Merimbula

We had a cold and windy but dry day in Merimbula today.  It was the 1st day in about a week that we haven't had any showers at all.  We got up a little later  accidentally this morning because the clock we were using was not set to day light savings time so we kept sending the boys back to bed telling them it was too early to get up when it was actually after 6 - their normal get up time.  We went to the Merimbula Aquarium and it was fantastic - it is on a wharf and cirulates fresh sea water though its tanks to support locally found species.  It has a huge ocean tank with a variety of species and round 20 smaller tanks support 1 or 2 species.  We went for feeding time which is a guided tour of the tanks talking about the fish, their habitat and their eating habitats and includes feeding of all the tanks.  The children seemed to really enjoy it and the guide was very informative.

Justin was impressed with a huge fish that could change colour from pink to purple to green to silver to blue, Sasha was engaging with a turtle that seemed to  be responding to her and kai kept wanting to go back to the (n)emo.  Ethan was interested in a large sea turtle that was being rehabilitated after a shark or dolphin attack, he is ready to be realsed but they will wait until early next year when the water is warmer to give him the best chance.  I was fascinated by the feeding method for the octopus.  They are very clever animals and need to exercise their minds, if they get bored it leads to stress and the octopus dies.  One way the aquarium keeps him busy is to give him his food in a screw top jar that he has to open to get out his meal.  It took him about 5 minutes.

From the aquarium we ironically went to the local fish monger and got some gummy shark and some king prawns.  There are several prawn and oyster farms in the area.  Everyone was very impresses with thier seafood and it looks like we are having it again for lunch - I'll stick to chicken though.  Kain even peeled his own prawn for the first time and was quite proud of him self.

We had a look at the beach in the arvo but is was too cold and windy so we doubled back and walk along the river instead. The children also enjoyed hand feeding the many parrots and birds that live in the park. Tomorrow we are going to have a look at Pamula which is the town on the other side of the lake.