Day 191 (December 30): Big Fun in WA

“Whats On” is the Down Under vernacular for current events. On Monday, after school, “Whats On” for us was spectacular. 

First, we headed up the coast about half an hour to the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). This is a very regional aquarium with a unique and fascinating underwater tunnel. I can’t do better than let the pictures speak for themselves. Henry, especially, loved every second of it.

The aquarium has other great exhibits, including a “danger zone” with tanks showcasing Australia’s infamously deadly species, such as the “bluey,” which happen to be about the size of a baseball, hard to photograph and quite lethal. I didn’t know “continuous recuscitation” was a thing but apparently its necessary to perform on a victim until the professionals arrive. 

Finally, AQWA has a “relaxation room” with IKEA chairs and wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows for viewing a coral reef environment. Henry said that he would stay forever if he could. It was quite obvious that he meant it.

Second, we went to another part of Kings Park. I don’t know exactly what to call it but I think it was the May Drive Parklands. If you go looking for this, it includes the Zamia Cafe, which is as nice as any casual restaurant you’ve every enjoyed only this one is in a beautiful park next to the best outdoor playground you or your kids have ever, ever seen.

One conspicuous element is the pond, which you can cross with a boardwalk to reach a playground on an island. Seriously. If there’s a kid who was ambivalent about playing something like “pirates” this will cure them of all indecision.

The boardwalk to the playground in the pond

A second element is the collective of large climbing sculptures resembling prehistoric animals. Just in case your child is a love of dinosaurs, dragons, climbing on stuff or all of the above, this provides an opportunity to walk in a very large circle, resisting the urge to play pirates, all to discover a new large animal and the other kids who have decided to climb and play there.

Then there is something that I guess I’d call a play structure. It’s really a giant fort. It might be a set from Lord of the Rings, complete with battlements. There’s climbing and running and jumping and that’s just in the first ten feet.

Adventure time!

These playstructures are also parent-proof. There are simply too many of them, they are too big and too spread apart to follow or possibly hover. It’s simply impossible. Fortunately, it’s also very enticing to give up. Maybe you got a coffee from the cafe or maybe you got a microbrew from their selection of taps. Either way, they have everything but a recreational pot dispensary there to serve the adults.

Lily had fun with my efforts to take a 360 picture of this slice of heaven

Speaking of adults, this is also a park for them. First, I say this because there is a more-than-adequate bathroom facility, which means you don’t have to panic when you’re child has to go to the bathroom. In fact, your child likely forgot that you existed a while ago and will just take themselves rather than leave the reverie of their imaginative play to consider their adult.

Another remarkable amenity is the gas grills, which are free. Let’s look at that again. There are high-quality, industrial grade gas grills. They’re just there. No hauling your BBQ. No hauling your 20 pound tank of gas or your bag of charcoal to pollute the air or start a fire.

Really, my only complaint is that the movies in the park was on break during the holidays. On the night we left, they will be showing the Greatest Showman. I’d have to apologize to everybody else for the way my kids sing along but hopefully everybody else would have kids belting out the songs as badly as my kids do. Afterall, the star (Hugh Jackman) is an Aussie. It’s probably a citizenship requirement to cover his movie rolls, right?

We rode our good luck right to an Indian restaurant in our neighborhood. It seemed like a really good chance to roll the dice on this one. Afterall, we need the kids to get used to eating bowls of rice with “stuff” that looks and smells quite different. We had a very upbeat server, which helped, though even the “mild” dishes were pretty spicy.

We had papadam, samosas, basmati and saffron rice and then saag panner, chicken tikka masala and butter chicken. Each kid had at least a taste of each, though - except for Lily - they mostly survived on rice. Even Ali and Cate rejected the mango lassi, which I thought they’d all devour. Yogurt! Mango! Sugar! Oh well.

It turns out that school, aquarium, park and exotic food means the kids will go to sleep by 8:30. Let’s consider it a good day, right?