Today was more science with a trip to Golden Gate park for the California Academy of Science. This was recommended by Stacey and Sue and Dr Penny found good reviews on the web. We caught the bus straight outside the hotel to city hall and then swapped to another bus. It has been an eye opener for the girls seeing homeless and drug addicted people more frequently than we do at home. Hopefully it will keep them on the straight and narrow. After a short stroll through the park, where there was apparently a coyote sighted very recently, we arrived at the California Academy of Science (CAS) and were greeted by a T-Rex skeleton as we entered the building. I joked with Emily about throwing a bone and seeing if he would chase it. She rolled her eyes, like she does when I do "dad things" and said "that is in the Natural History Museum in New York". After wandering for a bit we joined Tom Hanks on a journey through the galaxy in the Planetarium. He narrates the story with some input from local scientists. We then explored the rainforest with lots of birds, butterflies and other insects before heading down to the aquarium for life underwater in the Amazon, tropical waters and the California coast. Matilda got her hands wet playing with sea creatures. This made the young scientists hungry so we ate our vegemite and cheese sandwiches and salads near the Aligator to keep the pests away! Next stop was the earth quake simulator. Here we got to experience the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, they only shook for a fraction of time the real quakes did but it was rocking and rolling. We saw lots of whale and seal skeletons, a slice of a 300 year old Redwood and then stopped in the African section to see Penguins. A customary visit as you exit to the shop to see what we might like, Emily is after a periodic table tshirt which surprisingly they did not have.

After dropping the bags at the hotel we headed to Taylor Street to catch the Cable Car. After a short wait in the queue we got on and the kids hung from the side with excitement. With clunks and clatters we were off up and down the rolling hills of downtown San Francisco. We got off at the Cable Car museum which is free and really interesting. Tells the history of cable cars and shows you how they work. It is based at the site where the motors turn the underground cables for the working cars in the streets. We jumped back on another car and headed back to Fisherman's Wharf past Lombard Street. Didn't get off but got a look down the windy road.

An evening stroll along the waterfront got us to the Fisherman's Wharf sign for a photo and then to Boudin's Bakery to see the bakers make animal bread shapes. Further down is pier 39 which is full of food and gift shops. We wandered the length and saw the carousel at the end. There were lots of people wandering the streets with singers, dancers and other street performers keeping everyone entertained. Had dinner in a bar with an arcade. I had a Bison Burger which was nice and a bit different and Emily tried to get her head around the fact that her calamari had little octupuses in it as well as squid!!