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Take Your Little Explorers to the Penguin Expedition

This time next week the family and I will be at the launch party for Penguin Expedition at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.

Genie is a gentoo penguin. She is only 14 weeks old. See Genie at the Penguin Expedition at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.
Genie is a gentoo penguin. She is only 14 weeks old. See Genie at the Penguin Expedition at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.

We are so excited to see the King and Gentoo Penguins, experience arctic temperatures, learn more about the penguins and just have fun being immersed in all things penguin, oh and plus my little explorers are looking forward to possible surprises and treats at the party.

While we are at the party we will be able to learn more with penguin trainers giving us detailed talks to help us understand more about their habitats and the lives of penguins.

Nog is a King Penguin. He is a cheeky character and can easily be spotted due to his funny walk. He puts his head down and waddles.
Nog is a King Penguin. He is a cheeky character and can easily be spotted due to his funny walk. He puts his head down and waddles.

 

First of all, once you pay to enter the aquarium you can access the Penguin expedition. No more to pay. Also this is the same for multi-attraction passes and annual passes.

What can you do at the Penguin Expedition?

Penguin Expedition was inspired by Macquarie Island which is an Australian owned island in the South West Pacific Ocean. King and Gentoo Penguins are found on Macquarie Island, they breed here and have large numbers. The island is important  because it supports 3.5 million breeding seabirds of 13 species according to Wikipedia. 

  • You become an explorer no matter what your age.
  • Each person can travel in a raft through a sub antarctic environment. Don’t worry it will not be too cold. They say that it is “a cool-but-comfortable six degrees Celsius.”
  • During your voyage on the raft you can get up close with the penguins…maybe face to flipper if you are lucky.
  • You can even experience snow, winds and the southern lights.
  • The tour also seeks to educate visitors on the impacts of plastic pollution on the habitats of penguins and other sea life.
  • Learn about SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium’s penguin breeding program

 

Come and experience the Penguin Expedition at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.
Come and experience the Penguin Expedition at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.

 

“Penguin Expedition is the world first-of-its kind penguin exhibit where guests can get up close and personal to a spectacular colony of King and Gentoo Penguins at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.”

Make sure you follow me on Instagram , I will be posting about our time at the Penguin Expedition Launch Party and our time while in the city.

Taking the kids to the aquarium during the school holidays is a fabulous day out. They will learn so much and you can then explore the surrounds of Darling Harbour afterwards. Darling Harbour has an amazing children’s playground that can keep kids of all ages entertained for hours.

Have you been to the Penguin Expedition yet? Did you enjoy the new ride through the penguin colonies? Did your kids love seeing penguins up so close?

I hope this has given you another idea to take the kids to over the school holidays.

Oh and stay tuned for some amazing giveaways soon on the blog…..passes to some great places to take the kids this summer. 

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Things to do

Explore SeaLife Sydney Aquarium

Last week we had the best adventure. We were invited to Sydney Aquarium before it opened to see their new exhibit: “Jurassic Seas”. This new exhibit showcases animals that have outlasted the dinosaurs.

The kids, my mum and I had to be at the aquarium for 8.30am, yes that is super early when you live in the Blue Mountains.  Although it was a very early day it was a highlight of the school holidays and the kids and I as well as my mum were looking forward to our adventures.

Kids and adults alike can learn about evolution and find out about lungfish, mudskippers, and much more.

One creature that the kids and I had never seen before was the nautilus. This creature has been around for 500 million years. Yes it is that old. We were extremely lucky to see the nautilus get fed as the staff at the aquarium do this before the centre opens.
See the feeding of the nautilus below:

You can see the nautilus a bit better in the video below:

The nautilus does not like lights or noise so therefore it is best to feed it before the place gets too noisy and also with many people with their smart phones.

You can even feed the deadly Plesiosaurus using the aquariums state of the art technology based game.

The kids had a great time at the Jurassic Seas exhibit and we then went to explore the rest of the aquarium.

Nana and Alexander checking out the penguins
Nana and Alexander checking out the penguins
Lillian looking at the penguins
Lillian looking at the penguins
Amazed at such bright and colourful fish
Amazed at such bright and colourful fish
One of the dugongs at Sydney Aquarium
One of the dugongs at Sydney Aquarium
The dugong came up for a close up
The dugong came up for a close up
The girls and Nana on the Shark Walk
The girls and Nana on the Shark Walk
Alexander and Nana looking at the bright and colourful fish
Alexander and Nana looking at the bright and colourful fish
Alexander was amazed. Not sure how much he took in and mind you he is only three months old but he seemed interested.
Alexander was amazed. Not sure how much he took in and mind you he is only three months old but he seemed interested.

 

 

The girls were lucky to be able to feed some fish before the aquarium opened for business:

One of the favourite things to do at the aquarium was the “Art Aquarium”. At first I dismissed the kids wanting to colour in the print outs. I told them we can colour in at home, I was thinking that we had so much to see and do at the aquarium that coloring in worksheets might be a waste if we missed out on seeing some interesting creatures.

Amazed by the Art Aquarium
Amazed by the Art Aquarium

 

I did see the video wall with the fish and creatures but did not put it all together.

