We didn't quite meet our wake-up goal again today, which left us wondering if we could fit the aquarium in before boarding the ship. We had asked for a late checkout the night before, so we knew we had a little extra time, but would it be enough? We decided to go for it! We were so excited to see the Solstice out of our window when we woke up! We cruised (ha!) through breakfast and began our walk to the bus stop (getting smarter every day). We thought we could start checking in at 1pm, but when we walked past the ship, we realized we could drop our bags off now (10:00) and check-in at 3:30!
Change in plans! We hurried back to the hotel and quickly finished packing everything up. A very kind family helped us carry our bags down the stairs (there are all these staircases connecting streets in this part of town - it's pretty cool!) to the dock area. We were able to check in everything but M's backpack & my bag, which held most of our valuables. That felt good, and gave us more time at the aquarium!
This time we only stopped to buy a mug and some sunglasses (I forgot mine). The aquarium was fun! We saw sharks and lots of coral!
A shark!
We found Nemo!
This might be a Dugong. I can't remember for sure. Ii was eating a head of lettuce and I just remember thinking it looked like an underwater vacuum!
Yikes! Another shark!
This one has scary teeth!
There were so many of these reef tanks - I know it looks like a poster in this picture, but it's not! It was really beautiful.
Lady shark?
Little Blue Penguins (courtesy of K)
Glowing Jellyfish!
I wouldn't want to meet this guy in a dark alley.
A giant crab!
A crazy fish sitting on a shelf.
There were also some huge crabs & lobsters and lots of Dorys! After the aquarium, we walked across the harbor for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We walked across the Pyrmont bridge to get back to the bus and were so lucky that just as we were crossing, they closed the bridge for a demonstration!
This electric bridge swings open and shut in only 45 seconds to allow tall ships to pass through. So cool!
Once back at the dock, we got all checked in, hand-sanitized and headed to our cabin. It's small, but sufficient. They've made pretty good use of the space.
Our balcony is nice & we currently have a view of our hotel and the harbor bridge. We can feel the ship moving and are a little uncertain about how it's going to feel on the open sea. The kids (and us!) are so excited to explore so we decided to get out and look around. We opted for dinner in the buffet, which was fine, and checked out the Fun Factory. The kids talk about Fun Factory with excitement, but haven't actually asked to go back. M and I think it's a little sad. They talked to us about how we could leave the kids there for the whole day while we went on a shore excursion. No thanks!
After a little more exploring (and ice cream sundaes), we decided it was time for bed. We got to meet our stateroom attendant, Danny, who is from India. He pulled the bunk down from the ceiling & the kids have decided to take turns sleeping up there :).
Yay for Sydney and yay for the hotelo boat! By the way, C informed M today that in the language of China and Australia it's pronounced "hotel." ;)
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