On the weekend I visited Wildlife Sydney, Madame Tussaud’s and Sydney Aquarium. The latter will be in a thread of its own, but here are my impressions of Wildlife Sydney and Madame Tussaud’s.
Wildlife Sydney
This was the first time I’d been here since September 2009, so I was interested to see the changes that had been made recently. The first thing we did upon entering was walk up a ramp to the second or third floor, because the wax museum now takes up the ground floor. Originally there was a nice taxonomic pathway through the complex – start off with insects and other invertebrates, then move through reptiles, and finally to birds and mammals towards the top where they get natural sunlight and rain. But that doesn’t happen now (the pathway).
The first room you come to has an enclosure with turtles, whistling ducks and plovers, a large circular tank with Green Tree Pythons, and a bank of three or four small tanks with frogs. At least three pairs of Zebra finches and several dozen butterflies (of only two or three species) are free-flying in this area. Leaving this room you pass by an outside enclosure for Koalas and Bush Thick-knees, then move inside for a while to view the Koalas from under cover. This path then leads past Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies, Wombats, Cassowaries and the large Outback Kangaroo enclosure, which was closed for renovations (although the Outback Walkthrough area was still open, despite being small with not much to show except for a kookaburras and some freeflying birds). Along the path were tanks of various sizes displaying reptiles – Scrub Pythons, Eastern Brown and Tiger Snakes, Redbelly Black Snakes, Inland Taipan, Diamond Python, Frilled Dragons, Cunningham’s Skink, Boyd’s Forest Dragon, Ridgetail Monitors and some baby Bredl’s Python, Bearded Dragons and Frilled Dragons. Most of these enclosures look like they were built in the corridor, and might even be portable. There was not the diversity of reptiles on display as previously, nor were the enclosures the same size as before. Having said that, these enclosure were certainly large enough for the occupants and many were larger than what you would see in most zoos. They were also well vegetated and furnished. The large Bull-ant Display, complete with nest and eggs, was also in this area.
The two-story rainforest bird area is now home to Rex, the Saltwater Crocodile. A nice exhibit for him, but unfortunately a massive waste of vertical space. Following the path onwards leads to Perentie (also in a large decent sized enclosure) and the nocturnal area. There were several large exhibits, with Spinifex Hopping Mice, Bilbies, Ghost Bats and Spotted Tail Quoll, and smaller enclosures with Golden Brushtails, Plains Rats, Feathertail Gliders and some small nocturnal reptiles. At the end of the nocturnal area and back in a diurnal setting was a beehive and some Golden Orb-weaving Spiders, and up some stairs tucked away in a corner were a few small insect and spider displays. The last thing was the rooftop koala display. Following the path downstairs lead past the ground floor viewing for Rex, and then the exit.
Overall, Wildlife Sydney is still an excellent facility for wildlife, despite it being inside (and on the roof of) a building. The enclosures are more than adequate, there is great educational value, and the animals are well cared for and healthy. I’m sure many of the staff were disappointed (like me) to lose some excellent displays and a lot of the animals, mainly reptiles and insects, but too the general public and especially anyone who has never been before, this will not be noticed. What those people will see is a first-class animal facility in the middle of Sydney CBD.
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum
As part of Wildlife Sydney was surrendered for the Madame Tussaud’s venture, I visited it after Wildlife Sydney. As ZooChatters may be interested, I add my impressions of it here as an addenda.
The last time I went to a Wax Museum was in 1988 – Madame Tussaud’s in London. Some years previous to that I went to two wax museums in Los Angeles, one in Hollywood and the other near Knotts Berry Farm (that, from memory, depicted scenes from famous movies). In all these museums the visitor followed a set path, and the wax figures were all in roped of areas, although you could generally get fairly close to them. Educationally, there was usually a sign with the person’s name, dates of birth and death, and often a few words about the scene or background, or about some item of clothing or prop. The people were predominantly famous moviestars or musicians, or just general wax figures (of nobody in particular) portraying a scene from history. So I was very surprised at the new Madame Tussaud’s in Sydney.
Firstly, nothing is roped off. You can walk around the figures, you can touch the figures, put your arm around them to have your photo taken. There are props – like hats and coats and other items – to “enhance your experience” as the blurb said. There was plenty of information about each character on a sign nearby, and there were also interactive educational things for the kids to do. Maybe all wax museums are like this nowadays, but it was certainly a pleasant change from the waxworks I remember.
