I am a scientist. An Oceanographer to be exact. I started scuba diving with my family at the age of nine and I was hooked from day one. Every diver has a "bucket list," and mine started with the Great Barrier Reef. So, when my husband suggested that we go to Australia for two months, it didn't take me long to make the plans.
The Sydney Aquarium
We spent three weeks exploring Sydney before flying north to Queensland, and I had established a goal to prepare our 4 year-old-daughter for going out on the reef. With that thought in mind, we began our Sydney tourist experience at the Aquarium on Darling Harbour. It was a nice aquarium, and much to my delight, Ashleigh gravitated toward the touch pool to feel the starfish and feed the schooling fish. I was thrilled to see several organisms that I had never seen in person before: the lungfish, the Tasmanian giant crab, the blue-ringed octopus, the platypus. I felt a little like one of the European explorers in Tim Flannery’s books who sailed half-way around the world, years at sea, to discover a new southern continent and its strange inhabitants.
The aquarium was a hit. Introducing Ashleigh to Australian marine life was fun and exciting for both of us. We visited the seals, the large sharks, and we both loved the jellyfish displays. Ashleigh walked around a dark corner before I was able to get there, so I called to her, but she was silent. When I peeked around the corner she was standing at the beginning of an all-glass walkway with a look of amazement on her face. She wasn’t sure whether to be totally impressed, or scared out of her pants, and I was quite surprised when she decided on the “scared out of her pants” option. The floor was glass as well, and the entire walkway was surrounded by water. There was marine life swimming in all directions: sharks above, rays below, reef fish of every kind all around. She was clearly not comfortable with this scenario.
In an effort to end our aquarium visit on a positive note, I thought it would be a great idea for her to see the water from the other side and feed the fish herself. We paid the $15 fee to take the small boat across the little lagoon. We put on life jackets and climbed the stairs to the top, boarded the boat, and watched the guide pull us across the water using an overhead pulley-rope system. The rules were stated very clearly: “Do not stand up in the boat!” Ashleigh couldn’t see either the glass bottom or over the side, so of course she kept trying to stand up. I thought the guide was going to have a coronary every time she went to look over the side. So, I grabbed the back of her life jacket and commented, “maybe she can see better this way.” He still didn’t like it. I understand the liability involved here, but don’t invite small children to see something exciting and then tell them they have to sit down and be still. When we reached the middle of the lagoon, the guide handed Ashleigh a cup of food for feeding the fish. She threw the whole cup in.
“Uh oh, Mommy, I’m so sorry!” She looked like she was about to cry and the guide looked like he was about to scream. The next time I took the cup and poured some food into her hand. As she threw it overboard, hoards of fish, big and small instantly swarmed to fight over the food. At this sight, she was thrilled. We talked a little about how the fish eat, and the guide told us that the sharks are fed with a different kind of fish, one not found in this lagoon, starting at a very early age to help prevent them from eating all the fish around them. They are also fed frequently because no matter what your food preference, if you’re hungry, you’re going to eat.
Visiting Sydney With Kids?
Overall, the Sydney Aquarium was a great experience and is highly recommended for all ages. It is well-designed and gives visitors a decent exposure to marine organisms that are indigenous to Australian waters. The "Lagoon Boat Ride" may be more appropriate for children 6-10. Younger kids will have trouble seeing and understanding, while older kids will most likely find it highly overrated.
We have visited many aquariums around the world, and the Sydney Aquarium ranks near the top for us, not only because it is informative and has both indoor and outdoor features, but also because it gave us a chance to learn about organisms in a part of the world that was unfamiliar to us.
Personally, I was calling this preparation for an approaching trip to the Great Barrier Reef, and I was determined that Ashleigh would see it.
Ready or not.
April Christine - After several years of nearly perpetual travel, the author now lives in North Carolina with her husband and their two children. Growing ...
