Tuesday 20 January 2009

Penguins and things


We went to the Melboune Aquarium on Sunday to see the new penguin exhibition. They have two species of penguin, the Gentoo and the King. Both seemed quite at home in the new exhibit where there was both snow and water. The thing that surprised me most was the shape of their feet/toes, much plumper than I'd imagined. They looked like fat fingers in black latex webbed gloves. Amazing to watch their antics both in water and on land.


Of course we visited all the other exhibits as well. One thing that struck me was the faces. I could see where designers of fantasy movies get inspiration for their characters. There are some seriously odd looking creatures in the underwater world.


My book, Ebi's Boat was in the bookshop. An unexpected but pleasant surprise. Not so pleasant the reaction to my offer to sign the copies. Sigh.


We caught a bus to the base of the new Southern Star ferris wheel thingo. Up close, it is quite tall! And it never stops moving, not for getting on or off. They do slow it down a bit more for those who need it, but mostly people entered the moving capsule easily enough. We will take a ride one day, but didn't on Sunday.




The waterfront was abuzz. There was a market and childrens activities and these sand sculptures. Amazing detail.


And how is any of this related to writing for children? Who knows? I wouldn't begin to try to predict what may or may not inform future projects. But I do know that writers never clock off.

2 comments:

BookChook said...

I loved Ebi's Boat! How lovely to meet you online!

Question: why on earth wouldn't they want you to sign the books? Surely that would add value to them?

Claire said...

Firstly, I'm happy you liked Ebi. It is lovely to 'meet' you too.

As for the signing thing...sigh. Who knows. One bookshop I went into some years ago said they didn't want the books signed because their population (they said) would think it had been scribbled in!!

Not much you can do, except grin and bear it. Fortunately such experiences are less common than the other kind, where the staff are really happy for you to sign copies.