Having
seen four legged, two legged and winged creatures on Monday,
on Tuesday we headed off for the flippered, finned and (mostly)
legless variety. We headed first for the ray fish, cousins
of the shark, who come over when beckoned in the water, and
allow you to stoke them gently on their backs. James didn't
quite have the courage to touch them, but Matthew had no such
fears.
Then
on to the sharks, where James' initial 'I'm frightened of
sharks' monologue took less time to overcome than last year,
and Matthew was fascinated. The tunnel through the water was
magical, with sharks and other fish swimming overhead.
We
arrived early at the whale arena in order to get good seats.
The whale show seemed better choreographed than last year,
with more energy and variety. Matthew was particularly spell
bound. And then onto the Whale gift shop, where we brought
Matthew a drinking glass, with a promise to James of a similar
treat at the Dolphin shop later on.
After
an excellent lunch at 'Restaurant Colonial' just outside
Marineland (the lunches offered on site were not tempting
and involved huge queues) we took a quick look at the penguins
before heading to the Dolphin arena. Although we were 25
minutes early, we still couldn't find a decent seat, and
were only saved from the choice of heatstroke or missing
the show by a sunloving couple who offered us their seats
just before the show began. Unfortunately, after a long
hot wait we were subjected to 15 minutes of a sealion doing
very little whilst his trainer chatted incessantly. Finally,
the dolphins were allowed to start. The show was full of
energy, skill and imagination, but lasted only 15 minutes
- a poor repayment for such a long and uncomfortable wait.
Our
penultimate stop was to see the penguins waiting impatiently
for their tea. James was equally impatient to get to the gift
shop for his Dolphin glass, before we headed back to the campsite
for a swim and very light tea.
