G'day mate! Experience Australia Day 5

The second last day of the trip was spent at Sea World.



Sea World is Queensland's Gold Coast's oldest theme park, having been started in 1958 as Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens at Carrara and later renamed and relocated to Sea World Drive in 1971.

It showcases wonders of marine life, and its main attraction continues to be the waterski show with water skiers doing acrobatic formations and jumps and the dolphin show where dolphins cavort, do synchronised jumps, and generally indulge in showing off to their audience.

With heavy rain and chilly winds the previous night, we were wondering whether we would have to cancel our plans to go Sea World today. As it turns out, the weather was fine in the morning, and we decide to go ahead and get the tickets.

It was slightly more chilly today than the other days. The temperature ranged between 9 to 18 degree celsius (Brrr....)

As we reached Sea World before it opened, we waited awhile outside, withstanding the chilly winds that blew from the waterway nearby.

Outside Sea World:



A huge water sight greeted us once we enter Sea World.







First on our itinerary was the Dugong Discovery.



The dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. Majority of the dugong population live in the northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay. (Dugong watching was one of the activities at Tangalooma Wild Dolphin resort, Moreton Bay.)

Dugong is often associated with the mermaid myth. This was related to a 5000-year old Dugong Neolithic Wall Painting that was discovered in Ipoh's Gua Tambun. When seen from above, the top half of a Dugong or Manatee appears similar to that of a human woman, and coupled with the tail fin, mariners in the ancient times often mistook these animals as mermaids, and often many mermaid sightings reported are more likely to be flukes than facts.

In actual fact, dugongs are more like sea elephants than mermaids. I'm amazed by how gracefully they can swim with their rather, *cough*, fat bodies. Their ease in water is likely attributed to their streamlined bodies.





Dugongs' diet consist mainly of seagrass. They are often seen eating or chewing due to their large diet requirements (tons of grass everyday).

A huge Dugong skull on display at the Dugong Discovery.



Guess who we saw after we left the Dugong Discovery:



Pelicans!

I don't actually like pelicans, but i was surprised by the huge population gathered there. And they actually look rather beautiful!





Other sights along the way.







We went over to the Sesame Street Beach area to take some photos and look around.
This area is also mostly for kids. There's even a Sesame Street show, where kids' favourite characters such as Cookie Monster, Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie etc. will sing and dance. h/e you'll have to pay (nt a very small) fee to get your photographs with them, which i find rather ridiculous.











The Dolphin Nursery pool was just near the Sesame Street area, and not very far from the entrance. It was amazing to see the baby dolphins and their mothers just right in front of you. One baby dolphin practically waved and popped out its head, seemingly very pleased to see so many visitors "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" at it.





Awww.. the baby dolphin(s) are super adorable!!!
I almost couldn't tear myself away from the nursery pool, cos the baby dolphin was so endearing and kept popping out of the water, and it really looks so happy!











After finally having our fill of looking at and taking photos of the baby dolphins, we went off for the Imaging Dolphin Show. It was a wonderful show.



Dolphins are very smart creatures, and can be very well-trained to do all sorts of stunts, as everyone knows. Over here, the dolphins know how to do coordinated leaping stunts, can push their trainers from underwater into the air using their snouts, and can even let their trainers stand on them and "ski"!





Nice picture of dolphin and young girl audience during the interaction time.











Penguins.



Next: Fish Detectives Sea Lion Show.

This show is qt hilarious, in the sense that it is not the usual animal show where animals will perform the stunts to audiences' applause. There is a story (comedy in fact) involved, where the two Sea Lions, 'Buddy' and 'Clawde' are fish detectives who assist in bringing this bad guy "Big Al Baloney" to justice for depleting the harbours' fish supply.







Haha.. quite a cute pose.



Next, we went to see the Polar Bears.

The only Polar Bears in Australia are found in Sea World.

The exhibit imitates a near-natural Artic Summer environment with wind generation, misting and fogging, rain simulation, creeks, waterfalls and natural vegetation. Visitors can see the Polar bears swimming and playing with each other and/or with toys through large underwater viewing windows.











We went on to Shark Bay, which to me is another highlight of Sea World.



It's the world's largest man-made lagoon system for sharks and houses some of the most awe-inspiring of the species in an innovative exhibit.

The two-level exhibit provides spectacular viewing for visitors both above-water as well as underwater through three 10 x 3 metre windows (from ceiling to floor), allowing visitors to come face to face with the large sharks, stingrays and a range of exotic tropical fish.

A touch pool from above-water, for visitors to have direct interaction with some of the sea creatures, mainly starfish and some other shell fishes.



The underwater exhibits. They're truly breath-taking, and you cant take your eyes off the wide variety of fishes and coral reefs they have here. Unlike a usual "acquarium", this is a lagoon system with the glass walls for visitors to see through. I can even see fishes swimming over from afar in the lagoon.



A huge stingray which swam pass from above.



Another sting ray. This one is quite beautiful.





Sharks! Lots and lots sharks. They look qt intimidating.













Hammer head shark:



Shoals of fishes in the lagoon.



We went to take the cable car for an aerial view of the Park.









The Corkscrew Roller-coaster.



Compared to the one at Dream World and the Superman Escape at Movie World, this was nothing. We also took the water ride, Bermuda Triangle, which was not that fantastic too. Looks like Dream World has the best rides after all.





Some final shots of the dolphins at the nursery pool before we left:






Next day was our last day in Australia, where we spent the morning strolling on the Main Beach, checking out and shopping at Direct Factory Outlet near the airport.

This trip was very relaxing yet fun at the same time, and a pity we did not plan for a longer trip so that we can go Sydney or Perth also. I make it a point to come back to Australia again to see the Great Barrier Reefs someday.

P.S. Look out for my next trip to Canada in Oct.