Auckland Things to Do Tips by Kate-Me

I'd visited Kelly Tarlton's many years ago, when it first opened about 17 years ago. Back then, I think it was the first of its kind, and the Sydney and Melbourne Aquariums followed up on the idea.
What makes Kelly Tarlton's so unique though to me, is that it has Penguins too! King Penguins and another smaller type I'd never heard of or seen before - Gentoo (but still much larger than blue fairy penguins we have in Australia).
The penguins have their own ice arena (several tonnes of snow made/brought in each day) and surrounding this 'ice berg' which really doesn't look too bad (the penguins must like it too as they even breed on it) is their large swimming pond. You can watch them swimming through the glass display in another part of the attraction, then go inside and ride in a heated snow cat in a loop around their arena, where you can see them at much closer range. Very well done indeed!

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Phone: 0800 - 805 050 toll free
Address: 23 Tamaki Drive, Orakei, Auckland.
Website: http://kellytarltons.co.nz

Also here, besides the Aquarium fish and sharks swimming all around you behind perspex as you admire them from the moving walkway, there are touch tanks in the foyer before you get to the souvenir shop with lobster and other sea creatures in, plus a kids marine room with a mini touch pool and other interesting things for them to do, and fish in small tanks to admire.
Before you enter the Snow Cat to see the penguins, you first pass through an exhibition which is a replica scale model of the Antarctic hut from the Shackleton expeditions, complete with furniture, piano, and cabin interior, and black and white photos on display which were taken on the original expedition. Plus, you can watch video and listen to audio about the expedition. Rather interesting.

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Phone: 0800 - 805 050 toll free
Address: 23 Tamaki Drive, Orakei, Auckland.
Website: http://kellytarltons.co.nz