Isabelle's Auckland Adventure Part 2 - Kelly Tarlton's

Hey, look, a penguin! 

On Friday, 30th of May I went to the amazing and very interesting Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland, New Zealand. 

I went with my mum, my brother Ashton, and Grannie and Bump (my Grandad.)

When we got into the ginormous aquarium we paid for our visit and started our adventure. 

First we had a good search around Scott's hut. Scott was a famous Kiwi explorer. Did you know that the average temperature in his hut in Antarctica was -6 degrees celcius? Brrrrr! 

We wanted to move on to the penguins, but first we had to cross the bridge. Now this wasn't any old bridge. It had fake ice burgs that looked like they were spinning around you and made us fall over. It was an optical illusion! 

The penguins were next. I was so excited to see them. I had waited all day long and now I couldn't believe my eyes. There were penguins of all different shapes and sizes. There were two different species of penguins at Kelly Tarlton's, Gentoo and King. 
The Gentoo penguins have a white mark on their heads and the King penguins have an orangey yellow bib.

We saw a baby King penguin. He was covered in beautiful brown feathers that will stay on him until he is 10 months old. The feathers reminded Mum of for the delicate woven Maori cloaks. 

One funny penguin was scratching his back with his beak and when we looked at him, it seemed like he had no head! 

Next we went to the cafe and had some lunch. I had half a banana chocolate chip muffin and a little bit of my Grannies diet coke. They were DELICIOUS! 



After that we went on the moving walkway and traveled through the tunnel. This tunnel was made of glass and had fish and sharks swimming all around us. The glass was size inches thick so no fish could escape. I was reassured by that. 
I saw some Pig fish, and also some Zebra fish. When the sharks swam over me I wasn't scared. I was actually quite excited! 








After the travelator we went to Seahorse Kingdom. We saw lots of different of species of Seahorses. My favourite seahorse was a yellow one with a really curly tail. 

Finally we went to the gift shop. I got a penguin for my shadow box. I also got a very colourful badge that says 'Auckland New Zealand.' My brother got a stuffed penguin and named him Waddle. 

I completely loved Kelly Tarlton's and would be happy to go again. 

Answers to your questions Room 9!

We were wondering if the planes fly at night and keep you awake? Tobey
Hi Tobey. Luckily the planes only fly during the day. They are small planes but quite loud. 

Will you get a chance to go on a plane? Grace L
Not here at Pauanui. But on Friday I will be flying back to Wellington on Air New Zealand.

Have you been down to the beach? Isla
Yes! Here is a photo of the beach and the grassy area in front of it. Can you see something in the 2nd photo, that shows you the airfield is really close by?

Did you stop at Paeroa on the way up and have an L&P? Rohan
We came up to Pauanui from Auckland, so we didn't get to go to Paeroa, but I do like L&P!
We did go to a small town called Tairau. It just has one street of shops. We got sausages at the butchers and an ice cream at the shop. We also found a playground. 

Mia would like you to rate how much fun you are having out of 10?
I am having an awesome time. Everything is awesome. I would say 9.5 out of 10... or 9.5/10 (I've been practicing my fractions!)

Ella would like to know what its like having planes land so close?
It's really cool, because I can see them close up. It's exciting when they take off. They whoosh past us and we all say "plane!" and it's really funny!



Thanks Room 9 for all your questions. See you soon! 

Are we there yet?

Yesterday, on the 2nd of June I drove to Pauanui, New Zealand. 

Pauanui is in the Coromandel region and is around 3 hours out of Auckland. 

I am staying at Mum's friend Sue's house with my mum, my dad, my brother Ashton and Bump (my Grandad.)

Every now and then some planes come and land or take off on a BIG airfield just outside our house! The planes are really loud as they roar across the grass and finally take off into the brilliant blue sky. 

Here is a plane parked beside our house!

We are staying here for 11 nights, and I reckon it is much nicer to be staying here than to be staying in a hotel!