My gorgeous assistance dog has a love of 'fish-tanks'. Knowing this, I took her to the biggest fish-tank I could find; the Sydney Sea-Life Aquarium at Darling Harbour. She's been there once before in 2012 and loved it.
The staff at the aquarium are all really friendly and helpful. They are also very welcoming of people with assistance dogs like mine.
On this trip we were hoping to go on the 'Penguin Ride' however the boat was out of commission for maintenance. We were still able to see the penguins. Hope, my dog, was quite captivated by them. I was surprised at the crazy angle at which they bend their necks - they almost appear to have no head when they bend it right back around their shoulders.
Here you can see the penguins in their enclosure.
The dugongs were another highlight. One even launched itself out of the water partly onto the keeper's platform while we were watching. Hope was entertained by the sheer size of the dugong. We discovered that the two dugongs at the aquarium eat 60kg of cos lettuce each day (it wasn't clear from the information whether they eat 60kg each, or between the two of them!).
Here is one of the dugongs visible beneath the water as you walk through the underwater tunnel.
The darkened tunnel system allows viewers a clear and beautiful view of the fish in the tanks.
Hope really loved looking straight into the tanks at eye level.
Our favourite stopping place in the aquarium is the huge tank viewing window just before you exit the facility. The glass-bottomed boat also travels over the surface of this tank and allows people to look down from the boat into the water.
I highly recommend a visit to the Sydney Sea-Life Aquarium. It is a wonderful experience for adults, children and assistance dogs.