Forty, Firths and Une Fête Foraine: No Monkey Business Here, Just Show Business

The Science Museum dominated our morning time and we loved the emphasis they place on finding a career that’s right for you, in the science field. The lads tried their hand at welding and picking up a boulder as though they were using a crane. Then we moved on to the Natural History Museum. We’d not been there before. We had seen them redesigning the exterior of the building when we were here two years ago. Now it is complete and it is impressive. The outside grounds are focused on dinosaurs and really neat appropriate landscapes. This museum is hugely popular. The crowds are comparable to the crowds at The Louvre in Paris. Once we got inside the museum, David and I opted to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit. It was slightly less busy (because you have to pay to see this exhibit whereas all other museum exhibits are free). The photos were stunning. Many of them were taken by drone. They also have a Young Photographers part of the competition as well. And how technology changes things. Of course, all the photos were exhibited on digital screens made to look like picture frames. Most of the competition categories are geared towards awareness of how man’s interaction with the natural world is altering the environment for creatures and all living things. We also toured the Earthquakes section where they actually recreate an earthquake that occurred in Japan. Museum guests stand on what looks like the floor of a Japanese supermarket and then the floor starts to move in a fashion similar to an earthquake.

And our busy museum day was capped off with an evening at Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre. It did not disappoint. It was particularly precious to be there with our eldest little on this trip who loves the character of King George and his foppish ways which were quite entertaining. So much so that he leaned over into his mother’s lap to hide his uncontrollable laughter. I highly recommend Hamilton. A fun evening out.

Sorry this is such a dark photo I took of an exhibit (clearly I’m not winning Wildlife photographer of the year), but it shows the first earthquake seismometer used in China. At the top of the vessel there are creatures that are dragons and when the ball drops from the dragon’s mouth into the bullfrog’s mouth, there’s been an earthquake. The direction of the earthquake depends on which frog the ball falls into.

This is one of the competition photos. The photographer had been trying to take pictures of something else, but the monkeys kept rearranging his camera equipment and destroying things. He finally relented and got some good images of the monkeys instead.

This photo won People’s Choice Favourite.
It’s a rodent that looks like it’s flying, even though it’s just jumping into the air.

Just a sampling of how busy it is (and how beautiful) the Natural History Museum is.

This seal was adorably photographed.

It wouldn’t be a Barb photo exhibit if there weren’t some frog images.
This one captured a horde of frogs after a storm.

This sloth photo was also adorable/heartbreaking. Sloths are being forced to cross the road as their natural habitat is being overtaken by vehicles. This poor fellow’s photo was captured as he clung to a fence post to avoid all of the interested onlookers hanging around. The photographer took the photo after the humans vacated the area.