Melbourne & Melbourne Aquarium

Melbourne was a quick stop; just one day in Melbourne and our day at Werribee Zoo. We absolutely made Rory's day (week, and maybe even his year) by catching a train into Melbourne for the day and doing a City Circle loop on the tram. He loves all things transport – planes, helicopters, trains and especially the tram.

We started our day at the Melbourne Aquarium. It was good to see some of the sea creatures up close and personal (and very good that some of them were behind glass.... and very thick glass at that!) There were a couple of exhibits I especially enjoyed. Of course, one of the was the weedy and leafy sea dragon tank. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love these creatures :)

Love them!!!

I really liked the massive, circular reef tank they have. The tank has all sorts of tropical reef fish.  These fish seem to spend all day just swimming circles around and around the tank. I can't help but wonder if they are bored or if they think they are swimming miles because the scenery outside the tank (the people looking in) changes regularly.

I also really enjoyed the penguin display. They have two different types of penguins – King Penguins and the Gentoo Penguin. The King Penguins were the more majestic looking but they just stood around not doing much while the  Gentoo Penguins swam in the tank, climbed up on rocks and dived in, so were more entertaining.

The other thing at the aquarium that was quite fun was a 4D animated film, called No Time for Nuts, based on the Ice Age movies. This is a very cool experience. The 10 minute movie is in 3D and then there are added touches of activity to make it 4D, like when an arrow got shot at  Scrat's head and you felt a puff of air at your head or when he went into a waterfall and you got sprayed with water.

Tilda liked the yellow tang the best.

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 (Photo credit: Tilda)

When I asked Rory what he liked most about the Melbourne Aquarium his answer was “trams and trains”. Good thing we didn't have to pay for his entry!

After the museum we did a City Circle loop on the historic tram. Rory was in his element... he was as happy as a dog with its head out the window.

We were in Melbourne on ANZAC day so we didn't get to see the town at its busiest, which was good in many regards, but in some ways it was a bit sad as the town seemed run down and dirty, which I am sure it is not. 

A trip to Melbourne without kids sure would be a different experience... and one I hope to enjoy one day in the (hopefully) not too distant future.