It is pouring down rain today. It is also the day of David's panel session for his International Conference on Information Systems, so he was gone most of the morning. When he got back, we packed a lunch and headed for the aquarium. It was a little over three miles away along the waterfront, and we were walking into the wind the entire way. It seemed like no matter which direction we turned, we were walking into the wind.
When we arrived at the aquarium, we were sheltered from the wind and it was a nice temperature outside, so we sat outside and had lunch overlooking the water with a view of Auckland in the background.
It was nice to get out of the wind and rain and go into the aquarium. We really enjoyed walking around and looking at everything. Our first stop was the penguins. They were so cute and several kept swimming right up to greet us.
Then we headed above ground and several penguins waddled over to us here as well. It was nesting time, so there were many babies snuggling into their mothers.
There was also an area for the Polar Plunge (keep your hand in arctic-cold water) and Jason was the clear winner!
Then it was on to the sting rays. This was probably my favorite. There is something so relaxing to me just watching them glide around peacefully. At one point I sat down next to one for about five minutes. When I got up to leave, he waved goodbye. I didn't take any pictures, but it is still very clear in my mind!
On to the sharks. Jason and I really got caught up in it!!!
I have to say, they didn't look scary at all, rather friendly to be honest. I liked to see all of their teeth as they swam over my head. I loved walking through the tunnel under the water where they were swimming.
One of my favorite fish in this walk around display was the puffer fish. He would puff up really big when he got scared, but by the time I got the camera ready, he was normal again. This one had really big eyes and I love the cute little orange guy peeking out from below.
We had fun looking at all the fish from "Finding Nemo". David took this awesome picture of Nemo, himself...
and Dori too...
The sea horses were posers...
And this was Danika's favorite fish. She really wanted to take him home...
All in all a pretty good way to spend a rainy day. Now we are back at the apartment and getting organized to pack up. We leave tomorrow for Hobbiton.
We had another Indian curry for dinner and it was fabulous! It is so nice to have access to good Indian food, and really nice to just be hanging out in the apartment enjoying the balcony.
After dinner we packed up and then David and I went for a walk looking for the Christmas lights on Franklin street. We never made it as our shin splints were killing us (the result of the coast to coast hike). We got really tired and it was getting late, so we headed back. However, it was lovely walking down by the wharf and watching the misty clouds move in and out amongst the skyscrapers.
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