A must do was a visit to see the penguins, so we set off for Kelly Tarlton’s. We arrived about ten minutes before they were about to feed the penguins, enough time for a play on the Snow Trac buggy and Alpine II snow mobile.  James thought this was fantastic.

Penguins eat/swallow the fish whole, no chewing.  They can catch their fish while swimming as they have a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip those slippery fish.  It looks quite bizarre to see a tiny penguin chick swallow quite large fish in one gulp.

We went on a snow cat ride and saw the baby penguin chicks up really close.  They were living in a little pen and couldn’t go in the water. Some of the younger babies were still living with their Mummy. Jennifer was excited to learn that the penguins find a partner and they keep walking with their partner until it is time to lay their eggs, she thought this was very friendly.

We all enjoyed the snow cat ride and after lunch decided to go on it again.  There were so many penguins on the ice and they are just so cute.  The ride took you through a simulation of driving a snow cat in real life snow conditions, it was amazing how disorienting it must be for those drivers.  Jennifer was impressed to see a seal display, they explained how the seals are food for the sharks and we couldn’t believe her telling us that it was one of her favourite parts on the ride.

We all went in a submarine and assumed the role of the driver.  It was quite impressive as you pulled the lever it moved up and when you pushed the lever down the sub went down.

We watched the baby school sharks being fed, they will grow to about 3 metres long.  It was definitely a place to keep those fingers well out of the water.

We enjoyed the aquarium, James and Jennifer stood on a step as we rode around the travelator watching the big sharks and fish. Jennifer’s favourite shark was the flower shark and James was impressed by the huge stingray.