NEMO Science Centre

We finally made it! I’ve been wanting to go to Nemo since I first read about it months ago while sitting at my office desk in Sydney. On a brisk and blustery day in Autumn, here we found ourselves…

… walking towards the most amazing building. Built to look like a sinking ship, above the entrance to the IJ tunnel.

The entrance is presided over by the water clock. Unsurprisingly, it’s quite hypnotic …

There’s a ball machine reminiscent of the one at Questacon. Until you watch it for a while and realise that it’s a representation of a factory floor and you can follow the day’s orders for different coloured balls!

There’s a good display of alternative energy transportation that has been utilised within the Netherlands over the years.

This Robot’s name was Elektra, and she would greet and converse with you. She is 3.5m tall and has hydraulic, water pump muscles, which cycle 500 litres of water through her arteries every hour.

There was an amusing “teen” section which was set up to answer all sort of questions teenagers might not be comfortable asking their parents. (in wonderful Dutch fashion)

There was a wonderful section which analysed some of the various ways in which humans adorn and decorate their bodies.

Over 5 floors, and with regular shows, there was plenty to see and do for a number of hours.

It was a wonderful Museum. All in all though, not as large or as well thought out for a range of ages as either Questacon or the Powerhouse.

But there was a two-headed monkey in a jar.

So there’s that.