Dim Sum with the Au's, Sydney Wildlife World and Aquarium

From left to right: Aunt Patricia (my mom's sister), me, Caitlin and Leanne

Left to right: Kailani (hiding behind a toy), Tutu, me, Caitlin, Aunt Patricia, Leanne and, the belated birthday boy, Uncle Henry



Kailani with "Bruce"

The underwater tunnel at the Sydney Aquarium

08.13.08: After a lazy morning of recovery from the day before, we finally made it on the Manly ferry to go back to Sydney. First, we met my Uncle Henry, Aunt Patricia and Cousin Leanne for a dim sum lunch in Chinatown. I’m so very grateful that we finally got the chance to see them! It had been years, but all still looked just as young and healthy as ever. They walked us over to the Darling Harbour area, where we parted ways and entered the Sydney Wildlife World.

The first part of this “zoo” was all the scary, deadly, yucky bugs and snakes that Australia is inhabited with. Then, it got better. After that was a display of the nocturnal animals, then kangaroos, koalas and butterflies. At the kangaroo area, we had the pleasure to meet an indigenous guide, Jimbinyan (I know I’m butchering his name!) who was a delight to talk to and gave us a brief didgeridoo lesson. Hopefully, Sean and Tutu remember what to do when they get home with use theirs. Anyway, if you see a new movie come out called To Hell and Back, he has the starring role.

Next door, we entered the Sydney Aquarium. Of course, Kailani especially liked seeing the coral reef exhibit, where Nemo, Marlin and Dorie live in the anemone. They also had a great walk through tunnel where the sharks (aka “Bruce”…for Kailani), stingrays (aka “Mr. Ray”), turtles (aka “Crush” and “Squirt”) and other sea creatures swam around you. If you don’t know about any of the names that I’ve mentioned, you will have to see the movie, Finding Nemo.

After some shopping and dinner at Darling Harbour, it got late really fast. After some annoyance trying to get back to Circular Quay with as little time and walk in the cold as possible (because taxi drivers couldn’t take all five of us in one cab and were a bit rude about it), we finally made it back home for another late night collapse. As you might be able to tell, the afternoon’s attractions were really more for Kailani than for any of us. But, I think we all enjoyed it as well.