eureka

hello again


and just what sense is it in that i, look you see, use the well known word eureka? not specifically in the sense of discovery or becoming explicitly aware of something. but, to be sure, quite close to that.

recently, as per a couple of posts on the subject, we visited that fine city of Manchester. on the way back we elected not to merely head straight home. instead, then, we elected to go via Halifax. this was so that we may go to the celebrated Eurkea!, which is the national children's museum.at least that is what it says on the website.

in this respect it might be better, if not prudent, to say that it is a "science" museum. a centre for discovery of scientific things, if you will. this i argue on the basis of the history of children is not really presented by the place.

yes, quite, that is an attempt at a selfie within Halifax by my (considerably) better half and i. as you can seen with some ease our children elected to "photo bomb" it. and why not.

practical advice for those considering visiting Eureka! in Halifax? sure. buy your tickets online in advance. whilst you can turn up and pay for entrance there tends to be a formidable queue. by paying in advance we were in the door in under a minute. also, the tickets are valid for a year - you can come and go as often as you wish in that time.

the Eurkea! museum has pay and display parking. when you go to the machine you are confronted with three arbitrary times to pay for - 1 hour, 4 hours or 12 hours. maybe it was 3 not 4. anyway, just go for the 3 or 4 hours, in particular if you have bought the tickets in advance and lose no time queueing. as fascinating as things are in there, i would speculate that 3 hours comfortably sees you cover everything to the point of interest met.

some more advice coming up, but yes, there right there above is a picture of what greets you outside Eurkea!. it's some smart plastic pipes of varying lengths, fashioned into the shape and style of an organ in the musical sense. you twat the bottom of the pipes with a rubber ping pong bat and it all makes a most excellent sound.

considering eating at Eureka!? rather take a picnic or sandwiches, sitting and eating in the designated picnic areas or on the many splendid lawns. there is a canteen. the prices are not unreasonable. it is, however, chaotic and busy, and i wouldn't say the meals we had (burgers) were that great.

right, on to the museum, then. we opted on this more for the benefit of William. it's all about fairness and balance, this parenting lark. earlier on we went to Old Trafford mostly for the benefit of James, so it seemed far to do something that William would be just as passionate about. 

also, as it was some 5 years ago, William was far too young when we went to remember much of the other children's / science museum we went to, Sci Bono in downtown Jozi.

yes, that is the 75% of my family you like a good deal more than the other 25%, which is of course me. they are indeed stood before some fabulous light display thing in the museum. so far as we could work out the idea was to stand before it for photos with these smart lights affecting your appearance.

what's the general gist of the museum? well, most of it is dedicated to rudimentary biology. the how and why our bodies work, for instance, and a decidedly aimed at the under 10 of age market about where babies come from. there are some fascinating interactive things in terms of how the body works, which will be under your gander gaze later.

also, there's loads of boss electric experiments you can do. none, alas, feature the means of electrocution or starting a smart fire, but fun all the same.

that's the more popular 75% of my family for you once again, then. here they are connecting wires to different metal objects. i think the point is to show how an electric current travels through metal. we all, however, got distracted by the boss, rave like noises that were made when you connected different wires to different bits of cutlery. the sounds we made were more musical than, oddly, about 75% of the present "singles" chart that isn't actually a singles chart any more.

is Eureka! worth going along to, to get to a point for some of you? yes, indeed, in particular if you have a child or children under the age of 10. that, on the basis of our experience, seems to be the target market as such. although it feels somewhat cold to describe kids as a "target market", but you know what i mean.

let me qualify that above statement in a little while, but first i am most delighted to present a picture of me, or if you like moi. it was with particular delight that i saw they had this most important lesson off of science for all to appreciate.

oh indeedy, one of them "heat vision" things, like what the Predator out of Predator has. and Predator 2 and Predators. and them Alien vs Predator films. quality, this is. i don't know exactly what a heat vision thing is supposed to pick up, but if any of you can spot any major health issues with me on the basis of this let me know please.

anyway, i wouldn't say we made any "exact science" observations or paid too much attention, but from what we could spot on the go most of the children attending Eureka! were under 10. at the least, then, those having the most fun, and showing off the greater sense of wonder, were of a single digit age.

James, who is over 10, enjoyed it. he did, however, say that he had far fonder memories of Sci Bono. this is despite Eureka! having a way bigger budget and more state of the art displays. what this tells me, and i may well be wrong, is it is that the age of discovery is key to enjoyment, and not simply how fancy the facilities are.

indeed that is that fancy wall of lights again, and yes that is my (considerably) better half. with it being all variations of purple she is of course giving it loads in the general direction of psychedelic rock, with particular emphasis on Janis Joplin. and her off of Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick i believe. you could always go ask Alice to make sure.

the above critique is not to say that over 10s would not enjoy Eureka!, far from it. James had fun enough, despite already being well aware of the many scientific discoveries that can be made. hopefully the pictures here show off he had fun. like, for instance, this one.

oh yes, that big smile is indeed related to the sign behind him. with particular emphasis on what is listed as the biggest muscle in the human body. well, when else are you going to be allowed to enjoy what is called "schoolboy humour" other than when you are indeed a schoolboy?

a quick look at some of the "human body" section of Eurkea!, then. of the many wonderful displays and interactive things this one was quite the win.

sorry, not the best picture i know - it was all rather tricky with the reflections, since the place is exceptionally well lit. pretty much as it looks, then. you pedal and the skeleton in the display case is all wired up to copy your movements.

on the one side this is quite smart as you can see what your bones all do when you move. mostly, though, it's simply totes awesome to not only see a skeleton riding along, but to be the one in control of it.

that there is indeed a rather happy William, posing by a skeleton he made with one of them "spin it around and around" sort of displays.

William, being the under 10 of the family, did indeed absolutely love the museum. he had enormous fun with all the experiments and interactive displays, wanting to go on absolutely everything. but, as indicated above, after some 3 hours he had hit the point at which all that could be done had been done. so again, your call, but bear that in mind when considering how much to pay for parking.

and with that it was time to hit the road, or at the least drive on it, and head home. holiday road had, however, indeed been as much fun as Lindsey Buckingham promised in that smart theme song of his. which of course allowed for an in the car family selfie.

sadly time did not allow us to explore much of Halifax. the only parts we saw were the signs to the Eureka! museum, really. well that and one elaborate, steep, cobblestone road we were required to drive up. perhaps one day - maybe on a further visit to Eurkea! since we can get in at no further cost - we shall go again and have a better look at the place.

right, then, that's that. as ever i can but hope and trust this has all been of interest and possible use to someone out there somewhere!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!