Australia Day Eight: In which T.R. takes the lead

T.R. was in charge of today’s itinerary. He chose to go to the Sydney Aquarium first. I am never happy with my pictures of things in aquariums, perhaps because I have never taken the time to figure out the best settings on my camera to get good photos under those conditions. Someday I will reform. Until then, you will have to imagine the coolness of the dugongs, the platypus (apparently that is the plural as well as the singular form), the giant crabs and lobsters, huge rays, extremely poisonous jellies, adorable penguins, and lots of tasty fish. I always want sushi when I’m in an aquarium. T.R. says I am a sick person. We did not, in fact, eat sushi for lunch, mostly because I did not want to sort out an affordable sushi restaurant in a major tourist hub.

Refreshed by our meal, we trekked to the Powerhouse Museum, which is one of the coolest places I have seen. Currently, they have a Harry Potter exhibit, in which we were not allowed to take pictures. I’m fine with that as long as the shop offers postcards. No luck today. I was also irritated that one could buy a complete set of movies, but not a single one of the books. I now feel the need to watch all the movies over again and to read all the books again. I did get a photo of the Weasley’s car flying over the entrance to the exhibit, which was allowed:



Fortunately for me, the exhibit on Korean metalwork contained at least a few weapons. I got to do a speed look at the various adornments and art pieces while T. argued with the sword classifications listed on the informative placards.

Then I did a horrible thing. I made T.R. see the exhibit on lace. To see any of it, I had to promise to go at high speed, so I do not really know the background as to why a technical museum would have lace in it, much less give a prize for it. However, I do know that seeing wire lace incorporated into chain link fence is totally awesome. I have a plot to return with Brent and/or Syd so I can look more while the others drool over the steam engines and such.

Ah, yes, the steam engines. There are lots and lots of steam engines. A giant one built by Boulton and Watt dominates one big space. It worked in a brewery for 100 years before ending up in the museum. We saw steam fire trucks, steam looms, steam carousel horses:



Also a steam printing press:



A very talented gentleman was playing one of the concert pianos in an exhibit on the construction of instruments. We listened as we wandered that space and the space devoted to cyber stuff. We did skip the exhibit about The Wiggles. The shop, in a temporary incarnation in a dark corner, had a disappointing selection of objects, but I did get a museum guide to have more pretty pictures. I bravely resisted the $40 book of the lace exhibition, but it was very very difficult.

T.R. has been elected official itinerary planner for the next while because he seems to be good at it.