This travel and artblog is the continuation of my daughters and my Queensland trip and if you want to re cap here is the start; 197 THE ART OF BIG BROTHER & MOVIE WORLD

We got up early again the next day, beachwalked (got to do the exercise bit) and then we were on to SeaWorld.  I must say SeaWorld was amazing, so big and with so many great shows and animal displays and lots of great rides as well.

SEAWORLDS ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

We started off with the show in Dolphin Cove followed by the Jet Stunt Extreme and Seal Harbour for the Fish Detective, three excellent shows.  Saw the Penguins and Polar Bears and then to the Shark Bay where we explored life beneath the ocean’s surface in the world’s largest man-made lagoon system for sharks.  We were amazed by the magical display of tropical fish, sting rays and other bottom dwellers.  You come face to face with the sharks that glide past the huge glass windows.  The two-level exhibit offers viewing both topside and underwater as well as an interactive touch pool and a snorkel and dive lagoon pool.  Next time we come we’re going to go snorkeling as that looked absolutely amazing.  Painting underwater scenes is something that I never tire of doing.

THE ART OF SCREAMING

Then it was time for us to hit the Thrill rides at SeaWorld and our favorites were the Sea Viper and Jet Rescue, both had us screaming at the top of our lungs, we often sat in the front row seats and alternated that with the very back for a different experience.  My husband has said for quite a few years now that it is unbecoming for a woman over 40 to skip in public but lol I don’t give a toss!  He would have been horrified to see my daughter and I run and almost bowl over old men, pregnant ladies and children to get to the front of the queue for another turn on the rides.  Well almost anyway, we had so much fun and laughed the whole day through and lost count of how many rides we had.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and after being the very last passengers to leave on the Sky High Skyway we made our way to the hire car in the car park.  Mmmm maybe not so much fun now that we discovered that the car had been hit by some not so kind person.  That certainly put a dampener on our spirits, luckily in hindsight we had taken out the annoying extra insurance (or the hire car company would have kept $3000 dollars until the repairs got sorted out.)  I was very thankful to have babygirl hit the phones and sort out the car situation while I drove us back.  But as these things go when you hit a snag there are usually a few to follow and so it was when the key magnet for the car park and the door at the hotel was not working.

THE ART OF COOLING DOWN

We decided the only thing to do was to head to the pool area and have a spa with a refreshing champagne to brighten our moods, lol but here again the now newly gained key magnet would not work so “moi” had to make her way through the front door to the bar in a bikini and a sarong – to get our refreshments.  By this stage the champagne was absolutely necessary and more like a medicine to cure the steam that was coming out of my ears, lol!  Thankfully the spa and Champagne did the trick and afterwards we had a very lovely dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

THE ART OF GETTING FREAKED OUT

We even fitted in a little bit of shopping and a trip to Infinity which was an amazing special effects place and scared the living crap out of me – cost us 25 bucks each and I held my daughters hand so tightly we both got cramp.  Hillivi had been before with her boyfriend and cousin Tamon and I think perhaps that is what we lacked some male company as it was really creepy and claustrophobic.  The advertising said explore your way through a maze of mind blowing futuristic worlds of wonder – an extraordinary series of around 20 multi sensual environments. Every world is a whole new exciting experience.  Come through the Time Tunnel portal and be immersed into the coolest place you have ever seen.   Take the trip!

And yes we did Take the Trip and really it was like you had taken drugs but not in a mellow nice way for me anyway I got totally paranoid and it wasn’t helped either by a Japanese contingent who had gotten themselves lost in the darkness and were now heading back to the start.  So what we encountered in the dark was a busload of Japanese people unable to speak English and all jam-packed into a 1 meter square room with what seemed to be no exit or entry door for escape.  This nearly did my head in until I figured out that with the mirrored walls, floor and ceiling there probably only were about 8 of them.  But they were certainly lost and trying to talk to us and not making any sense and scaring the crap out of me, lol.  Luckily Hillivi to the rescue, she found our way out of there or we would still be locked into that room now.  No more infinity fun for me Ever, roller coasters are much more my cup of tea!

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

The next day we enjoyed a beach walk, some shopping and a leisurely breakfast before sorting out the hire car dilemma and making our way to the airport.  Of course I was dreaming about the artistic inspirations of our trip and the paintings to come.

A fantastic few days getaway with my favorite daughter, Thank you darling child!

Here is a quote I like by author unknown that fits well here;

“A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

This painting is of the Sydney Aquarium and if you look closely in the middle top of the artwork you can see me with long brown hair wearing a pink top and jeans with our daughter Hillivi in my arms and just in front is son Kai and hubby with the mustache and camera.

We used to go to the aquarium every time we visited Sydney and I thoroughly recommend a visit, such an amazing underwater experience without even getting wet!

INSPIRATION FOR ARTWORK

I love painting underwater scenes and fish and am always fascinated by the subject, also love snorkeling of course.  However when you don’t want to get your hair wet (it’s a girl thing) LOL, going sightseeing to the aquarium is a great outing.

Sea Life Centre, Sydney’s Aquarium is open to the public and can be found on the eastern side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge.  It is host to a large variety of Australian aquatic life and comprises of more than 6,ooo individual fish and other sea and water creatures, some 650 different species.

There are lots of individual aquariums but the most amazing exhibits are a number of sea-through underwater glass tunnels, where you stand on a conveyor belt and look above you as all the sharks, some of them, Great White Pointers swim past showing their incredible teeth, as well as stingrays, shark rays, shovelnose rays, zebra sharks, eagle rays and dozens of different species of fish.   It does give you butterflies in your tummy as it makes you question the strength of the glass separating us from them.

The Australian architects designed the structure to resemble a large wave to complement the underwater theme and took nearly 2 years to build.

MORE ARTISTIC DELIGHTS

It was opened in 1988 and is one of the largest aquariums in the world and now also houses a crocodile exhibit and used to have seals as well, unfortunately the seal enclosure has closed and the seals have gone off to Sea World in the Gold Coast.  However in it’s place we now have a renovated enclosure called the Mermaid Lagoon which is the permanent home of two Dugongs; Pig and Wuru who previously lived at Sea World.   The Mermaid Lagoon can be viewed both from underneath in the viewing tunnels and from above in an open-air deck.   The Southern Oceans exhibit also features an open oceans Oceanarium and Little Penguins.

It also comprises of a tropical touch pool and a live coral cave, all with a constant temperature of 25 degrees.  One part that I really love is the reef theater where you can view the coral canyon and all the fish through a window which is 7 meters by 4 meters, and that looks just amazing.

THE ART OF ENJOYING LIFE

So if you come to Sydney that is a must!

LOL and here is a quote on the subject which amused me today;

“Men and fish are alike.  They both get into trouble when they open their mouths”

(author unknown)

Till next time happy painting and sculpting or perhaps fishing!

Love Marie xxxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.