Sydney Sights...
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
1
151
188
Trip End
Jun 28, 2009
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Friday, March 6, 2009
Today we went to the Sydney Aquarium to see platypus and dugongs, and we saw a lot of other things too. The platypus were smaller than I expected and very cute. They live mostly on land and actually hunt for food using electrical currents, so they close their eyes, ears, and noses when they swim. They are mammals so have live babies and their closest relative is an echidna. Some people don't know this, but they can be dangerous because they have a very sharp spur on their back foot.
The dugongs are sometimes called sea cows, but their closest relative is an elephant
Me in front of the Endeavor, Cook's ship
! They are huge and look harmless and very kind. They just float around eating sea lettuce and things like that. They are related to the manatees at my Grandma Judi's house in Florida.We also saw a Salt-water Crocodile, who was HUGE! You can tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator by their teeth. Both the top and bottom teeth of crocs can be seen when they close their mouths and alligators only show their top teeth. Australia only has crocs, but they have salt and fresh water crocs.
And we saw lots and lots of sharks of all kinds, like leopard sharks, nurse sharks, great whites, and lots of small ones.
Plus we saw a mudskipper! I can now prove they are real to Indrajit and other people who did not believe me! They are small fish that live on the bottom of the river and can walk on land if they have to.
After the Aquarium, we rode the monorail around Sydney and did some shopping for things like Crocs (the shoes - mine broke and Lu lost hers on the plane), and just explored Sydney.
But before the Aquarium, we went to three ships: the Vampire, a naval destroyer, the Onslow, a submarine, and the Endeavor, Captain James Cook's boat that explored the waters of Australia and other places. It was the first time I have ever been on a submarine and it was cool. I don't think I would like to work on one, though. This submarine carried 66 men and it had torpedos and missles
Driving the Endeavor
. If it was hit or started gaining water, there were three ways to escape: go out the escape hatch after you gulp some oxygen, put on a wet suit that works up to 600 feet and go through the escape hatch and try to make it up, or wait for the rescue boat inside the sub. None are very good escape routes! The men ate mostly eggs and sausages and were on the sub for up to 10 weeks. They could only take one shower a week and it was 45 seconds long! The best part was the Endeavor, which is an exact replica of Capt. Cook's ship that he used to explore Australia and other places. It was really cool and it still sails today. Joseph Banks, a 24 year old rich Englishmen paid for this trip, so he got to stay in the Captain's quarters. He brought two artists and an astronomer because they were trying to see Venus, the planet, in Tahiti. These men all got their own cabins, but the rest of the crew had to sleep in hammocks. There were two boys that were 12 years old on this trip! Men could make a fire and eat fish or rats if they caught them. If they got drunk on duty or talked back to the Captain or an officer, they got punished by being whipped with the cat of nine tails whip, which I saw. It has nine small whips on the end of a big whip. This is where the say, "Let the cat out of the bag" comes from. The Endeavor crashed into the Great Barrier Reef, but they repaired it and it made it back to England. Cook made two other voyages to find the Great Southern Land and to determine the existence of the Northwest Passage. He was killed by natives in Hawaii on that voyage.
Tonight we are going to Rosemary and Francis's house for dinner, then we leave for New Zealand tomorrow. Good on ya, Sydney!
