As a life-long Aucklander, I have spent a LOT of time at Auckland Zoo! Going back to visit it was like visiting an old friend.
The zoo is set in beautiful park-like grounds, just a few minutes drive from GrabOne HQ, a lovely oasis in the middle of the city.
I said hi to Burma the elephant first. She was enjoying her lunch…
Next up were the primates! I popped into the Rainforrest…
And waved at the Orangatangs. These two looked sad!
Maybe they wished they could be best friends like these two.
The rhinos were enjoying the sunshine.
The one in the background has a bird on his noes – how cool is that? He wasn’t very happy about his passenger though – he stamped his foot and shook his head until it flew off!
There were a lot of birds! In Pridelands, I spotted ostriches…
One of the zoo’s volenteers showed us an ostrich egg. It was HUGE!
There were also flamingos… I learned they get their pink colour from their diet – I’m not sure why they like to stand on one leg!
As well as all the exotic birds there were… chickens!
They were just as popular with the young visitors as the ostriches and flamingos… maybe because they weren’t in a cage!
Auckland Zoo does habitats really well! While of course none of the animals are roaming free (apart from chickens, that is!) you can still get up close and personal with a lot of them.
I felt very close to the otters…
And the tiger!
Auckland Zoo has big glass panels in front of many of the exhibits, so you can get VERY close to the animals. 
Most of the cats looked VERY elegant, but I managed to capture this one looking just a little bit silly… 
The highlight of my visit was feeding a giraffe! They have reeeeeeally long tounges. 
And they can stretch them even longer than that! 
There have been a lot of upgrades to Auckland Zoo since I first visited! I especially love the new seal enclosure – and so do the seals! I’m sure they were showing off.
Jump over to our Facebook page to see more photos. Today you can grab two adult general admission entries to Auckland Zoo for just $25 – I had a great time visiting the zoo, and I’m sure you will too!