Cherysh Does: Sydney Sea Life Quiquarium

Yes, Quiquarium. It turns out 'Aquarium' was too hard for excited Mr 5 to get out in time in his enthusiasm to retell everything he saw there! And I kind of like it :) However you prefer to pronounce it, the Sydney Aquarium was just fantastic. One of the Homeschool Groups we interact with has legendary leaders that organise events, much like school trips really. Which is nice, because schools usually get cheaper tickets for excursions, which doesn't happen so much with Homeschool. It is generally pretty good though, so I am not complaining! But this fella managed to get 50% tickets for our group. And seeing as it tied in almost seamlessly with our Apologia Science curriculum, how could we NOT go? Well exactly! We HAD to! And I am so glad we did, it is really, really fun.

The kids really amazed me: 'Mum, this fish lives in the twilight zone!', 'Mum, this fish is a depressed shape fish - that one is fusiform!', 'Mum!! I can see that fish's lateral line!' I was super impressed.

They had so much trouble decided what they liked most: The Sea Dragons, the Rays, the Dugongs, the gift shop... !!

Going to Qui-quarium! So excited!!!

Snake in the foyer.. NOT a sea snake... lots of questions!

We have a lovely little slideshow they gave you (after paying for photos, of course!), which hopefully will play here! Please have a look, it is quite lovely I thought! They get you in front of a green screen as you arrive, getting you to 'look here', 'point there', 'look surprised here'! And you are presented with your adventure pics afterwards. We decided to ham it up a bit. Well, I guess you could also say we acted naturally....??

No idea what these were! They rose and fell in a rhythmic breathing motion, kids were fascinated.

The Ray Tank was amazing. Much smaller than Kelly Tarltons (the Rays, that is) but more kid friendly.

Mr 'I can't help posing - here take my picture'....These concave viewing mirrors let the kids lean 'into' the tank.

A 'compressed' fish. Would he stay still so I could get the photo the kids wanted?? Turn him around and he disappears . Not very helpful.

Watching the penguins up close. They were on the top of the water; underneath were baby Port Jackson sharks. Heaps of them! The kids even got to touch a Port Jackson shark egg. It looked like a spiral Nerf Ball, fascinating. And a bit slimy.

I loved this, a dugong lying on top of the tank, watching the Watchers! Apparently Sea Cows kiss each other on the lips when they meet.... Imagine that coming up for a kiss!

Nice family photo.... Master 2 decided he'd join another family at this stage and wouldn't be joining us for another photo. Can't think why..

LOVED this! A table with 'fossls' in the base, covered in sand and brushes tied to the edges so that children could find their own fossils. I loved the enthusiasm they showed, brushing and blowing! I checked under the table and was amazed that all the sand was, in fact, still in the tray table.... How did they do that??