#questacon

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

The National Science and Technology Centre.

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. X

[stephzuniga]

Road Trip!

Last week, we hit the road for a Mother-Son road trip to the Nation’s Capital.  Yep, that’s right, we went to Canberra.  And it was Can-tastic!  Why was it so great well, let me tell you! First of all, I will admit to having an affinity to any city that’s a Capital City.   As a Washington, DC native, I have a special place in my heart for Canberra, London, Rome, Dublin, Vienna, Mexico City,…

[c0nclavii]

i may have gone to questacon today

it was fun :D

[shwoo]

Today for my birthday, I gave myself the present of not doing anything I didn't have to do.

Not something I could get away with for more than one day, but still very relaxing.

But today being my birthday also means that it's now less than three weeks until my sister's and my America trip, which will be three weeks long. Three weeks might be a bit long for my first trip out of Australia, especially since we're also splitting the planning, which I'm also inexperienced at, but it's pretty expensive to fly across the Pacific Ocean.

Also, I just raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly on the chances of getting to see a saguaro cactus. We are going to Arizona, but no further south than the Grand Canyon, which doesn't have them. But we will see some very big trees! (Also not in the Grand Canyon)

[alexanderpearce]

peoplw in my notes saying they know where shawn the prawn is they always go see shawn the prawn etc check your privilege ive only been to parliament house once in grade six on my school canberra trip and idr if they showed him to us

[edsbacktattoo]

I’d take you to a planetarium 👉👈

as long as u also tolerate me bouncing around bc I fucking love space dmfbkdbf

anon it’s a date <3 i’ll wear something nice

also if i was with someone who didn’t get excited about space i would simply go home. they’re not worth my beautiful sexy time. bounce around to ur hearts content cause i’ll be bouncing with u bro

[comraging]

who here remember the questacon guillotine 🤣🤣

[remylong]

similarities between Canberra and Singapore (as a city) go. like I’m thinking about the planning and how they’re self contained a lot more than cities with a Big Rural State And Other Cities Around Them. but I still haven’t been to Singapore

as proof here is a picture of me (12) and my brother (6) chilling at the carillon

im going to be honest with you i was in canberra for like four days tops 😭we only had enough time to do the whole questacon-war memorial-museum-visit That One Australian Relative (that every singaporean inexplicably has) and then we went to sydney... i don't know the first thing about living in canberra but i remember it being really cold and big? i LOVED the lake it was so pretty but im always a sucker for lakes. it seems like a fun place to live lol. in terms of similarities to singapore i can't really tell you bc what i like most abt singapore is the convenience of it (fifteen minutes bus to school, five minutes walk to the wet market, thirty minutes train to anywhere) and idk what it's like for canberra

[artemisbarnowl]

When Australians have either never been to Canberra or went once for grade 6 (yes, I know, the questacon slide, it was the best) and say it sucks 😔🥺

Why are you letting obnoxious Melbournians 😤 (who think nowhere is as good as Melbourne, not even European cities) or paracalifornian Sydneysiders 😮‍💨 (who wear thongs with jeans and think everyone can and should commute 3+ hours a day) tell you how to feel?? If you're afraid of roundabouts or change that's a personal skill issue queen.

[hardly-oatmeal]

when are we going to visit each other ?? /lh i'd love to come up to canberra for a day to see you and cooper !! :3

BRO YES PLEASE WE CAN GO TO QUESTACON AND GET COFFEE!!!! fr tho i would love this sm (we will also he in sydney for a few days late june if you wanna catch up)

[asterchats]

thinking about that really cool robot at questacon

[ryttu3k]

Went to Floriade NightFest! It was. Not actually good. Super long lines for everything, super crowded, zero parking, most of the actual display gardens seem to have been replaced with more stores. Went to Tulip Top earlier today and it was still busy but significantly nicer.

Unlikely to return to Floriade tomorrow during the day, will probably hit up a museum or gallery. Haven't been to NGA or NMA ever, and Questacon is <3

Got pizza for dinner. Many vegan options, delish as fuck. Hotel is nice too. Aside from Floriade itself, it's been very nice so far!

[kyndaris]

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

COVID-19 impacted a lot of things for many people. Trapped inside our homes, unable to venture outside, plans that had been in the making for years needed to be abandoned or modified. In the case of my family that meant a trip over to the African continent and going on a mini-safari to see giraffes, lions and zebras out in the wild. So, in a bid to enjoy an African experience whilst in Australia, my mother booked a stay at the Jamala Wildlife Lodge for the whole family to enjoy.

Though a little shy from what an actual trip overseas might cost, staying at the Jamala Wildlife Lodge is still considerably expensive for most individuals. $1450 a night for couples or $2525 for four adults. But should the price deter you, one should also know it’s a full package deal that includes a light afternoon tea with cute sliders, mini quiches, finger sandwiches and some sweets; along with a three-course meal that includes an exorbitant array of canapes as well as a very filling and delicious breakfast. Then, of course, there’s the entry into the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra and a guided tour either in the morning or in the afternoon (depending on the number of nights or room you might stay). I mean, if I can get to feed a giraffe or get up close and personal with a white lion during my stay, I’d say it’s plenty worth it! 

And having unlimited access to hot chocolates? Where can I pay for it again?

