March 9th
Today was my first full day in Sydney and with the cyclone Hamish sitting off the coast it did not look like the best of days for going to the beach.
It gave me the perfect excuse to check out the Australian Aquarium and the Maritime Museum. Luckily it being a Monday neither one of them was very busy. Australia knows how to put on a good Aquarium, it has two tanks that had two walk through tubes in them. One was full of manatee like animals and the other was full of skates and rays and sharks. They were very impressive. I was more interested in seeing some of the fish and critters that I was going to see in the Great Barrier Reef and spend a bit of time just looking at what I was soon going to get up close and personal with. I also found out that sea horses and sea dragons live in the Australian waters. I hope to see a sea horse when I go diving but may not work out, but would still be very cool. It is one of those animals I have always wanted to see in the wild.
It gave me the perfect excuse to check out the Australian Aquarium and the Maritime Museum. Luckily it being a Monday neither one of them was very busy. Australia knows how to put on a good Aquarium, it has two tanks that had two walk through tubes in them. One was full of manatee like animals and the other was full of skates and rays and sharks. They were very impressive. I was more interested in seeing some of the fish and critters that I was going to see in the Great Barrier Reef and spend a bit of time just looking at what I was soon going to get up close and personal with. I also found out that sea horses and sea dragons live in the Australian waters. I hope to see a sea horse when I go diving but may not work out, but would still be very cool. It is one of those animals I have always wanted to see in the wild.It was still a bit overcast but luckily the rain had stopped when I went to the Maritime Museum. Their big claim to fame is having four different vessels that they let the tourist walk through. They ha
ve a Navy ship, a submarine, the Endeavor,(the ship which Captain James Cook took when he discovered Australia) and a tall ship called the James Craig. The two older ships were the ones I was most interested in, having worked on a Tall Ship I was curious how different theirs was to the Pilgrim of Newport. I will say that the submarine was pretty impressive. If nothing else, it amazed me that 68 men would live in something that small. There didn’t seem room to breath much less work and not want to kill your shipmates. The Endeavor and the James Craig were impressive as well and made me miss the days that I use to sail on ships like that. There were plenty of volunteers on board who were happy to tell me a bit of the history of the people and the ships and how they were restored and brought back to life. They even take the James Craig out with tourist occasionally.
ve a Navy ship, a submarine, the Endeavor,(the ship which Captain James Cook took when he discovered Australia) and a tall ship called the James Craig. The two older ships were the ones I was most interested in, having worked on a Tall Ship I was curious how different theirs was to the Pilgrim of Newport. I will say that the submarine was pretty impressive. If nothing else, it amazed me that 68 men would live in something that small. There didn’t seem room to breath much less work and not want to kill your shipmates. The Endeavor and the James Craig were impressive as well and made me miss the days that I use to sail on ships like that. There were plenty of volunteers on board who were happy to tell me a bit of the history of the people and the ships and how they were restored and brought back to life. They even take the James Craig out with tourist occasionally.The weather continued to get better and I was able to spend the afternoon in Sydney’s version of Central Park. I sat in a little outdoor café and had a nice glass of wine and watched the world go by. It was a nice way to end an easy and fun day in the city.
Cute pix Amy. :) and that boat looks awesome. I love old boats.
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