A few of us (The Second Quarter, my girl JZ, Liz and I) visited Kelly Tarltons last week, which is Auckland’s Aquarium. It’s been a while since I was there last, and its changed a fair bit. They’ve switched the way you come in (so the entrance is now the exit, and the exit the entrance) which confused me for a bit.

The tunnels are still the same, for which I’m glad. They have these giant underwater tunnels, which have glass domes and converbelts, which mean you can wander through the tanks and watch the fish and sharks and things swim above you. I have some pretty fond memories of camping overnight in the tunnels on a school trip when I was all of six years old.

The penguins are still delightful (watching them swim in and out of the water is pretty amazing) and I’d forgotten how giant the sting rays were. They’ve also added a cafe, and the interactive area I probably would have appreciated more if I was maybe 20 years younger, or had children. Still, JZ and I climbed all over the sculptures and things they had. The Second Quarter broke one of the displays demonstrating the strength of a squids sucker rings.

Generally a fun time was had. It was a pretty brilliant way to spend an afternoon.