It’s time for mid-semester break! Can’t believe that I have gone through seven weeks of the semester already. That was surprisingly quick, and it is now half way to go before the end of my first out of four semesters required to complete my postgraduate study. In this one week of break, it’s not all about relaxing and chilling after all since I’m equipped with some heavy assignments to work on. But before stressing myself out on that, I have decided to start the holiday with a quick visit to Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) today at north of Perth.
I guess it costs AUD 30 for adult to enter, but for us as students (visiting the place with my housemates), we got to enjoy the concession rate (AUD 22 for student). Before the visit, I have checked on the reviews for this place and many returned with highly positive feedbacks. Furthermore, it is the largest aquarium in Australia and the 10th largest in the world. When we first saw the exterior of this tourist destination, my high expectation faded as its exterior is not appealing and it looks very small.
Of course, the main attraction would be the fishes and the sea creatures inside. Well, the aquarium featured several settings (that’s typical for most layout configuration for any aquariums worldwide). It has five distinct areas: The Great Southern, The Shipwreck Coast, The Perth Coast, The Far North and The Marmion Marine Park. I do see some interesting creatures on display in here but I’m not in awe, especially when I had just visited Singapore’s SEA Aquarium not long ago which presented a far better experience for me who enjoy seeing marine life. I can’t avoid myself from comparing these two, and hence AQWA lost out by a mile.
It is relatively small in AQWA (couldn’t believe it is the 10th largest), and the lighting quality is poor. Its layout is also not convenient. There are too little sharks in here (and they are very small too), and too many sting rays (bored of seeing plenty of them here). There is only one turtle (yes, one!) I managed to see and some of the creatures just love hiding and don’t want to let us view them. They put a huge but fake crocodile and then show us two real crocodiles which are just the size of my arms!…The underwater tunnel is long but there are not many interesting fishes or sharks in there. I’m not impressed. It can do much better. The coral reefs are not exceptionally beautiful while on the other hand, some glasses (tanks) are quite dirty, hampering our sights to these beautiful marine creatures. Well, AQWA still has some good points. I particularly like the Danger Zone (zone where dangerous and venomous sea creatures are exhibited) and I like the idea of bringing part of the aquarium outdoor.
Well, we spent only about a little over an hour in there. Nothing much to see and it needs to improve and expand to attract more visitors. I definitely won’t visit again. It makes me wanting to visit Singapore’s SEA Aquarium again eventhough it’s pricier. I had fish and chips nearby there at the Hillarys Boat Harbour and enjoyed an ocean view for a couple of minutes before heading back home.
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