Recount: My First Experience at Kelly Taltons!

We walked through the door and we all stepped down the stairs and all lined up. There was a very excited vibe around the room and everyone stared in amazement. The lady said a few instructions and rules, but then said, “but other than that, Welcome to Kelly Tarltons!” So yes, as you have guessed today we went to Kelly Tarltons.

I really wished that the trip would of had been on Friday to put the cherry on the top of the cake for the week. But tomorrow is the St. Pius Feast Day so we decided to have it on Thursday.

When we finally got inside, our first experience was a place called Scott’s Hut. This was a Hut that a man called Scott lived in. It was based in Antarctica and everything in the prototype hut was exactly the same, as the hut in Antarctica.

After that was the photo experience, the white out, the Antarctic ice Adventure. Which was when you put your hand into extremely cold ice for 30 seconds. After that my hand was very numb for like 5 minutes. It was one of the coldest experiences that I have ever had. I also really liked the photo experience because the whole class was in the photo.

So that was pretty cool, we then moved onto the Penguins. I was so, so excited for this, it was because this was going to be the first time seeing a real live penguin. I have to say the penguins were so cute! They would just stare at you, walk around or swim around. They were one of my favourites.

Then was Scott’s Base and the NIWA Southern Oceans. Which was something that we have been reading about in class, so we could relate to it. We then made it to the Shipwreck Shores Play Zone which is basically the Cafeteria. This is where we had morning tea. Since we were underground we saw the waves come and flash up against the wall from the outside, while we were eating.

We then got to watch a Stingray Bay. Which was where the Stingray and Hapuka lived. Hapuka is a type of Fish. After morning tea a lady came out and went in the water with the Stingray, she then fed the Stingray, but at the same time she talked to us about the Stingrays. She told us important information about the Stingrays, like their predators were sharks and orcas, all Stingrays are females and they are very shy.

This was one of my favourite experiences at Kelly Tarltons because we got to learn and at the same time watch the Stingrays. We then moved onto my favourite, favourite part of the trip. Which was the Shark Zone and the Shipwreck Discovery. Which was a little escalator that goes around in a shape of a hourglass. But it goes through a tunnel and we get to see all kinds of fish there. Like crabs, fish, sharks and sea turtles! There was a Sand Tiger Shark, School Shark, Wobbegong Shark and a Broadnose Sevengill Shark.

I went around 3 times and got to read the Facts and see the Sea Turtles. Which was pretty cool. We then moved onto the Seahorse Kingdom. The Seahorse Kingdom was very dark inside, but still an amazing experience. This is because their were 2 different kind of seahorses there. A Spiny Seadragon and a Big Bellied Seahorse. They were amazing species and I would definitely come back again just to see them again.

We then got to go to our class lesson. Which basically was talking about all the things that we have experience at Kelly Tarltons. Our educator talked about Sea Turtles, Common Clownfish and Pollution too. She said that throwing rubbish into the ocean will just be killing the fish even more! Which really made me realise how much we need to look after our environment. We also got to touch some artifacts that were, a shark jaw, Shark Skin, a dried Seahorse and the place where Baby Sharks live also known as ‘Mermaid’s Purse.’ After our Class lesson we all walked out and unfortunately that was our last experience at Kelly Tarltons for the day.

So we all ended up on the other side of where we entered from so we headed to our buses and headed back to school. On my way back to school I just thought about everything that happened today and just recapped about it. But again we all had to squash in the bus, again.

Today I felt really happy and educated because kelly Tarltons really made me fall in love with the Sea and Sea Creatures also because it gave us facts and information about the Sea Creatures. My highlight of the day was the Shark Zone and the Shipwreck Discovery. This is because this is the part that mostly made me fall in love with the Ocean.

So know I can’t wait for the next time that I get to go to Kelly Tarltons!