At the Planetarium

Shortly after moving to the Illawarra region of NSW, my young son and I wished to discover any interesting local attractions lurking about our new town. One of the first opportunities we located was a Science Center and Planetarium located just outside of Wollongong City. Being members of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, we were eligible for free entry and the venue was within walking distance of our new home.

My son used to be deeply fascinated by scientific matters. Being home schooled, he could progress at his leisure. Being enthusiastic, he learned much of the secondary level sciences while still in his elementary years. He had memorized the periodic table by the age of ten, for an example. Visiting the Science Center was therefore an extremely exciting opportunity for him. I had a general interest in new places and loved to offer him as many opportunities as possible.

One of the more enjoyable activities for me was the Planetarium's laser concerts. Six or seven popular songs would be played, whilst colored laser lights performed a cartoon style display on the roof. My son was interested on the first occasion, but once he had learned about the laser's properties, he lost interest in the actual music performance. In the opposite mode, I let the scientific information clutter his brain, whilst enjoying tapping my toes to the music and the visual presentation.

There have been several occasions on which we have seen the two laser concerts over the years. One time stands out in my memory strongly because being the only two customers for the show in the Planetarium, we were offered a choice of which of their two displays we viewed. We had seen them both before, but chose the one with the song 'I Can See Clearly Now' in. I particularly liked the visuals that accompanied this song. They now flood into my mind whenever I hear it.