The actual people portrayed obviously had a heavy Australian focus, with some international celebrities thrown in. In the entry area and visible to the public was a large wave with surfer Layne Beechley, but upon entering the Museum the first figure you come to is that of Truganini (with her correct name of Trugernanner), the last of the Tasmanian Aborigines. This was followed by Captain Cook, Governor Philip, Ned Kelly, Sir Henry Parkes and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. There were interactive educational things to do with both Cook and Parkes (turning Cook’s ships wheel revealed information, as did moving Parkes’ books on his bookshelf).
The path led to a World Leaders room with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, former Prime Ministers John Howard and Bob Hawke, Barack Obama. Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, the Queen and the Dalai Lama. From there the path took us through other rooms displaying famous people from Sport, Music, Television, Movies (and Bollywood), and some other celebrities. Also portrayed were the likes of Albert Einstein, Eddie Mabo, Victor Chang and Fred Hollows. There was also an area that showed – with videos and displays - how a figure is constructed.
Overall, I was very impressed. Educationally there was a lot of value, if you read the notices. I’m sure school groups would get worksheets where they have to answer specific questions on people, which would involve them having to read the signs. And having important figures from Australia’s past made it even more educational, even if just for visitors to Australia. However, it was mostly fun and entertaining. Everywhere you looked there were kids taking up position and ‘freezing’ whether anyone was looking or not, and playing around with the props (beside Greg Norman was a small putting green, and by Mel Gibson in Mad Max getup was a motorcycle you could jump on).
From my perspective, I found it interesting to look at the quality of the workmanship of the figures. Some did not look quite right, and some looked bad (in my opinion), but then most were spot on. All looked like real people, and at times I actually missed seeing some the first time round because of the crowd of people surrounding them and I couldn't tell they were figures.
I don’t know how much admission was, because I had a pass, but if you have kids they will LOVE this place and I would challenge any adult not to be entertained by a visit. Because I had been to Sydney Wildlife, and was now going on to the Aquarium, I only had a short amount of time for the Wax Museum, and I went through in a little over half an hour. But that was without reading signs and notices, and I didn’t have kids with me. If you have kids and no time constraints then you could easily spend up to two hours or more.
Hix
Wildlife Sydney
This was the first time I’d been here since September 2009, so I was interested to see the changes that had been made recently. The first thing we did upon entering was walk up a ramp to the second or third floor, because the wax museum now takes up the ground floor. Originally there was a nice taxonomic pathway through the complex – start off with insects and other invertebrates, then move through reptiles, and finally to birds and mammals towards the top where they get natural sunlight and rain. But that doesn’t happen now (the pathway).
The first room you come to has an enclosure with turtles, whistling ducks and plovers, a large circular tank with Green Tree Pythons, and a bank of three or four small tanks with frogs. At least three pairs of Zebra finches and several dozen butterflies (of only two or three species) are free-flying in this area. Leaving this room you pass by an outside enclosure for Koalas and Bush Thick-knees, then move inside for a while to view the Koalas from under cover. This path then leads past Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies, Wombats, Cassowaries and the large Outback Kangaroo enclosure, which was closed for renovations (although the Outback Walkthrough area was still open, despite being small with not much to show except for a kookaburras and some freeflying birds). Along the path were tanks of various sizes displaying reptiles – Scrub Pythons, Eastern Brown and Tiger Snakes, Redbelly Black Snakes, Inland Taipan, Diamond Python, Frilled Dragons, Cunningham’s Skink, Boyd’s Forest Dragon, Ridgetail Monitors and some baby Bredl’s Python, Bearded Dragons and Frilled Dragons. Most of these enclosures look like they were built in the corridor, and might even be portable. There was not the diversity of reptiles on display as previously, nor were the enclosures the same size as before. Having said that, these enclosure were certainly large enough for the occupants and many were larger than what you would see in most zoos. They were also well vegetated and furnished. The large Bull-ant Display, complete with nest and eggs, was also in this area.
