Taronga Zoo's Wildlife Retreat opened at the end of 2019 and offers a range of luxury eco-lodge accommodation. Along with this there are private tours and their Me-Gal restaurant featuring indigenous ingredients on site. So what is a stay like here and how can you meet the zoo's most charismatic occupants?
It's a chilly winter's day in the city of Sydney. The city's tall buildings rise up from a thick cover of clouds. Bleak skies of grey are echoed in the harbour's silvery, iridescent waves. Just across the water from Sydney's CBD is a greying, winter-weathered tree. Nestled in the centre of the forked tree is Matteo the koala, sleeping soundly.
To my right an echidna scurries across the stones waddling at a surprisingly fast pace. It darts from bush to bush seeking cover from the fat drpps of rain and two grey Cape Barren Geese with their mint green beaks cross the same path, stepping in unison. I'm watching this busy village scene from the comfort of my room at Taronga Zoo's Wildlife Retreat.
For years Taronga Zoo has had sleepovers via Roar and Snore which is a more tented accommodation. At the end of 2019 they opened the Wildlife Retreat aimed at a customers that prefer a more luxe eco lodge style of accommodation. The purpose built accommodation has 62 rooms and suites, some with wonderful views of Sydney Harbour while still being in a bushland style of setting. And if you're lucky you'll have a room with view of Matteo or Thunder the two koalas that make the retreat their home. Don't expect them to do much more than sleep though - koalas average 21-22 hours of sleep a day. As if he can hear me typing this, Matteo stirs while on his precarious looking perch, opens an eye towards me and then falls asleep again.
Guests at the Wildlife Retreat can check in any time the day of their arrival and have their bags stowed until check in to make the most of their complimentary zoo access on check in and check out day. When we arrive at 12:30pm our room is already ready for us. The retreat spans 1700m2 and is split into two levels, an upper and lower. Not only are there koalas and kangaroos but also possums, bandicoots, kookaburras and brush turkeys. Some guests have views of kangaroos and report seeing the kangaroos boxing. The room choice depends on what you want to see; the treetop suites are the most spacious but don't have the harbour view while others have animal views but no harbour views.
Our room #151 is a Harbour View room that has uninterrupted views of Sydney Harbour. It is quite compact at 24 square metres or 258 square feet. The views are spectacular, you've got entertainment better than anything on Netflix with all of the comings and goings of native animal village life in front of you (and a tv if you want something at a faster pace).
The king bed is very comfortable and the bathroom has a good amount of space. All of it has modern touches like charging spots right near the bed, easy lights to use, nice teas and Wallewa spa products. The bathroom is well sized with a single sink but plenty of space to spread out. Parking is included as is wifi and there is also a basic mini bar and there's also a fantastic restaurant on site called Me-Gal (more on that later). The zoo itself is carbon neutral and the restaurant is zero waste with all scraps going into a bio digester to generate renewable energy and create fertiliser pellets. There are no plastic straws, bags or balloons at the zoo.
"Are you ready?" I say eagerly to Mr NQN. I look at him impatiently while he chews leisurely on his lunch. Sensing my desperation he quickly finishes it off because I have one animal I really want to visit at Taronga Zoo. It's the Capybara, the charismatic giant rodent that has taken social media by storm.
A few years ago when we lived in Mosman we used to sponsor the animals at Taronga and with that we got access to the zoo which we took up quite often but the capybara is a recent addition to the zoo in 2019. Capybaras are from South America and are a bone fide TikTok hit thanks to their chill, gentle nature and a very catchy song that I have playing in my head as we follow the signs to the capybara. While capybaras are technically large rodents, they are more similar in appearance to a prairie dog or guinea pig. These lovable herbivores are often seen socialising with many other animals in the wild (they can be seen riding on an alligators back) and are friendly and docile animals often found in large groups of 10-20.
