Koala Park Sanctuary (Sydney)

Honestly the name of this park is super misleading because it was more like a prison than a sanctuary for the animals.

"Colman you must be exaggerating," is what you must be thinking right now. But just take a look at these photos. I mean I'm sure I'll enjoy living in such a small cage if I was a bird. Ok I guess it makes sense to cage the birds to prevent them from flying away, and to cage carnivores so that they won't hurt anyone, but even the goats are fenced up in a super small area.

Before I continue let's play a game. Can you find the animal?

Don't worry if you can't because there isn't one!!

At first my parents kinda thought that the place was under renovation or something because of how dilapidated it was. Some of the cages were also empty and most importantly there were only two other tourists when we first entered. So I went to ask the cashier where all the animals were, specifically the wombat and she promised that it was there.

The park provides animal presentation- don't be to hyped about this because almost every other zoo in Australia does the same- but during the dingo presentation, the worker came to the dingo cage late and refused to bring the dingoes out of the cage even though it was part of the presentation. And I swear to god the dingoes did not like the worker; you can assume why. Also you can see how skinny this dingo is.

At first I thought that it wasn't too bad considering we could take a picture with the koalas but then we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park a week later and when you compare the difference between the photos...

left: Koala Park Sanctuary
right: Featherdale Wildlife Park

There was also the sheep sheering show which might be considered interesting to some people, but to me, I found it really cruel. It was really obvious that the sheep felt super ashamed after it's wool coat was sheered off.

Putting aside the poor living conditions of the animals, the park is really far away ($50 on Uber), the attractions in the park do not justify the price of the tickets ($27). It's in the middle of nowhere with only 1 (or 2) busses back to the city.

While writing this post, I searched for the park online and it's 99% negative comments. Honestly I have no idea where my dad found the other 1% which made him bring us there but that's not the point. Apparently the place is being sued for animal negligence, and unsurprisingly there's a campaign to close down this place and if you feel that the zoo should be closed down after looking at the photographs, please sign the petition to help.

Alternatives:
Featherdale Wildlife Park
Wildlife Sydney Zoo
Taronga Zoo

Sign the petition here!

Phillip Island Tours AAT Kings (Day Tour)

On the second day of the Australia trip, we joined a day tour from AAT Kings to Phillip Island. It's actually a really fun tour but I wouldn't recommend it.

Stop 1: Maru Koala & Animal Park

This is actually a pretty good attraction because you can feed the kangaroos for $2 which is really affordable. But if you're looking for photos with koalas you can get them for free at Featherdale Wildlife Park. You can also feed wallabies and kangaroos for $2 there as well.

Stop 2: Phillip Island

We were taken to a couple of attractions in Phillip Island. The first one is this park place where you can take lots of really nice photos.  If you live in melbourne like I did and want to go to a nice picturesque like this, head down to Botanic Gardens.

Our next attraction is a beach which is actually really nice because of how empty it is. But no one could really enjoy the beautiful scenery because of how strong the wind was. It felt like standing in a sandblasting machine walking near the beach (i didn't even walk into the sandy area).

So one of the main reason of saying that this day tour isn't recommended is because of the crazy strong winds. Our next attraction is also right beside the sea.

Stop 3: Nobbies Rock Formation

So windy that I can't even smile properly.

Stop 4: Penguin Parade
The main course of the day tour was super disappointing. So based on the description in the website, we'll be seated at the coast to watch penguins swim from the sea and then find their houses on land. Yes, the penguins have houses which are built by the workers. And because of the word 'parade', I was expecting hundreds of penguins swimming in at once and covering the beach but what happened was only a few small groups of 5 to 6 swim in every now and then. Also you might have realized that I didn't include any photos of the attraction because photography is prohibited.

What you're supposed to do is to sit at the seating area for about 20 minutes from the start, then walk along the boardwalk back to the gift shop to watch the penguins waddle back to their little wooden homes. Now it will be quite dark along the board walk and the color of the penguins makes it even harder to spot them in the bushes. So the key to finding the penguins is to look out for a crowd because that's likely where the penguins are.

This is actually a really nice attraction if you're super into nature. Like it is quite a nice experience to see penguins in the wild. But if you're planning to just have a look at the penguins, I'd recommend Featherdale Wildlife Park or Wildlife Sydney Zoo because you'll get the opportunity to have a close up view of penguins AND take a picture with them.

Conclusion:
Out of all the stops, the only irreplaceable attraction is probably the Nobbies Rock Formation so I do not recommend joining this day tour.

Replacement attractions
Stop 1: Maru Koala & Animal Parl
Featherdale Wildlife Park

Stop 2: Phillip Island
Botanic Gardens (Melbourne)

Stop 4: Penguin Parade
Featherdale Wildlife Park
Wildlife Sydney Zoo

https://www.aatkings.com/tours/melbourne/phillip-island-penguins-kangaroos-and-koalas/

Aladdin The Musical

So as some of you might know, I went to Australia for 10 days so I have a lot of stuff to write about but I think I'll start with my personal favourite: Aladdin The Musical.

It is honestly the best musical I've seen and I'm not just saying it because it's Disney.

Aladdin The Musical is very very different from all the other ones I've seen because of the interaction between the audience and the cast, specifically Genie (Michael James Scott). He is so sassy and funny and really steals the spotlight!

Out of all the musicals I've watched, Aladdin also has the best female lead (in terms of voice) and the best set.

Jasmine played by Arielle Jacobs.

Sadly photography isn't allowed in the theatre but luckily I managed to find a couple of photos on google. But I promise you will be so impressed with the props, backdrop and everything! There are even fireworks, in addition to confetti. Yes that's right, fireworks.

But really if you're going to Sydney you should definitely include this in your itinerary!

AND also if you're a Disney fan you must bring some money because they have really nice things in their shop. The lamp-snowglobe thing is also a music box which plays "A Whole New World" and costs $85. If you're looking for a more affordable memento, they also sell really nice keychains and magnets for $15.

Purchase your tickets here!

Broadway playlist (not by the Sydney cast)