So, our night at Jamala Wildlife Lodge booked, we drove down to Australia’s capital city. For many across the world, it’s a little known place overshadowed by both Sydney and Melbourne. A bit like Ottawa in Canada. 

Among Australians, it’s known for not having much in the way of entertainment beyond a few museums and being the place of governance for the entire nation. Almost everyone has visited Questacon and the War Memorial in their youth, but beyond that, Canberra’s not had much staying power unless one works in government or works in construction.

We arrived at the zoo with a few minutes to spare before afternoon tea. A three hour drive, Google Maps steered us wrong as it thought the Federation Highway was closed and tried to take us down the road less travelled by diverting us to a nearby town where the road was actually closed.

After we arrived, setting down our luggage at the entrance, we enjoyed a light repast before taking a self-guided gander at the animals that were on display. The National Zoo and Aquarium is host to several animals both big and small. From close to the Capuchin Rooms, I was able to spy both the normal lions and the white lions that the zoo had. They were lazing out in the weak winter sun, soaking in the last remnants of warmth they could. 

And though it took me a while to figure out how to leave the uShaka Lodge and enter the zoo proper, I was down with the delightful fish, reptiles and amphibians. Then it was out into the open air with the squirrel monkeys and marmosets. I tried to spot the leopards in their enclosure but I was sure that they had been relocated as workers helped wield the gate inside. Then it was off to the otters that were being fed (and hidden from view by waist-high wall) before I diverted to the sun bear and Sumatran tigers. 

Always eager to snap more and more photos of the animals around me, I checked in with the koalas napping in trees, saw a tree kangaroo up high on its roost and watched a cute flock of penguins swimming around in the water. Then I was off to the shared wallaby and emu walk-through area before I headed in the opposite direction of the Adventure Trail signs, diverting instead to the Tasmania devil enclosure (and saw one loping around in circles). As I went around the right hand-side of the zoo, I was startled by a serval, one of the most regal cats I’ve ever seen before taking in the ruff lemurs that were playing about. 

From there, I tried to spot the cheetahs and African painted dogs but they were nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, I wended my way through the deer and llama walk-in before heading out to see a few dingoes and stumbling upon another cheetah enclosure where they were lazing about near the edge of the enclosure. Elands, rhinos, giraffes, barbary sheep, blackbucks and zebras were all next. There was also a Canadian elk with a mighty array of antlers that I snapped a photo of.

Continuing my journey of real life Pokemon Snap, I got to see ostriches, siamang and as many primates as I wanted. Then, of course, there was an attempt at trying to snap a decent photo of a barking owl but they were having none of it. At the least, the meerkats were cute! If only I knew then that they were the one animal species that killed more of their own than any other. Dominant matriarchal meerkats are probably the worst.

Once my quick tour of the zoo was over, we were shown to our rooms. My family were to say in the Meerkat suite. That meant that we had a small enclosure where a family of four meerkats would run around and explore the burrows that had been created for them. And I could watch them and snap closer personal shots. Others might have been satisfied to have a lion or tiger lounge up close and personal, but I feel like taking the Meerkat suite was the right call. Either that or the Reef Room where one could share one side of their bedroom with fish. 

At dinner, all of those that had chosen to stay at the Jungle Bungalows or at the uShaka lodge were able to observe the hyenas curiously looking on at us human bystanders as they became more active past nightfall. We were also treated to the sight of two white lion siblings chowing down on scraps of meat as we we made our way through a decent helping of canapes. But it was only when I was enjoying dinner and dessert that I realised that I had become the very thing I hated: a person that takes photos of their food.

To be fair, I had felt compelled to do so to show my work colleagues that I was messaging. But for absolute years I had refused to take photos of my food because I didn’t want to emulate the influencers on Instagram that seemed only to ever take photos of their food. I even rolled my eyes at my own mother for snapping shots of whatever breakfast she had.

IS IT BECAUSE I’M ALMOST THIRTY? OR IS IT BECAUSE I ACTUALLY WANT TO IMPRESS PEOPLE WITH THE FOOD I ATE? WHEN DID I SUDDENLY WANT TO SNAP A PHOTOGRAPH OF SOME DISH TO REMEMBER FOR POSTERITY?!

Internet culture has ruined me...

The next day saw a guided tour through the zoo, as well as a very generous portion for breakfast. Although I revisited many of the enclosures that I saw the day before, I had Ben and Bella providing narration and interesting anecdotes of animal facts and stories about territorial black swans. With the zookeepers leading the way, I also got to feed llama and deer alike with carrots, the elands with some lettuce leaves and ALMOST ALMOST ALMOST got to touch a rhinoceros before he backed away. At least I was able to get pretty close and personal to it.

With the guided tour over, it was time to head back home to Sydney.

Alas, my mother had other plans and we stayed the night in Goulburn. On the bright side, the place we were staying in had Amazon Prime (without the need for me to sign into the account) and I managed to watch copious amounts of The Legend of Vox Machina.

Still didn’t finish it but yay for actually sneaking in a good three quarters of the episodes?

[aegondluvrs]

there is nothing in the capital of australia for me except questacon

[alliumdykes]

Things to do in Canberra:

1. Go to Questacon

2. Leave