The last blog for Sydney, I promise!
Another glorious mid-winter day in Sydney, our last day.
Today we took the hop-on-off bus and hopped off at the Chinese Gardens. We saw those last time we were in Sydney, but today we were going to Paddy Market.
You could buy anything there I reckon. It took up a whole city block, all undercover and included vegetables. We also bought travel sunhats each that you can fold and pack that pop out again, and they do! We always have trouble getting hats that fit (Ian has a big head and I have a small one), but these have a clever adjustment inside - never seen any like that before.
After lunch we took a taxi back to Darling Harbour (Barangaroo) and went to the sealife aquarium. We have been here before but it is a fabulous place and worth seeing again. These photos are just small taste of what it's like. It is right on the harbour and underneath.
We never saw any of these mermaids, but they had signs up inside about the dugongs.
Here at the start are little blue penguins. We see these a lot in the sea around NZ. Did you know NZ has the most species of penguin in the world?
I loved this display with various fish swimming in and out of an enormous whale spine and ribs.
Just looking when along came this weird fish, half walking, half swimming. I think it was called a lungfish but don't quote me on that.
An old diver helmet. Can you imagine wearing something that must have been so heavy?
Isn't she lovely? A ship figurehead.
Now we are topside again and above the big pool. In it are sharks, rays, and other fish.
Here is a ray at the side of the pool. You can see on the left part of the glass tunnel we will soon go in so we can see the fish better. Up top there is too much reflection to see what is happening. Soooo down we go....
Da dum, da dum
This is safest place to be with sharks.
Imagine cleaning those teeth every day.
This little girl had a little plushy toy penguin which she held up to the glass. You can see the penguin is interested and recognises it even though it's a toy.
So glad we caught this moment.
... and here they are underwater. They swim so fast you can't really capture them in photos.
This was a magic water floor. It has a picture of the sea on the wall and the image washes onto the floor, and when you walk on it you leave puddles in the image. Amazing.
and a selfie in the cavern.
more shark, I don't know what kind but it had a long nose!
This was a granddaddy fish.
"Let's be mermaids"
A neon sign on the way out.
As a kid I wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up. Seeing those giant sharks, I'm glad I didn't!
After a lovely day, we went back to the hotel for a group dinner, which was super. It started with about six tasting dishes entree, for mains I had swordfish steak and Ian had steak, finishing with a chocolate layered thingy. Delicious.
Goodbye Sydney. We are off the bed and an early start again tomorrow - off to the airport in the dark at 6.15am - to fly home. What a great time we've had.
Thanks for following us on our journey.
