After lots of re-scheduling, we finally went to the aquarium. It was kind of funny how it worked out, because we rescheduled it to accomodate for more people, but it turned out that it was just myself and DJ Sweden who could go... but we had a lot of fun anyways.
We both woke up in the morning late, and ran to catch a bus. I didn't really have time to look at the directions before we left, which proved to be an unwise decision, but we were in a hurry.
We started off catching a bus to Canning Bridge train station, just like the regular going into the city, but I couldn't stop sneezing, so we stopped off at Hay street so I could get a fruit smoothie (I'm not sure why I thought this would help, but it did).
After running to get it, we ran back to the train station, because our next train to the North was going to depart. Both of us had never been to the North of Perth before, since there's not much really up there but houses (or so we thought). Anyways, the train arrived, and we jumped on it, expecting (because of google maps) a 15 minute journey.
30 minutes later, we arrived at our "destination" which was Clarkson station. We walked out to the bus terminal, and attempted to catch the 456, but it was nowhere in sight... The only buses available were in the 480 range...
Being a little bit confused, we eventually asked for assistance.
After talking to someone from Transperth who helped us, we figured out that we had in fact missed the station we meant to get off at - 6 stations ago, and we were at the end of the line... Which probably explains why we were seeing the outback from the side of the train.
It also explains why we were on the train for 15 minutes longer than we intended to be.
We then proceded to get back onto the train, and travel the extra 15 minutes to go back to the correct bus stop.
After getting on the correct bus, our excitement began to increase. We hadn't really researched the aquarium before we went to it, we only looked at the prices, and opportunities, because we didn't want to spoil it for ourselves.
It was located in a really nice neighbourhood... Two story houses (which are a big thing for Perth), bricked driveways, and nice cars. It kind of felt strange being on a bus going through that neighbourhood Anyways, we get off the bus and discover that we are not only at the aquarium, but the aquarium is located at this awesome marine harbour / boardwalk thing, with at least 2000 people there as well.
Needless to say we were really excited. There was a food court, with at least 10 different shops, as well as cafes, restaurants, tons of shopping stores, and plenty of stuff to do. There was even a beach, waterslides, a ropes course, it was awesome.
We said to each other "I think the train derailed and we were killed, because this place is heaven".
We chilled on the peer again, and then decided to go looking for the aquarium. It was 20 bucks to get in on a student concession, so not too shabby.
Once we got in, it was actually an incredible amount of fun. We spent a lot of time looking at fish, and it was right on the ocean, so it was pretty relaxing. The best part, was shared by two experiences.
The first was this ocean tunnel room. We went down a bunch of stairs, and then got on a luggage conveyer belt (the type you see at the airport). The conveyer belt took us into this glass tunnel that went through this ocean tank. Fish were swimming all around us, and the look on our faces in the picture was basically glued to our faces for the entire duration. There were huge sharks twice as big as me swimming around, and sea turtles bigger than me. There were tons of big and little fish, and the entire experience was just awesome.
The other highlight of the aquarium was something that I think was designed for kids (although I had a lot of fun with it). It was a touch tank, where you got the opportunity to touch starfish, sea cucumbers, Fiddler rays, and some time of shark which I forget the name. We spent quite a bit of time touching the fish, and they were a lot different than what I expected them to feel like. The shark had a rough skin, which it looked like it had, but the fiddler ray felt almost furry when you touched it. It kept coming up to the surface of the tank, and flapping around, which was incredibly cool.
After seeing plenty of fish and other marine life, we left the aquarium, got some food at the food court, walked around, explored a little more, fought off birds, and then caught the train back home. All in all it was a pretty awesome day if you ask me. I wish I had discovered this place a lot earlier. If you're in Perth, make sure you check out the Aquarium of Western Australia.
Once we got in, it was actually an incredible amount of fun. We spent a lot of time looking at fish, and it was right on the ocean, so it was pretty relaxing. The best part, was shared by two experiences.
The other highlight of the aquarium was something that I think was designed for kids (although I had a lot of fun with it). It was a touch tank, where you got the opportunity to touch starfish, sea cucumbers, Fiddler rays, and some time of shark which I forget the name. We spent quite a bit of time touching the fish, and they were a lot different than what I expected them to feel like. The shark had a rough skin, which it looked like it had, but the fiddler ray felt almost furry when you touched it. It kept coming up to the surface of the tank, and flapping around, which was incredibly cool.
