Today we student ambassadors are headed for Sea World!
Met Naftalia at Roma Street Station at 7ish to catch the 7:56am train to Gold Coast. Met Helen on the train and the rest came in at the various stops :) Poor Echo woke up earlier than she needed to because she caught the train from the city when she could have boarded at Coopers Plains Station! But all's gooood :)
Upon reaching Helensavale station, we boarded the bus and we were on our way to Seaworld. We met up with Robert, who presented us with an Australian Outback tote bag which contains several sheets of student discount cards, a list of attraction highlights, brochure and a park map. He offered us some advice on how we should go about spending the day at Seaworld before leading us in.
Group shot!
We wanted to take the monorail to have a quick look-see of the theme park but we hafta wait for 20 minutes so we gave up and decided to walk instead. It turns out that we didn't have much luck with the monorail today because later in the day when we took the monorail, it faced some technical difficulty after we pulled into one of the monorail stations.
Pelicans. They were really huge. The smell smacked me right in the face as I tried to get closer to snap a picture. But funnily as I passed them several times later in the day, they didn't smell as bad.
Oh yeah, first stop: amusement rides! There were just a few rides that we took, namely the Jet Rescue, SeaViper and the Vikings Revenge Flume Ride. Thank God we didn't get too wet on the flume ride and it was really sunny so we could dry out fairly quickly.
Then we checked out the polar bears! They were white, not green like those in Singapore Zoo =X Robert says that we gotta check out the enclosure because sometimes the polar bears don't come out to play. I was lucky enough to see them all the time when I passed by their enclosure, some of the ambassadors aren't so lucky. I even saw them roll in the dirt and they transformed from white polar bears to the usual brown bears hahaha!
Very... Lion King. We just need to burst out into a song "and the circle of life....."
Then we rushed to catch the dolphin show!
Such beautiful animals :) One of the trainers even stood up on the noses of two dolphins at the end of the performance. WOW.
After that we went to catch a documentary called Ocean Rescue at the Sea World Theatre. It is 20 minutes long and basically it follows the Research and Rescue team's efforts to save entrapped and injured marine animals. These guys are on call 24 hours everyday and the team have specialised equipment to ensure that rescue operations can be initiated swiftly and efficiently.It was particularly moving and inspiring to me, I've always talked about wanting to make a difference but these guys here, they ARE making a difference in their everyday lives - from saving dolphins afflicted with terrible shark bites, caring for the animals they have rescued, beached whales and freeing animals from nets and clearing nets. Ok, screw fashion. I'm gonna be part of the Marine Rescue team. Okay, maybe after I've learnt how to swim.
People can get upclose and personal with the marine animals through the Animal Adventures programme available at Sea World.
You can spend time with dolphins...
You can go snorkeling...
You can take the glass bottom boat at Shark Bay, like what Maria did and see the sharks swim right under your feet...
Oh look, I see Dory! She's not a doryfish, she's a blue tang
You can touch sea creatures at the touch pools.
Kinda rough to the touch. Makes me think of the starfish and the whole marine tank we used to have at home.
Sea cucumbers. They are really soft and slightly slimy to the touch! They feel so weird I have no other words to describe them. If I place my finger at a spot and not move, there will be some kinda depression in that area. Just plain weird!
Then Nitin and I went over to see the stingrays... So cute! They come gliding, flapping along the sides and their skin is smooth to the touch!
After that, we went to get lunch at the food court. We had Domino's vegetarian Pizza. Hmmm, I prefer Pizza Caper's, but when you're a vegetarian with limited options you can't be choosy. Maria joined us after her glass bottom boat ride and then after lunch, we decided to take the monorail but it broke down on us so we got off at the stop and walked to the Fish Detectives show, which stars sea lions.
When the show ended, we popped by Penguins exhibit. They were making noises and wriggling their little butts, so adorable!
Sea World didn't exactly rank high on my list of attractions as compared to attractions such as Movie World or Wet n' Wild. It's possible to spend the entire day at the theme park - if you are there with your family with kids because they will be thrilled at seeing Sesame Street characters and there are many rides catered for kids. For young adults like me, nay it's not that awesome. But Sea World is more than just a theme park. After visiting Sea World and understanding where they come from, it changed my mind and I think people ought to visit the place at least once should they visit the Gold Coast. This is a place where stranded animals receive care and attention, injured animals get rehabilitated and people get to learn more about these marine animals through water-based interactions.
That's my day at Sea World. If I ever go back again, I would wanna do the "Trainer for a Day" animal adventure and learn how to train and care for these marine animals. :)
Maria gave us a lift to the Valley and I went by Nitin's place in West End and we just hung out before I met up with bestie for dinner at Happy Days.
Just a nice picture of the sunset from Nitin's place. A wonderful end to a great day :)
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