Not Particularly Attractive...

I reckon a tourist attraction should be representative of its area, unique, fun and relatively good value for money.
Kelly Tarlton's is an iconic destination for locals and visitors alike, and I have positive memories from my previous visits there. However yesterday we visited during a period of refurbishment which, in my mind, severely compromised its reputation.

I am not complaining about the fact that there are necessary upgrades taking place, just that for an adult entry of $34, there was bugger all to see. I felt sorry for the penguins that were 'on display' in a plain, small room. The Novus glass repair guy sitting in an empty aquarium doing his thing held about as much interest as they did. Things just looked dowdy and disheveled in general.
Our tickets come with a voucher for $10 off a subsequent visit. I for one will not be redeeming mine. In my opinion this $10 should have been taken off the original ticket price, to be a little more reflective of the current state of the place.

"Crap" Coffee???

Kopi Luwak originates in Indonesia.  Touted as the World's Most Expensive Coffee, the product's uniqueness is attributed to its unusual journey through the digestive system of the civet, a tree-cat. Basically they eat the coffee berries, and crap the whole beans out the other end. These are then collected, cleaned and processed for sale. Having a partner who lives in Indonesia who knows my appreciation of a good coffee, he was kind enough to fork out the big bucks to bring a packet home for me to try.

So the verdict? For me it was different, and after reading the Wikipedia article about it, I understand this is because it lacks the bitterness of the coffee we are used to, and I admit that I usually select coffee based on their strength and bitterness. I also wonder if having ground coffee as opposed to beans may have affected it's freshness. But it was definitely not crap.

PS Kopi Luwak appeared in this scene of the movie The Bucket List. Quite funny :)