Seahorse World, Platapus House and Beaconsfield

 

Today we decided to head north up to Beauty Point and then hit up three attractions, Seahorse World, Platypus House and Beaconsfield Mine.  Beauty Point was stunning and on the way back I saw a wombat on the side of the road, he was huge - no photo I wasn't quick enough. 

 

Nature photographer in the making

 

So now to our first stop - Seahorse World.  It isn't too hard to find but you could miss it.  Its a huge building on a wharf, doesn't look much from the outside but the action is all inside.  Someone was a bit dubious about what his wife was getting them into and lets face it how interesting could seahorses be???  Well he was wrong and quite surprised at how interesting a place this was. 

 

They do guided tours several times a day.  You learn all about the breading of the seahorses (they get sold to aquariums all around the world, not for herbal medicines or food).  We were able to see some babies that had missed being collected that morning, so tiny and cute.  The kids were enthralled with the experience.  They got to feed them - they eat sea monkeys, yep those things that were on the back of the Archie comics!  That look nothing like a monkey more like a nit.  There are several different ones they breed and one of the amazing things is they can change colour. 

There are other tanks with different fish (Nemo makes an appearance) as well as this guy a rather large lobster called Dinner.  There is also a giant crab.  Toward the end you get the opportunity to hold a seahorse.  They are surprisingly strong and wrap their little tails around your finger.  There is a gift shop selling all things seahorse.   

 

So on the other side of the wharf is Platypus House.  The two attractions work together and have it so their tours don't clash.  We all ducked over to the next tour which began with a movie on the platypus.  Then it was off to have a look at these little cuties.  There were a couple on display and we got to see them being fed.  Yum yum yabbies. 

 

Then it was on to the echidnas, this was amazing.  They wander around the enclosure walking around your feet.  They were super cute.  Wonder who owns the sparkle shoes?



 

On the way out we allowed the kids to get their one and only souvenir, you guessed it they all got a bloody plushie!  So now we have a Tassie devil, an echidna and a platypus called Dawn.  The echidna is called Mr Prickles.

 

 

 

 

You can check out their websites  Seahorse World   Platypus House

 

So on to lunch, we had seen a big old historical looking pub and thought it would be nice for a pub lunch an a cold day.  It was a little drizzly and we hoped to find somewhere warm and snuggly.  Well it wasn't that way at all.  The pub had a Thai restaurant and really bad service.  The food was pre packaged and was horrible and the building was cold, including the loos.  Coldest toilet we ever sat on, Biz yelped!   

 

Somewhat filled and we were on our way to our last stop of the three, Beaconsfield Mine (here).  This was the mine where Brant Webb and Todd Russell were rescued from.

 

There is a huge number of displays including historical ones, the old apple sorter was pretty cool, mining and of course the mine rescue.  This is a multi sensory exhibit and at times it is quite chilling, they have done an amazing job.  Outside are more old buildings, hard to believe it was all kept while a working mine and you can go up the

 

The kids can get a sheet to find hidden animals, which keeps them pretty busy.  At the end of it they were given a wrist band for their efforts.  On entry you write your name on a tag and tag in and out.  The kids loved it and you can either recycle them at the end or keep them - guess what we did.

 

 

We had purchased a Tamar Triple Pass, which got us entry into all three attractions, it can be purchased at all three locations and I think for a family it was about $130.

 

So one last stop on the way home ....at a super cute little winery called Moores Hill.  We were greeted by a beautiful dog, called Otto (I think) who Bella made friends with and I think was planning on taking home.  They have tasting plates which would have been a better choice for lunch and you can sit in front of their wood burner.  We tasted their sparkling, Riesling, chardy, pinot noir and cab merlot.  John thought the reds were a little light but I loved them, especially the pinot, it was a beautiful soft wine and the colour was stunning.  The big surprise was the Riesling, very different not sweet as youd expect.  The lady was lovely and we will be ordering for Xmas.  We picked up a bottle of their sparkling for that night.  Now back to the resort for some steaks and that wine. 

Ottawa Visit Part 1....Parc Omega

We had a long weekend and as you do, decided to head somewhere for it.  Ottawa is about two hours away and the perfect spot to visit.  Ottawa is the capital and sits in a beautiful part of the country...who am I kidding its all beautiful! 

There are lakes everywhere and I mean everywhere.  People have little weekender cabins, retirement homes, fishing shacks, boats, canoes, float planes, lake living is a whole nother way of life, which I think I would like. 

