Sleeping with the fishes

Children sleeping over at the Kelly Tarlton's.

Elisabeth Easther bunked down at Kelly Tarlton's with two small fry in tow, and discovered a whole new meaning to the word 'seabed'.

Sometimes I'm offered adventure opportunities that sound amazing in theory. So, when I was asked if I fancied a sleepover at Kelly Tarlton's Sealife Aquarium I said, "heck yes, sign me up".

However, when the evening arrived, heading to Mission Bay with two small boys (aged 5 and 8), I was a trifle apprehensive. Sleeping in an aquarium? On the floor? With strangers? I was already mourning my creature comforts, my cosy bed. But I needn't have worried because everything about our expedition was fabulous.

Assembling in Kelly Tarlton's classroom, we met our room-mates. The kids colonised the beanbags and a movie played to quell their excitement.

At 7pm our hosts Stephen and Julie started the show: it really is a great night. Stephen told us all about the penguins we would see. They were nesting and, by the time you read this, those eggs should be hatching, maybe cracking out baby penguins this very minute. Stephen was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the elegant birds, and his impression of a penguin was spot on.

On our way to the entrance hall we criss-crossed the aquarium's intestines, past pipes and tanks and all sorts of hidden machines that make the place go. Fun fact: their daily power bill is $1200.

It has to be said the king penguins looked shabby on account of moulting. Their icy enclosure was covered in feathers but when their new suits grow in they'll be preening and posing again to attract mates. In the wild it's estimated 80 per cent of penguins die in their first year so these guys inside have a pretty cushy life.

Next we caught up with Julie. In a wetsuit, she was up to her waist in water in the stingrays' enclosure. Said to be very placid and affectionate, stingrays are rarely aggressive unless they feel threatened. As Julie spoke, Molly, Phoebe and Feisty cuddled her with their whopper wingspans. As each ray weighs about 300kg, those are pretty heavy hugs. Fun fact #2: stingrays are enthusiastic breeders, so Kelly Tarlton's keep only lady stingrays these days to avoid a population explosion.

When Julie began shivering, Stephen took charge again to oversee the cold challenge. Two buckets of ice helped us get a feeling for life in Antarctic waters, and there was a competition to see who could keep their hand in the longest. Then we fed the fish, which everyone loved, strolled through the tunnel aquariums and admired everything from jellyfish to a giant squid.

With bedtime not far away, we were offered a range of places to sleep: shark alley, fish alley, the floor by the moray eels or the classroom. My boys chose to doss down in the tunnel. With 18 million litres of water above us, we'd be counting fish instead of sheep.

As the adults made up the beds, the children played spotlight tiggy - hurtling about like schools of fish, puffing, panting, making friends in the dim light beneath the sea. Admittedly, it took a while for the youngsters to settle but here there's no point in the usual rules. The funny thing is, I slept like a log, cosy and content in my ocean bed.

Breakfasting at Stingray Bay on cereal and toast (and very welcome flat whites for the adults) it was clear from the hubbub that everyone was delighted with their aquatic escapade.

Need to know

Kelly Tarlton's Sleepovers: Behind the scenes, tours, fish and stingray feeding and much, much more.

Give the kids a good dinner before arriving. Take snacks if you want more than biscuits and Milo for supper. You'll also need a torch and all your sleeping equipment, (sleeping bags, roll, mats, pillows).

Next dates: October 25 (Halloween theme), January 16 and 17, April 10 and 11 and July 10 and 11.

Cost: $45 per person, includes supper and breakfast.

To book call 0800 805 050 or kellytarltons.co.nz