Checking out our art
Checking out our art

The twins were telling me that they wanted to draw so that it could go on the wall.

Gosh….. what???? I took another look and then realised that the fish were coloured in by kids. They had names and you could see that they were scribbled with crayons and the like. How amazing and clever.

It was a brilliant and fabulous interactive exhibit that really got the kids involved. Once we figured out that there was more than just simple colouring in the girls got their creations happening, scanned in and we saw their creatures come to life on the art aquarium wall.

Once you have coloured in your work of art, you then scan it in so it will show up on the video wall.
Once you have coloured in your work of art, you then scan it in so it will show up on the video wall.

The new activity is available daily and is included in aquarium admission, so if you are going to the aquarium this is a must do! You will all have a blast with this activity. Trust me, we stayed here for quite a while.

The girls also had fun at the Discovery Rockpool, this is an area that allows kids and adults to touch and to learn more about the creatures. The girls patted starfish and a sea cucumber, they also got to hold a shark egg.

The girls having fun at the discovery rockpool at the aquarium
The girls having fun at the discovery rockpool at the aquarium
Julia holds a shark egg. I had no idea that it was like this. It feels like hard sea weed and it is formed like a spiral that allows the shark to have it slide into the sand easily.
Julia holds a shark egg. I had no idea that it was like this. It feels like hard sea weed and it is formed like a spiral that allows the shark to have it slide into the sand easily.

 

Would you love to take the kids to the Aquarium for the holidays or just for the weekend? Well find out all the great deals for tickets here

SeaLife Sydney Aquarium is offering FREE entry to all Defence Force Personal this ANZAC DAY

THANKS: We all had a blast at the aquarium and would like to thank those that made it possible. Thanks so much for our invite and the lovely walk around before the aquarium opened. It was amazing and made us feel very special indeed.

I just now need to win the lottery. Bring it on!
I just now need to win the lottery. Bring it on!

Since it is a big drive and kids get a bit stir crazy in the car for a few hours I like to give the kids time to run around and get some of their energy out before our huge drive home. We love to go to the Darling Harbour Playground, the twins love it and they have a fabulous time in the water park area, climbing, playing on the huge slide, getting dirty in the huge sandpit and much more. It is an amazing space. Just make sure you pack some towels, a change of clothes as kids get wet and of course dirty while having some serious fun at this playground.

Climbing and having fun
Climbing and having fun
Watching my big sisters have fun at the playground
Watching my big sisters have fun at the playground
We are going to get dizzy on this
We are going to get dizzy on this

All the different things that make water move, stop or go through are amazing.
All the different things that make water move, stop or go through are amazing.
More of the path of where the water travels in the water park at Darling Harbour
More of the path of where the water travels in the water park at Darling Harbour

Have you had a great time at the aquarium? Did you also have fun at the Darling Harbour Playground. Let us know.

Hope you are all having a fun time these school holidays. If you have not gotten to the city to have fun like we have maybe you can make a weekend of it or do it next school holidays.

 

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Our Maritime Adventure – Part 1

The kids are at vacation care today and the original plan was to have a full day to myself. However this has been changed due to our visit tomorrow to the Maritime Museum. Since we live a while away from the city, we are staying in a hotel close to the museum to make it easier on everyone. I have told the other family to meet us at 10am outside the museum so staying nearby will help to not make it such an early start.  If we drove from home it might be a 6am or so wake up call, and that is not on!

Since I had already booked kids into care they are only having a half day and at the time of writing this they should be on their excursion to the pool. I dressed both kids in their swimmers and had all their things ready for their adventure at the pool.

I am doing some things at home and then will pick up kids. After I dump most things at home all of us will make our way to the station to catch the train to the city. Then we will get our connection to the light rail to go to the hotel.

Did you know?

You can purchase light rail tickets when you get your train tickets. YES fabulous….. and all organised before I start the journey.

I decided to get the train tickets before I pick up kids later (nothing worse than fussing around with kids and money at the station, while worrying about when the train will come) I went to the automatic machine and realised that I could also purchase light rail tickets as well. How amazing and I also got the family deal. One kid travels free! So I have got the train tickets and also the light rail tickets before we go anywhere. Talk about organised!

Do you stay somewhere closer if you are off somewhere special? Do you do it due to living further away or just as a treat?

The girls are smart and have figured out we are most likely staying in a hotel, but have no idea where and how close we will be to the Maritime Museum. I think the kids will be super tired from swimming, a train trip and then the light rail, plus a small walk to the hotel.

Hubby has the bags and other heavy things and will meet us later after he gets off work. We have used the kids new suitcases they got for Christmas as we did not need much for an overnight visit to the city.

I am hoping to be able to visit the kids playground at Darling Harbour after our time at the museum and have organised a change of clothes as there is water play and the kids will most likely end up wet. The last time we were there the girls had a blast!

Have you been to the Maritime Museum? Did you enjoy it? I will write a full and more in depth post after we experience everything tomorrow. Do you love the Darling Harbour Playground? What is your favourite bit of it? I love the fact that it is free, and for all kids of different ages. So great to see a city incorporate activities for kids that are accessible and fun.

Thanks to the Maritime Museum for the family passes to make tomorrow possible and I am sure we will have an amazing day.