The door to the Butterfly House

The butterfly house at the  Melbourne Zoo is one of the nicest places to be on a cold winter’s day.  In the summer it has charm but it is in the winter that it is magical – a place where everyone quietens and move slowly.  Boisterous school parties loose their bounce as they enter and their voices lower.  We talk softly to each other in the Butterfly House.

The atmosphere is tropical and  heavy and in this atmosphere the butterflies flit about.  They are delicate and  fragile, quick and beautiful – hard to catch on camera.

There are feeders for the butterflies to sustain themselves.

Stand still and they settle briefly on your head or arm.  There is a faint and gentle pressure when they alight on a bare hand or arm.

The butterflies charm and entrance and to be entranced you have stop and pull back.  There are a few seats and they are always occupied and people stand and lean on the railings.

It is possible to  name most of the butterflies from the identification boards but somehow that doesn’t matter.  Just saying,  “Did you see that blue one?”  is enough.

A butterfly identification board

I am sorry that there isn’t an independent butterfly house we can visit on it’s own. I would like to see one in the Melbourne CBD.  It is a place to be soothed and I could see myself popping at lunch time after a trying morning.

Nonetheless the zoo is always interesting and in a strange sort of juxtaposition of  huge and fragile  the elephant enclosure is by the butterfly house.  This give a chance to watch the elephant family lumbering along as they go about their daily routine.  Mali mentioned here in a previous post is grown but is not keeping pace with the younger male baby.  He is going to be a much larger elephant as all bull elephants are.  Watching the elephants and then stepping into the Butterfly House is an unique experience.

Melbourne Zoo opening times:-
Daily 9.00 to 5.00pm including Christmas Day

Phone:-
(o3) 9285 9300

Web Site-

http://www.zoo.org.au/MelbourneZoo

Getting There:-
Tram – No 55 runs from West Coburg through to William Street in the city and stops outside the zoo.

Train- Upfield Line from Flinders Street to the Melbourne Zoo Station (Park Royal Station)

Related posts:

1. Melbourne Zoo – view the baby elephant – everyone is doing it.
2. Peace and relaxation in the Tropical Glasshouse, Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens, St Kilda Road,
3. Russell House, the oldest residence in Melbourne’s CBD

I couldn’t resist the urge to get my first look at a baby elephant and it was an amazing experience.

We arrived a little after 11.00 am for the 11.00 to 12.00 viewing   and spent time in the queue.  This gave us a chance to absorb that ambience of the plantings around the Elephant Enclosure.

These are Thai elephants and they live in a Thai-like atmosphere surrounded by stands of bamboo and Thai artifacts.  Notices are written in Thai and entrance ways to the enclosure are carved and painted as if we were in Thailand.

The line snaked its way through shady stands of bamboo – it is worth going for the bamboo – beautiful.

Before I got there I was wondering why we were planning to give this young lady a Thai name.   Why not an Australian name?  She was born here.  She is our elephant.

Four names have been selected for the public to choose from. They are:-
Leelawadee (which means frangipani),
Mali (jasmine),
Ma Li Wan (climbing jasmine),
Su Ma Li (osmanthus)
Iyares (which means both elephant and orchid and is pronounced Ai ya

The names are not only in keeping with her Thai heritage but also family lineage – her relatives have names of Thai flowers.

I did see the point of the names and I voted for Jasmine but I still think we could have added an Australian flower to the lineage – Wattle for example.

She was born on the 16th of Jan making her about 6 weeks old now and growing fast.  She appears to be oblivious of her fame and enjoys herself in her enclosure with her mother and her aunt.

If she feels shy she can hide behind the bulk of these as she did when our group entered.   But in a minute she ambled out and began to toss some hay about.  It was a short but somehow a remarkable and memorable experience.  All young have charm and she is particularly charming and cute. She put her trunk up like a ‘real’ elephant and it was a joy to see.

At the moment there are two viewing times 11.00am and 2.30pm.  The queues begin to form about 15 minutes before viewing begins.  If you think ahead you will bring a picnic and eat it at the elephant enclosure where there are seats and shade.  That way you will be in the front of the queue and get your four minutes of staring and camera-clicking time without too much wait.  This will give you more time to see the rest of the Melbourne Zoo.

Zoo opening times:-
Daily 9.00 to 5.00pm

Viewings:-
Weekdays  11.00 am to Noon – 2.30 to 3.30
Weekends – 10.30 to Noon  – 2.30 to 3.30

Getting There:-
Tram –   No 55  runs from West Coburg through William Street the city to the Domain Interchange and stops at the Zoo

Train-    Upfield Line from Flinders Street to the Melbourne Zoo Station

Related posts:

1. Butterflies at the Melbourne Zoo
2. Tarlo & Graham – view their windows as you stroll Chapel Street
3. St Kilda Botanical Gardens – a winter view