McBlog

Got back to my car last night to discover that some little shit had broken into it and gone through the center console and glove box. They attacked the door lock to get in so now it’s unusable (can still lock the door, just can’t use the key to get in). They also broke the center console lid as they tried to get into it.

All they took was my mobile phone charger that was in the cigarette lighter ‘cos there wasn’t anything else in the car.

At the time I discovered it, I would have quite happily smashed the bastard’s face into a wall if I could have found them. Now that I’ve relaxed a bit, all I can do is hope that they get all that’s coming to them. Just wish I could be there to see them get it…

I’ve just had my friend Michelle from the USA stay here on her way home after two weeks in Tasmania. Given that she’s a marine biologist, we figured it might be fun to take Nykolai to the Melbourne Aquarium. Well, it wasn’t a bad time and Nykolai managed to have fun, but I have to say it could have been better. At AUS$23 per adult (AUS$13 per child) I found it over priced – half that price would have been more realistic.

The main tank with the sharks and other marine animals was great – walking through a pair of clear-roofed tunnels into rooms with enormous viewing windows provided a wonderful way to see everything. It is possible to go diving in the tank as well which helps the rest of us get an idea of how big everything is in there. Of course, there’s a price to pay for that, ranging from AUS$130 to AUS$270 depending on your experience and equipment.

Most of the exhibits are interesting and there’s some education going on, but we found ourselves left rather flat by it all. A special exhibit was a giant squid recently caught near New Zealand – it’s about 7 metres long and appears to be encased in some sort of kinda-clear material so it’s preserved. From the promotions for the exhibit, you get the feeling it’s going to be bigger. Also, the eye looked rather false.

It may be indicative of the whole place that Nykolai’s favourite part was “The Ride” at the end – basically a simulator that moves around and attempts to give you the sensation of movement. Where the ride could have been related to the ocean (eg: a hair-raising run in a submarine or something), it’s basically a sled ride through a series of ice caverns. Not bad, but how it relates to an aquarium, who knows…

Michelle noted how many eating areas there were in the aquarium, ranging from cafes to a restaurant. She asked if this was an aquarium or a restaurant with funky decor. And what’s on the menu? Fish! :)

So, all up, not a bad time but not worth the full price of entry – perhaps half the price instead?

Unbelievable – almost 3 weeks without a phone or ‘net connection at home. Telstra keep missing deadlines, stuffing things up and generally acting like an incompetent, bureaucratic bunch of idiots. I know that’s nothing new, but I was expecting that the “big changes” going on over there would have brought them into the present, not sent them even further back into the 1950′s….

So, it’s been almost three months since my last entry – what’s been happening?

LOTS!!!

Will tell you all about it over a series of posts that, hopefully, I can load up over the next few days.

It may take a while as I don’t have ‘net access at home – a storm came through a few days back and a lightning strike right overhead/nearby took out phones to our apartment block. We’re *still* waiting for Telstra to sort it out – seems it slagged the core coming into the building and it’s *really* old so they have to get a special group out to repair it. Oh, joy.