Western Australia Day 12: Aquarium of Western Australia & Sorrento Quay

On our second last day in Australia, we decided to take it easy and enjoy the indoors to get out of the summer heat. We took a short drive down to Hillarys Boat Harbour, to visit the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) and hang out at Sorrento Quay.

A tunnel walk-through inside Australia's largest single aquarium is one of the highlights for the family. This is AQWA's 'Shipwreck Coast' exhibit which features sharks, rays and turtles in a 'bottom of the sea' setting. 

Large rays up close as they swim alongside and over us.

A variety of large and majestic sharks. The aquarium allows guests to dive with them for a fee.

Turtles glide through the 'air' gracefully. What an adorable face.

We could step on an off the travellator as we marveled at the majestic creatures.

Artificial swim-throughs, caves and wrecks. Nothing beats the real thing, but this will do for now.

Jellies! Stingers! Call them whatever you wish, but they make a 'dreamy' spectacle as they toss around the deep like little astronauts in space.

The 'Far North' exhibit showcases the isolated tropical reefy lagoons of the remote north coast.

The Marmion Marine Park is a section of AQWA devoted to visitor interaction with marine life. At the roof-top, there is the touch-pool, stingray-bay and lagoon.

This is a view of the Shipwreck-Coast aquarium from the roof-top.

Stingray-bay! The rays come up close in the shallows and the visitors get a good look at their odd but adorable shapes.

The nursery is where rescued baby animals are nursed back to health before release. There were rays and turtles here.

Whale vertebrae. Is there a chiropractic anywhere? This was part of the Coral-Reef exhibit.

The girls wanted to add a little note about their experience at the touch pool, and so I let them write a paragraph on it:

"When we went to the touch pool, my younger sister was too scared to touch one of small sharks because she thought it would bite her. She loved the sea-cucumbers and was amazed when the sea cucumber changed shape. When we first saw Daddy hold the starfish we thought the starfish will bite him because the mouth was under it."

Visitors of all ages were engaged by the exhibit. There were Port-Jackson sharks, sea-stars, sea-cucumbers, mollusks, sea-urchins and the elusive lobster.

We made the effort to keep the creatures in the water even when we were touching them. This was to reduce the stress placed on it and still enjoy them.

At first, the girls were afraid to pick up the creatures. Daddy helped bring the creatures closer to them. After a little warm-up, they were ready to help themselves.

Oops, this fella is upside down. However, they are able to right themselves pretty quickly without assistance. Fun to watch, but perhaps stressful for the creature.

After rinsing our hands, we had a lovely milkshake from the AQWA Cafe and took some time to browse the adjoining gift shop.

It was time for a late lunch (and desert of course!). Sorrento Quay had the reputation of a happening bay for the young and old alike. We were not prepared to take advantage of the sand and sea, but decided to appreciate soak up the holiday mood and check out the shops.

Kids were somersaulting off this wooden jetty and families were cooling off in the safe swimming bay.

The scene resembles a water-park without the toys. A giant swimming pool perhaps?

The seaside town was quite crowded today.

Youths were hopping off the pontoons into the water to cool-off form the hot sun.

Our hosts had recommended the popular Little Caesars Pizzeria and we settled in quickly, got drinks and a couple of pizzas. The diner is classy and so are their pizzas. But kids are not always classy, and they often skip the sophisticated fare for the simple and sweet.

Pizza by the waterfront! Oysters Kilpatrick (top) and Smoked Salmon (bottom) were not the kids' cup of tea, but the potato wedges in sauce suited them just fine.

The little restaurant has a wide range of flavors so there is definitely a pizza that would suit your taste buds. Would definitely return for more the next time we visit and we would make sure to pack along our swimming gears for the dives into the water. 

Western Australia Day 11: Christmas Day Picnic and Playgrounds @ Kings Park

Christmas morning! As many of the attractions and malls were closed for the holiday, we decided to do a picnic at the Lotterywest Family Area of Kings Park. We figured that a spot near the Ivey Watson Playground (click HERE for map) would give the girls enough options to occupy themselves for the morning. We were in for a surprise: the playground was so engaging it was difficult to convince them to leave at the end of the day.

The night before, we stripped up pre-cooked roast beef and roast chicken that we bought off the supermarket shelf. In our picnic bag we tossed in a couple of buckets of black grapes, a bag of salad leaves, a bg of shredded cheddar cheese and a couple of  loaves of burger buns.

We arrived under the hot mid-morning sun and found a shady spot on the grass as most of the benches were under the baking sun, and the shaded benches were already occupied. Although still pestering us occasionally, we were surprised to find that the fly situation in Perth was much less prevalent than the rural areas we came from. We were able to enjoy our picnic foods without too many disturbances from flies and other creepy crawlies. Daddy prepared the burgers an arm's length from our picnic mat so as to avoid any possibility of attracting the ants.

It was a hot day, and a shady spot was hard to find. The 'Space Net' got the girls' attention while we searched out a comfy spot of shaded grass under the trees as most of the benches were in the sun.

Daddy's home-made roast beef burger was quite a hit!

When the climbing net was done with, climbing trees was next. Do you see a koala?

Contrary to what we had expected, the park was not crowded. There were groups of picnic goers like us, comprising tourists, entire families and many others, often accompanied by children who made the most of the playground. Some of them were starting up a grill for a barbecue, and others were tossing frisbees. There was a group that even set up portable mini goal posts for a soccer game.

Near the playground was a tracked 'flying-fox'. We spent quite a lot of time here, and the girls had multiple runs on it.

The girls were still too short to reset the handle, so Daddy's job was to pull it back to the start after each run. The younger girl also was not tall enough yet to grab on at the starting block, so Daddy made sure she got on and off safely.

Many of the play-structures were sheltered by large tent-like coverings. The darkened patch on the the wood-chip covered ground is actually the shaded area.

Giant story-books for the one who loves to read!

There were many other children clamouring all over the structures.

Drinking fountains were found at various spots in the playground. We often take for granted what we don't need, but on a hot day like this, a sip of cool water was such a blessing.

This nautical themed structure was exposed to the hot sunshine, but the little ones did not seem to mind.

The prop-plane made rattling noises with the turn of the ratchet. Unfortunately, it was a single-seater and the passenger had to ride pillion on the tail!

Daddy raced the girls to and from entry points in the gated maze.

While Daddy took the girls through the playground, Mummy got a little sleepy and decided to take a quick nap. Despite the hot weather, the morning breeze, cool, dry grass and low humidity made the shady spots rather comfy, as you can see...

The playground was huge, and although we managed to go through most of it, it is safe to say that it was sufficient to entertain energetic kids for an entire day. We did not prepare an entire day of food and snacks though, and after a few more rounds in the playground, we left to spend the afternoon back at our base in the hills.

A quick stop at the gas station to cool off with some ice-cream!

There wasn't much planned and since most of the eateries were either fully booked or closed, we had an enjoyable time indoors playing 'hangman', chatting, reading and dining on the leftover beef and chicken we did not manage to bring with us to the picnic. A simple and meaningful way to spend Christmas together as a family.