Roselin drove up from Wollongong today to take our girls to Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. It was terrific timing to have another adult along for our outing as I have been feeling a bit under the weather.

In fact, I didn’t take any photos of our time at the Powerhouse Museum, but David did record some shots on his phone. The museum was very busy, mostly with families who were visiting the Harry Potter exhibition, and we kept our experience low-key.

We let the girls play for a long time on the children’s installations, including inside the Wiggles exhibit. I’ve never been a fan of the Wiggles’ music, and we haven’t introduced it to the girls. However, through other sources they have become familiar with some of the tunes and the characters. So although we aren’t big fans, the girls liked the exhibit.

Within the Wiggles exhibit, Roselin helps Brioni make paper roses.

Listening into the earpiece of the phone, I learn more about the Wiggles than I ever wanted to know.

David came away with a new appreciation for the Wiggles’ music. I felt like I had my fill for a lifetime and don’t really care if I never hear another Wiggles tune again.

In other parts of the museum, the girls spent a long time at the chocolate exhibit — enduring an eight-minute presentation for one tiny chocolate drop. They thought it was fantastic to receive free chocolate just by waiting and touching the screen.

Other exhibits — the space shuttle, satellites and airplanes — were only briefly admired before the girls returned to the chocolate-making machine. This suited us adults — we positioned ourselves on a couch nearby and dozed off and on!

This dragon came out as part of the Chinese New Year exhibit, but I think it looks more like a creature from The Dark Crystal then a Chinese dragon.

The only exhibit that caught my eye was the Australian International Design Awards. Among the innovative products featured, a swag for the homeless stood out as a practical, well-designed package. The swags are given away to homeless people by the charity that makes them — with each one costing just $68.

David was particularly interested in an innovative concrete surface made by Axolotl. The 0.5mm coating gives any object the appearance of concrete without any of the associated structural or environmental issues. Applications range from walls and kitchen benchtop to signage and sculpture.

Later, as we walked back to Darling Harbour, we realised that we hadn’t seen a lot of the museum. Many sections seem to be undergoing renovations, and none of us had the energy to drag our children through displays that were not interactive.

Our experience was very low subdued, but it was adequate. In hindsight, I think our children are probably too young to properly appreciate the Powerhouse Museum, so this will be something that we’ll visit again in the future.

We ended the day with a play at the park in Darling Harbour and then stayed for the movie that is offered as part of their school-holidays program. Roselin drove away as soon as we reached her car in Waterloo — she has to work tomorrow, and we headed for bed. Sometimes these big days are too big, but they’re all worth it!

In the evening, a movie is shown in the Darling Harbour park — the 1965 Dr Dolittle film.