The two-story rainforest bird area is now home to Rex, the Saltwater Crocodile. A nice exhibit for him, but unfortunately a massive waste of vertical space. Following the path onwards leads to Perentie (also in a large decent sized enclosure) and the nocturnal area. There were several large exhibits, with Spinifex Hopping Mice, Bilbies, Ghost Bats and Spotted Tail Quoll, and smaller enclosures with Golden Brushtails, Plains Rats, Feathertail Gliders and some small nocturnal reptiles. At the end of the nocturnal area and back in a diurnal setting was a beehive and some Golden Orb-weaving Spiders, and up some stairs tucked away in a corner were a few small insect and spider displays. The last thing was the rooftop koala display. Following the path downstairs lead past the ground floor viewing for Rex, and then the exit.
Overall, Wildlife Sydney is still an excellent facility for wildlife, despite it being inside (and on the roof of) a building. The enclosures are more than adequate, there is great educational value, and the animals are well cared for and healthy. I’m sure many of the staff were disappointed (like me) to lose some excellent displays and a lot of the animals, mainly reptiles and insects, but too the general public and especially anyone who has never been before, this will not be noticed. What those people will see is a first-class animal facility in the middle of Sydney CBD.
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum
As part of Wildlife Sydney was surrendered for the Madame Tussaud’s venture, I visited it after Wildlife Sydney. As ZooChatters may be interested, I add my impressions of it here as an addenda.
The last time I went to a Wax Museum was in 1988 – Madame Tussaud’s in London. Some years previous to that I went to two wax museums in Los Angeles, one in Hollywood and the other near Knotts Berry Farm (that, from memory, depicted scenes from famous movies). In all these museums the visitor followed a set path, and the wax figures were all in roped of areas, although you could generally get fairly close to them. Educationally, there was usually a sign with the person’s name, dates of birth and death, and often a few words about the scene or background, or about some item of clothing or prop. The people were predominantly famous moviestars or musicians, or just general wax figures (of nobody in particular) portraying a scene from history. So I was very surprised at the new Madame Tussaud’s in Sydney.
Firstly, nothing is roped off. You can walk around the figures, you can touch the figures, put your arm around them to have your photo taken. There are props – like hats and coats and other items – to “enhance your experience” as the blurb said. There was plenty of information about each character on a sign nearby, and there were also interactive educational things for the kids to do. Maybe all wax museums are like this nowadays, but it was certainly a pleasant change from the waxworks I remember.
The actual people portrayed obviously had a heavy Australian focus, with some international celebrities thrown in. In the entry area and visible to the public was a large wave with surfer Layne Beechley, but upon entering the Museum the first figure you come to is that of Truganini (with her correct name of Trugernanner), the last of the Tasmanian Aborigines. This was followed by Captain Cook, Governor Philip, Ned Kelly, Sir Henry Parkes and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. There were interactive educational things to do with both Cook and Parkes (turning Cook’s ships wheel revealed information, as did moving Parkes’ books on his bookshelf).
The path led to a World Leaders room with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, former Prime Ministers John Howard and Bob Hawke, Barack Obama. Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, the Queen and the Dalai Lama. From there the path took us through other rooms displaying famous people from Sport, Music, Television, Movies (and Bollywood), and some other celebrities. Also portrayed were the likes of Albert Einstein, Eddie Mabo, Victor Chang and Fred Hollows. There was also an area that showed – with videos and displays - how a figure is constructed.
Overall, I was very impressed. Educationally there was a lot of value, if you read the notices. I’m sure school groups would get worksheets where they have to answer specific questions on people, which would involve them having to read the signs. And having important figures from Australia’s past made it even more educational, even if just for visitors to Australia. However, it was mostly fun and entertaining. Everywhere you looked there were kids taking up position and ‘freezing’ whether anyone was looking or not, and playing around with the props (beside Greg Norman was a small putting green, and by Mel Gibson in Mad Max getup was a motorcycle you could jump on).
From my perspective, I found it interesting to look at the quality of the workmanship of the figures. Some did not look quite right, and some looked bad (in my opinion), but then most were spot on. All looked like real people, and at times I actually missed seeing some the first time round because of the crowd of people surrounding them and I couldn't tell they were figures.
I don’t know how much admission was, because I had a pass, but if you have kids they will LOVE this place and I would challenge any adult not to be entertained by a visit. Because I had been to Sydney Wildlife, and was now going on to the Aquarium, I only had a short amount of time for the Wax Museum, and I went through in a little over half an hour. But that was without reading signs and notices, and I didn’t have kids with me. If you have kids and no time constraints then you could easily spend up to two hours or more.
Hix