Friends had told us that on the way was a place called Parc Omega and we would all love it, they also warned us to take lots of carrots.  Actually two families told us that!

So we packed the car up (this time a Ford SUV, no Dodge Caravan :-( ) cleaned the fridge out of fruit and veg, grabbed a huge bag of carrots and headed off.

 

Just after the entry (cost about $70 for our family of five), which was staffed by a really friendly lady who told us all about the park and asked us what we were doing and where we were from, is the main rest area.   

We had been driving for awhile and decided to grab a quick lunch here.  The food was pretty good for a tourist attraction.  The grown ups had burgers and the kids had hot dogs and fries

There is also a pretty cute gift shop here and rest rooms.

Around the entry doors they have been putting up the antlers that are shed each winter. 

Looks really amazing. 

A bit of bear love.

 

You can sit inside or outside on the deck that overlooks the lake. There are several really intricate bird houses, built like mini log cabins and  some small animal pen with foxes, raccoons etc. 

Then you drive through the main gates/grid and this is what you get!

Eww deer drool!  Good thing it was a hire car!!!!

At this stage I will pint out the kid who was freaking out was the first one shoving carrots down large wapitis gobs.  They are the giant deer.



Little cutie pies

I could have bundled one of these up and taken it home.

You will have trouble keeping them in their seats!

#superexciterment!

I am still killing myself laughing at this.  You should have heard them screaming!

Now what do you do if you get stopped by one of these things?

Big Beautiful Bison!

There are also wolves, black bears, ibex, lots of types of deer... a moose that was raised from hand (and I hear they have some new orphan moosies).  Would we go again, you bet!  We had so much fun. 

A Visit to a cabane à sucre - Part 2

So once we had had of fill of maple flavoured food, we had a little wander around.  It was a bloody bleak day but nice to be outside.

The trees really do have buckets and taps on them! 

They were almost full and it is a milky thin liquid, kind of like coconut milk.

This is where they turn it into maple syrup

Lots of maple trees.....mmmmm

John holding the door shut!

Rhys making sure he can get out!

The sleigh they use where there is snow around, obviously not today.

What has he got here????

Why its a big beer.

Not beer drinking weather but it wasn't a bad drop.

A Visit to a cabane à sucre - Part 1

Quebec is one of the largest producers of maple syrup.  The stuff is everywhere and compared to home, its cheap.

The maple syrup making season runs from late Winter to the end of Spring, just as the trees are waking up from their Winters nap.  Of course it is weather dependent.  The sap starts to move throughout the tree and it is at this time it is at peak sweetness.

We had a few dramas finding the AMT station.  Gare Central was not easy to find, for starters it is underground and we had to transfer over from the metro to the rail network.  Lucky for us, a very nice man showed us the way.  Once we found it and picked up our tickets, I have to say I was stunned at the size of central station.  It is massive, super clean and we are going to give it a go when we come back from Toronto in July.

Most of the people going were adults.  It must have been the all you can eat part of it.  The trip out on the train was pretty good in itself, we got to see a different part of the country and no one had to drive.  Once we got to the station, they transferred us all via school bus - yep John and I got to go on one of those little yellow school buses.

When we arrived they let you explore the stables, which the kids were not impressed at.  Rhys decided it stank and went outside, only to come back inside to take photos.

Bella next to the bunnies.

Hayden found a stinky feather.

This horse kept trying to nibble Bella, the guy in the photo is laughing at Rhys saying to the horse "say cheese"

This was hanging above our table - it is real and they had stuffed bears, raccoons

and a moose head as well.

Pea and ham soup, it had maple syrup in it, actually everything did.

There was also eggs, ham, breakfast potatoes (which I can get use to), sausages, hot dogs in maple syrup (???)  sugar tarts, pancakes, salads, home made dill pickles...

Sugar Shack Train Trip

This is something I am really looking forward to.  I found this on the web this week while looking for somewhere to go on the train.  We decided last weekend we will go somewhere on the AMT network rather than sticking to central Montreal and get out and see a bit more.  It is a day trip to a Maple Syrup Sugar Shack.  The whole thing takes about six hours, so perfect for the kids, includes lunch (all you can eat, JB will be happy with that), sleigh rides, demo, maple taffy...sounds fantastic.

click here

here is the book we are reading to prepare

Got to love book club.