Tuesday, October 27, was another rainy day, so we decided to embrace it and go to the aquarium. Most of the little tanks are nice but forgettable--there were two we liked. We spent a long time looking at a tiny tank of prawn-like creatures with huge front claws and a much smaller body. The largest one kept trying to climb up the large sticks but it failed again and again. We must have watched it try seven or eight times. I think it had just grown too large to climb up them. We were also entertained by a tank of leafy-looking sea horses. They look like kelp--there are some at the California Academy of Sciences.

We almost skipped the large tanks because I was thoroughly exasperated by the marketing at the aquarium. Practically every 10 feet there was another poster encouraging you to buy a ticket to Wilderness World or Sydney Tower or buy some candy or take a photo. I hate that crap. And frankly, outside the large tanks and the Great Barrier Reef exhibits, it really doesn't compare to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The large tanks were neat. Both had glass tubes that run along the sides so you could see some of the fish above your head. The first tank featured two dugong. They are a lot like manatees. They mostly waited for trays of romaine leaves (called 'cos' here) that were dropped to the bottom of the tank. The dugongs grazed on the leaves like cows, hence the nick name "sea cows". Despite their large size, they seem rather cuddly and gentle.

There were also large turtles, friendly sharks, and little fish swimming around. I'm guessing all these animals must be vegetarian since no one was chomping on anyone else. The turtles were super cute, diving down and then wedging themselves against a rock to take a cat nap. I approve of naps. I was also a fan of the animals that would rest on the top of the tubes, being all smooshed against the glass. The second tank had more sharks and big fish and giant sting rays.

The Great Barrier Reef area was fun! At the entrance was a medium-sized tank full of small, colorful tropical fish that schooled together going back and forth along the length of the tank...except one little clown fish that hung out by himself. Very Nemo-ish. I have to admit that Mom and I sat on the floor and watched the tank only to discover that there was a huge tank just a little further on. We took over the beach and sat there for a long time. We saw tons of fish, large small, some schools, angel-fish like ones, one that was large but blended into the surrounding coral. It was awesome. I think Mom must have taken a picture of every fish in the tank by the time we left. We had intended to go to the Great Barrier Reef but started planning so late that tickets were prohibitively expensive, and we pretended like this was our trip instead. Hee.

In the end I would recommend the aquarium but just for the large tanks and the Great Barrier Reef area.

And then It was time to go home for the day and have dinner.

Digression #1: You might be thinking, "Even if they spent four or so hours at the aquarium there's still a lot of day left. What on earth were they doing??". Well, for starters, a gimpy foot means taking lots of public transportation which means everything takes longer. Luckily like me, my mom is a fan of buses and trains. We also took frequent breaks like an extended lunch or coffee in the afternoon, with lots of chatting, of course.

At dinner time even though my mom normally likes control in the kitchen, she graciously allowed me to cook every night. She would sit down and work crossword puzzles or email Dad while I made dinner. We had more long, long chats over dinner and a glass of wine. Mom would wash the dishes (heaven!), and the we'd settle in for an evening of TV, mostly trashy reality TV like Australian Apprentice, Celebrity Masterchef, Ladette to Lady, and a few of my mom's favorite shows like The Mentalist and The Ghost Whisperer. And before you criticize that that's a lot of TV, it made for nice down time. I loved getting to cook for Mom!

Wednesday, October 28. At my request Wednesday was a day in. 3 weeks of constant sightseeing was getting to me. We spent the day reading, eating, and generally lolling about. We did check out the Borders bookstore at Bondi Junction and were it not for the high price tags, I would have come with many cookbooks. The mall was new and really nice. I'm sure I'll be back on a rainy day. Check out the Target above the Chanel store. I doubt you'd see that in the States. They had tons of cookbooks I'd never seen of chefs and restaurants local to Australia. I had a flat white at La Buvette later in the afternoon in Potts Point. Perfect coffee on a nice, warm, sunny day. In fact the weather was so nice I had to go get Mom and show her the park in Potts Point. We sat on a bench and baked and saw lorikeets and other birds. A lovely lazy day.

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