We live just a few minutes up the road from the Swan Valley yet we don’t really make the most of its proximity. The valley is full of wonderful scenery, wineries, great food and much more. I cycle through the area as often as I can but we could certainly spend more time there.
That often seems to be the case with attractions that are close to home.
While we were in Melbourne our friends took us on a drive to Werribee Open Range Zoo. It wasn’t a case of them wanting to show us something they’d enjoyed so much they wanted to share it, in fact they were first timers there too. They’ve lived in Melbourne pretty much all their lives and never visited. It took the visit of a bunch of ‘tourists’ to prompt them to try out something in their own corner of the world.
The zoo is only 30 minutes from the city yet most of the locals we spoke to while in Melbourne had never taken the time to visit.
As you can see by the pictures (click the photos for a better look) we got up close and personal with some rhinos as well as peering at a few other animals, like the leopard in the picture, through glass.
Too see most of the attractions at the zoo we boarded a bus and were driven through huge areas where animals roamed in habitats as close as possible to their natural surroundings. Their website says, “At Werribee Open Range Zoo, you’ll find an amazing array of animals living in a wide open savanna. Discover cheetahs and cheeky monkeys at play, get close to a pride of lions, and trek across grassy plains to encounter rhinos, giraffes, zebras and hippos. Our Safari bus will take you on an amazing wildlife adventure through over 500 acres of open savanna.”
We had a fantastic day at the zoo with our friends and I suppose they’re now wondering why they hadn’t been there sooner.
I reckon we’re going to have to find a few more ‘touristy’ spots around Perth to visit. Maybe we should spend some more time in the Swan Valley. Perhaps we need to go to the Tourism Western Australia office and try to see our city through a tourist’s eyes.
Are there places of interest in your city that you’ve never visited? What are the attractions you would point me towards if I visited your area? Have you actually spent time there yourself? It so often seems to be the way that we only ever see what our own city has to offer when we have visitors from interstate or overseas. Why not make time in your diary now to spend a weekend being a tourist in your own city?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Tourism – Werribee Open Range Zoo – Swan Valley
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Too close to home? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
i still haven’t been to werribee but its on the top of the list of things to see while my mom is out here in dec/jan.
growing up in victoria, canada i was lucky that thru my parents running a tourist business while i was small we got passes to a lot of tourist places so we went there fairly often (especially while people were in town).
since i’ve moved to melbourne my fiance’s mom has been amazing at showing me some of the tourist things here (and around victoria) cuz she volunteers at the tourist info centre at federation square and finds out about all sorts of different things around the city