July: Fun at Sea World on the Gold Coast

My family and I got VIP passes which allows us unlimited entry into Sea World and few other amusement parks for this year. It was a gloriously sunny day when we went to Sea World. It is winter in Australia and I hate cold weather; so whenever it’s sunny in winter I see it as a fortuitous sign.  Sea World is more known for the marine animals than the rides, there are dolphins, penguins, polar bears and seals. It’s also very family friendly place which lots of kid shows and activities, ramps for strollers plus you can have your picture taken with Spongebob Squarepants and his friends. He does live in a pineapple under the sea so it’s only natural he’s a part of Sea World.

 

The first thing we did when we entered Sea World was have lunch. We had burgers, fries and some calamari. There’s lots of sea gulls and pigeons at the food court but they don’t bother anyone when the food court is full. The eating area is tightly compact so there’s not a lot of room for them to scurry under the tables and chairs when there’s a lot of people.

After we ate lunch, we went to the Dinosaur Discovery Centre where there are big robotic dinosaurs. The dinosaurs all had a feathery hides as it has been recently discovered that some dinosaurs had feathers.  Then we wandered over to watch the Fish Detective Sea Lion Show which was cute and corny with lots of gags from the animal trainers and sea lions.

We also went to the Ray Reef where you can feed the sting rays. The stingrays are in a big pool and you can put your hand in the water and touch and feed the sting rays. I think the barbs have been removed from the sting rays so they can’t sting you. The sting rays are docile and swim right up to your hand. The sting ray’s mouths on the underside of their body so you don’t have to worry about them eating your hand, I don’t think they even have teeth or if they do, it’s not so sharp. To me they feel like firm wet fish with no scales.

Then we went to see the emperor penguin exhibit. They have two viewing stations, one where you can the penguins swimming in the water and the other where they stand around. They are very fast swimmers and when they are not swimming they stand around with their wings outstretched trying to shield from the cold. It’s perfect for photos because they stand so still.

We also hurried to the dolphin show. The dolphins did various flips in the air. My family and I were sitting behind another family consisting of two little girls, their mother and grandparents. One of the little girls who looked about eleven was so excited that she stood up and her mum chastised her because people at the back wouldn’t be able to see. I didn’t mind that she stood up because she wasn’t that tall and I could see over her. Her mum was busy taking photos with her iphone and handed her daughter her camera to carry. The little girl didn’t want to hold it and tried to put the camera strap around her mum’s neck but the mum told her to keep still because she was messing up her shots. The little girl then stood up and walked over to her grandpa and gave him the camera. The mum chastised her again telling her that she ruined her shots and spoiled the show for the other people sitting behind her. After the show, the mum scolded her daughter and gave her a smack. I felt a bit sorry for that girl.

It was around four o’clock when the show finished and the park would close in an hour. So we started to walk back to the entrance. We walked to a little pool area along the way where you could touch some star fish and sea cucumbers. Then we went home.