Hubby is about to start his summer of travel for work and the Century Flight Club, and on Tuesday I start my summer of travel on the Rocky Mountaineer train. What'll probably happen is I'll be home while he's out in the Prairies somewhere measuring a fast food outlet, and I'll be home. Or I'll be on the train in the middle of the Rockies while he's home. And when we both happen to be home, there's a thousand things that need to be scheduled in. This is one of our last "free" weekends, so we spent a rainy, cold Vancouver Sunday exploring some of the attractions in my Tourism Challenge passport.
We've both been to the Vancouver Aquarium many, many times. I like it more than Hubby. He's of he "once you've been, you've seen it all" mindset and doesn't need to go back. I on the other hand, can spend hours there and see something new to me each time. But he agreed to spend the morning with me, and I think he enjoyed it. Well, there was no grumbling, so that's a good sign.
I real life I am not fond of jellyfish. Blame it on the nasty Jellyfish in Queensland, I got stung by. (Not a deadly Irukandji, just some minor species that left tentacle marks and an ugly rash on my leg). At the Aquarium they look so pretty and harmless.
One thing we haven't done before is watch the 4D movie. Right now they are only playing one movie - Dora and Diego's 4D Adventure - Catch that Robot Butterfly. Not my first choice by any means. The last time we were here the queue for the 4D theatre was huge. It was like a 3 movie wait, so we figured we'd better go now while we had the chance. The movie was cute. The 4D effects were fun, like the It's Tough To Be A Bug or Mickey's Philharmagic 3D Movies at Disney World. If you have kid's in the Dora age group, you should take them.
After the movie, our next stop was the Amazon Gallery. A baby marmoset was born on April 15, and if possible I wanted to see it. I always forget how hot it is in the Amazon gallery. I know the Amazon it hot, but given that it was cold outside my mind didn't quite compute that the exhibition would be unbelievably warm. Hubby was fascinated by the bat cave. Bats creep me out. I'm glad I don't have to go in and put their food out. Yeach. The baby marmoset was so cute. Not very big. He/she was tough to spot riding on the mother's back. Tiny. No flash allowed = crappy photos = no photos. I did however take a photo of these Hyacinth Macaw who were so posing for the cameras.
We spent a bit of time watching the belugas and reading about the receding ice cap, and the temperature warming at the Arctic, before heading outside to watch the Sea Otter presentation. I know they are not big, nor do they do any spectactular tricks like whales or dolphins or porpoises, but I think Sea Otters are adorable. I could watch them for ages, if it weren't for the fidgety hubby beside me.
We sent about 2 hours at the Aquarium, I could easily have spent longer, but hubby was showing signs of being done. The Aquarium is not cheap. $21.00 per adult. With a membership being only $58.00, it's a better deal. That $58.00 gets you unlimited visits all year, one free guest pass (one time use only ), 10% off other guest visits, 20% off animal encounters, and 20% off at the cafe and gift shop. With a membership it'd be easy to drop in for an hour or so, grab a drink and be on your way without having to worry about getting your money's worth. Two visits and you're pretty much covered.