The five capybarahs at Taronga are brothers named Pedro, Guillermo, Sanchez, Carlos and Rodney. I'm surprised at how big they are-the females are slightly larger than the males and can grow up to 70kg while these males are 55kgs. They are also semi aquatic and can stay under water for up to 5 minutes. They can also run quickly to escape threats up to 35kms per hour. I'm so excited to see them it feels like I'm meeting a celebrity. We see people sitting inside with them and I want to join them. That's the hotly contested Capybara encounter for $70 a person. It's first come first served and to nab one of these four tickets you have to line up before 9am to grab a spot in the queue.
At 4pm we head back to the retreat for our tour. There are two tours offered as part of your stay and the first involves meeting the animals in "the village" below. Our guide Tash starts with introducing herself and the animals and just on cue, echidna Spike waddles out from the bush behind her. Echidnas get their name of ant eater because they feast on around 10,000 ants a day in the wild. They also have long pink tongues that help them collect their food in one swift snapping motion. Echidna milk is also pink because of the high amount of iron in it from the ants.
Echidna mating is also a sight to behold. An "echidna train" of males will line up in a row behind each other and will follow the female around for hours. Some will fall away due to exhaustion and the female echidna will mate with the last male standing. We follow Tash through the enclosure where we meet Tammar Wallabies and the pair of Cape Barren Geese that I saw earlier. Pademelons are a type of wallaby and can store their pregnancy for up to 11 months if they feel the conditions aren't right (e.g. drought, danger). We also meet the Long Nosed Potoroo a cheeky tiny wallaby that is known for getting into mischief like climbing into prams. And on cue the potoroo tries to climb into someone's pram.
When the tour finishes we return to our rooms and get ready for dinner. Dinner is at Me-Gal in a separate building just near our room. The restaurant is named after the Cammeraigal word for "Tears" referencing the saltwater of the nearby Sydney Harbour. When we arrive at 5pm the sun is beginning to set and the room is bathed in a golden light.
The menu is either a la carte or there's also a tasting menu called the the Shared Feast that has a selection of the a la carte menu items served share style. And despite the number of courses they bring a few out together so that you're not waiting super long for a meal (we are in and out within 1.5 hours).
I love my Tassie Devil cocktail with 666 Autumn Butter Vodka, gingerbread liqueur, Cascade ginger ale and Davidson Plum syrup while Mr NQN likes his Hello Possums cocktail with Ketel One Vodka, Cointreau, lemon myrtle tea, cranberry but he secretly covets mine more.
A refreshing and delicious entrée is the compressed watermelon cubes dusted in Mountain Pepper and served with ribbons of rockmelon, Persian feta, lemon balm and radish. I really enjoy this for the fresh flavours and the seasoning of the fruit. There's also thick slices of wholewheat artisan sourdough with aged balsamic and olive oil that is served warm.
The ocean trout carpaccio is cut into sashimi style slices rather than carpaccio but served with ribbons of baby cucumber, crème fraiche, edamame and ponzu. I add some of the Persian feta to this but the ocean trout is fresh and tasty.
Next up are two zucchini flowers stuffed with wattle seed ricotta, macadamia crumble and butternut squash purée. I really enjoy this Australian version of an Italian classic that works with the range of flavours and textures.
The sauteed local squid is buttery tender and served with halved kipfler potatoes, wilted wild rocket and a tasty nduja sauce. I definitely recommend saving some bread for this sauce.
The two mains arrive and the first is a beetroot risotto and in the centre is a quenelle of whipped lemon myrtle ricotta, sprigs of watercress and lemon thyme. This risotto has a perfect texture and the flavour of sweet and earth beetroot and the lemon thyme and lemon myrtle ricotta work really well with the beetroot.
I ordinarily rarely order chicken breast in a restaurant because it can be dry but not this. In fact the chicken breast is so perfectly succulent I finish off my entire share of this instead of passing it to Mr NQN which I normally do. This is paired with squares of za’atar baked squash, brussels sprout leaves and smoked paprika. Both mains go well with the seasonal leaf salad with witlof and frisee salad with slices of pear, pecans and aged balsamic.
