So the Sydney Aquarium, aside from comnipresent tie-ins to Disney's Fnding Nemo wherever and whenever possible, is really, really cool. It has the reputation of being one of the best aquariums in the world, and it earns it. We literally could have stayed in the shark exhibit for hours.
It was mesmerizing, actually.
We had to keep moving, partly because we wanted to get to Wildlife World next door with its koalas and wallabies. Also, we were befuddled and thought it was actually an hour later than it was. This became a recurring theme.
This doesn't really "count" since it was shot in captivity, but I like it.
Ditto.
We had a really interesting conversation with the indigenous education officer providing commentary for the Red Centre habitat. His name tag featured his aboriginal name, Jinabinya, or Sea Bird, but he asked us to call him Leon. He's an aspiring actor, and he was very keen to tell about his new movie, "an aboriginal version of Cheech and Chong." Huh. Also, he plays the didgeridoo.
Hey, actors gotta eat, too. Still, there was something just a little.... uncomfortable... about this person who was.... almost... an integrated part of the exhibit, kind of? He was very talented and knowledgable, and he was mostly there to keep schoolkids on field trips from throwing candy at the kangaroos. Still, the fetishization of aboriginal people for the tourist gaze was not lost on me. This, too, would be a recurring theme through the trip, which I'll get back to in a future entry. (SPOILER: The miner who helped created my engagement and wedding rings is a Big, Unrepentant Racist. Awesome!)
Meanwhile, a helpful butterfly shows Joel how to get to the pier where we needed to board a boat for our Sunset Dinner Cruise.
Joel takes a picture of a butterfly landing on my camera where I'm looking at a preview of the above picture of him with a butterfly. How very meta. You can see more photos (koalas! wallabies!) from the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World here.
9 comments:
Koalas! Wallabies! Cuteness!
Can't get the flickr slide show to work?? Sorry to hear the miner is an unrepentant racist...can't wait to read a blog entry on your dinner conversation!
Oh Angie, I'm laughing so hard that I'm crying (and, oddly, drooling). I can't wait to read the next installment!
Aboriginal version of Cheech & Chong?? What's it called?? Where can I see it? Does he smoke weed through the didgdidgigeroo (I don't know how to spell that so i just hit the buttons d, i, and g a bunch of times)... sounds hilarious anyway.
Whoa! Check out all those fancy buttons on THAT camera! Cool shot!
Also? I tried emailing you this morning, but I got some weird delivery error mails in return...something about your account exceeding the limit. Did anything actually go through? I don't want to resend them if you're already at capacity.
I know I should be immune to your awesome photos by this point, but I'm not. You are REALLY good.
Angie: were you in a butterfly house? How were there so many butterflies in one place?
Hi Cheryl! Welcome! We were in a rain forest section of the aquarium that is set up exactly like a butterfly house, with the same quantity of moths and butterflies. It's very similar to the rain forest exhibit at the Baltimore Aquarium if you've ever been there, but the birds were all local to Australia. Australia has some very amazing birds. Even the pigeons were cool (pics coming soon).
Hola possum!
I just found you via OBB, and saw your pic of you & Uluru/Ayers Rock and knew I had to come, and read your Aussie adventure! I'm an Aussie, and it's completely gorgeous to read about Aus through your eyes and adventures and misadventures. Delicious!
Now I'm really excited about getting to your trip to Uluru... me & mr hunky went out there a couple of years ago and it's one of my favourite, most sacred places in the world :)
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