I’ve gotten into a bad habit in Sydney – doing the same thing each time I visit for anything other than work. This time I’ve decided to play tourist to get out of the rut. Probably not the greatest time to do it given it’s school holidays.
I’ve signed up for a behind the scenes tour with an Aquarist at Sydney Aquarium. It turns out to be a one-on-one tour, and I’m lucky enough to have Ili, one of the shark wranglers as my tour guide. She does a fantastic job of conveying her enthusiasm for the animals under her management, and is full of anecdotes about all of them.
The Aquarium is justifiably proud of their role in raising their two rescued dugongs, who live up to their reputation as the ‘cows of the sea’. My 90 minute tour turns into 2.5 hours, including feeding the sharks at 11.00am.
The benefit of an early tour is that the Aquarium is pretty deserted at 9am. By the time I emerge at 11.30, it is school holiday hell. Kids, prams, parents with kids and prams, and god help us all, grandparents with kids and prams. Flees to nearest exit.
In stark contrast to yesterday, it’s a clear blue sky day in Sydney.