Then comes dessert and it is a very sizeable dessert made for sharing. It's a Valrhona Caramelia chocolate that is a milk chocolate with a salted caramel flavour to it that imparts the top layer with a sweet and salty moreishness. There's also oabika gel made from the cocoa fruit juice concentrate and delightful vanilla compressed apple. Not a bit goes back to the kitchen of any of these courses and Mr NQN is delighted that we only have to walk a few metres to our room where he curls up in bed at 7:30pm for a post prandial snooze. Matteo has found himself a contender for the sleep stakes although a quick look outside our window shows his absence this evening.
In the morning after a good night's sleep I peel back the curtains. Matteo is back on his perch sleeping soundly. Mr NQN goes off to do the 7am tour while I have bigger, more pressing issues to attend to. By bigger issues I mean trying to get a ticket to the Capybara encounter. Punters have to line up before 9am to queue to get a ticket. I get there at 8.45am and I'm the first there (although reportedly on weekends people queue 8am and earlier). I'm quickly joined by a small queue of people including a family with a son wearing a capybara tshirt. They come out and hand out tickets for the queue, it's an honesty based system where people tell them who was waiting first and then they get a number. Once the zoo shop opens at 9am if you have one of these numbers you can buy a ticket and it is $70 for the 15 minute encounter. They warn me that there is a chance that the encounter may be cancelled if it is raining as capybaras don't like rain (me too little guys, me too). In that case refunds are issued.
With my ticket in hand, I head back to Me-Gal for breakfast. There's a buffet breakfast available that finishes quite early at 9.45am. I make a fruit tea and some toast and add some smoked salmon and antipasti on top to make myself a tasty tartine. I also nibble on the sausages and the fruit salad is also fresh and sweet.
Check out is at 10am and I go back to my room and pack up. Mr NQN has already left for work in the city as it's a Monday and I drop my bags at reception and then do some work before heading to the capybara station. I look up at the grey sky threatening to break with rain and watch the capybaras munch contentedly even despite the din of construction noise right outside the enclosure (tip: construction mainly happens on weekdays not weekends so try and time your Capybara or zoo visit for a weekend because it is LOUD). At 11am the keeper opens the gate and explains what we will be doing. She hands us some bamboo browse and we take a seat on the logs. She has instructed us to let the capybaras come to us rather than pursuing them. "Be confident, not creepy," she says (which is really a life motto).
As soon as I sit down Carlos the capybara comes over. Carlos is one of the lower ranking males of the brothers and litter mates and she warns us that top-ranking Guillermo might come by and push another capybara out of the way to get food. This group is a bachelor group as bringing in a female capybara would likely be to the detriment of the lower ranking males as they compete for her attention. If females were to be introduced, it would be in a female dominated group. Other food that capybaras like are corn husks and they always give them 5 feeding spots including one more hidden away for the lower ranking capybaras to keep the group dynamic as harmonious as possible.
What is wonderful about this encounter is that capybaras love being petted and cuddled so you can not only pet the capybaras but also massage them. Capybaras like scratches on their rear and sides avoiding the head area. In fact if you are doing it well the gentle capybaras will show their appreciation and their hair will stand up on end like they're electrocuted!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you heard of the Wildlife retreat? Is there an animal that you always try to see? Do you like capybaras?
NQN and Mr NQN stayed as guests of Taronga Zoo but all opinions remain her own. The capybara encounter was independently paid for.
Wildlife Retreat at Taronga
Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
Phone: (02) 9978 4791
https://taronga.org.au/sydney-zoo/wildlife-retreat
Me-Gal Restaurant
2A Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
Phone: (02) 8023 7636
Monday to Wednesday 5–9 pm
Thursday to Sunday 12–3 pm, 5–9:30 pm
https://megal-mosman.com.au/
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