We got an Uber there, which took ages - bad traffic because of the weather; and then we had to queue sheltering under an overhang from the pouring rain. But when we finally got in (and had raced past the posse of school children who went in just before us), the aquarium was great: really big shark tanks that you could view from the side and above as well as the obligatory tunnel (seeing a sting ray flying towards you at eye height was actually more impressive than from below), plus a slightly scary TV screen mapping the travels of 22 tagged Great White Sharks (slightly more inland than I felt comfortable with); two gentle dugongs (aka manatees, or the ones people thought were mermaids - you had to have been at sea for a very long time...); an enormous Great Barrier Reef tank; a great touching tank, with sea cucumbers called "burnt sausages" (which felt very Australian); and the best bit, Penguin Adventure, which was like a theme park ride where you sit in an inflatable boat (on rails) and "float" through the chilly penguin enclosure - totally gimmicky, but actually rather fun. So a very successful outing.
We then had to buy a Sea Life umbrella from the shop to avoid a drenching (I have to admit, I've done that before), and set off into the wet to find lunch. Not far along Darling Harbour was row of options, and we settled on Mediterranean: lamb souvlaki, tzatziki, chips, and a halloumi salad. Delicious, even if an opportunistic seagull did manage to half inch some of my halloumi (the friendly waiter brought over a water spray as seagull defence, and Jemima had enormous fun chasing them off as they reappeared, squirting frantically with a determined gleam in her eye).
And then it was back to the hotel to reconvene with Kevin, and for a rest. He'd been rained into the Opera House, so had taken a tour, which he'd seemed to really enjoy - various Opera House-relayed facts kept popping up during the rest of day. We had booked tickets for the Family Twilight Stargazing Tour at nearby Sydney Observatory; but it was still pouring, so we decided to pass, and instead I took Jemima for a final swim in the hotel pool, where she made friends with a 4 year old Japanese girl called Vel, before a sandwich in the room, some (fabulously trashy) Australian TV, and bed.
We have ticked off quite a few of the Sydney attractions we wanted to see; but there are still so many, for bad weather or fine (I particularly wanted to go to Bondi Beach, but it really hasn't been beach weather). It's an absolutely brilliant city, despite us experiencing it during heatwave or rain, and I would love to come back. And I've felt like that about the whole of Australia - a beautiful, exciting, friendly, diverse and welcoming place. It's been great, even better than I could have imagined. The next chapter of the adventure starts tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment