The zoo was one of the more expensive ones we’ve visited, but as cliched as it sounds, it was worth the money.
You don’t have to safari in Africa, trek in the jungle or cruise on the Amazon to get a glimpse of the animals that inhabit those territories; you can see them right here in Australia.