Mints and Zoos

Visited the Royal Australian Mint and the National Zoo today. The mint was interesting -- Australia has no dollar bills, and got rid of pennies about 10 years ago. They also shifted from the British currency system to the decimal system in 1966. The dollar was pegged at $2 per British pound, which works out to about $0.75 U.S. today.

The zoo had some interesting features (see below).

Koalas:

Dingos (they don't look so tough):


This one is 15 years old, and named "Maree," which the handler said was Aborigine for "Boy." There was another, named Nara (Companion).

A C-SPAN cable feed of the U.S. Congress:

Parakeets

And, of course, Kangaroos: