We got some great tips from the owners of Pebble Beach about the best times to visit the National Aquarium of New Zealand to make the most of our visit so headed over at 9.30 to catch the penguin feeding, followed by he hand feeding of the fish at 10am.
Now if you have kids chances are that you have at least one who is obsessed with Megladons (if you are not sure what these are have a google for some awesome pictures!). For us it is our youngest daughter who absolutely loves them so she was stoked to find a huge Megladon jaw that she could stand inside when we first went in and then to discover all the sharks swimming above her in the aquarium although she was disappointed there were no Megladons (yes, we know they’re extinct).
The highlight for all 3 girls was the feeding. I’ve been to many an animal feeding before so I braced myself for 10 minutes of interesting facts that would slip right out of my head minutes after I heard them while we jostled in a crowd of like minded parents. Even the kids weren’t overly enthused at the idea.
The reality however was quite different. It was entertaining and down right hilarious at points. The diver in the aquarium was paired up with a speaker on the outside who took us through a hilarious routine which included the diver flipping, playing air guitar, blowing up a balloon and interacting with the kids on the other side of the glass – while feeding the fish. It was great!
I expected to be out in an hour but we spent 2 and a half hours here so was money really well spent. A must do when you are in Hawkes Bay with kids (even those of us who think we’ve seen it all at Kelly Tarltons). You can find out more about them here.
