After 40 years of intending to visit Techniquest, our What's On editor finally went - and loved the science centre's interactive zones, live shows and retro fun.
A long-awaited first visit
Kathryn Williams, What's On Editor, had been meaning to visit Techniquest, the Welsh science centre in Cardiff Bay, for years. The grey building backs onto the main route through the popular waterside destination, and she was curious to see how good it really was.
Techniquest has been going for more than 40 years, yet Williams had never bothered to visit in that time. But the pictures her friends shared always looked fun, so when the opportunity arose last minute to book a visit, she thought: Why not?
Partly because she really wanted to stick her head through the hole where the optical illusion makes it look like you have no legs, but mainly because she was in charge of childcare that day and was frantically thinking of something fun to do.
Early start and ticket prices
The pair pre-booked tickets for an early slot at 10am. Tickets aren't super cheap - £13.52 for over 16s, £11.93 for kids aged three to 15, and under threes go free. You can also add a small donation to the ticket price.
Going early was the best decision they could have made. There were a few other families and groups there, but they were able to move around the interactive attractions freely without much queuing.
Alongside five different zones that focus on space, the environment, chemistry, world issues and biomedical science, there are also some firm favourites in the retro zone - the giant piano on the floor has been revamped and was a must-do for this '80s kid whose memories of Tom Hanks in Big remain positive despite some eyebrow-raising plot developments looking back.
Fun for kids and adults alike
The mirror maze is super fun to get lost in, the black lit maze edged by neon lights looks great and isn't too big for little ones to properly get lost in. Next to that was the Head on the Plate illusion which has had a new look recently.
Williams did get on the floor to crawl in and stick her head through - but that's what's great about Techniquest, it's not just for kids. The accompanying adults can get stuck in and have as much fun - and learning - too. Or, satisfyingly ease some stress by launching a tennis ball to the ceiling as hard as you can and zip down the big metal slide - it really does work.
They also loved the earthquake simulator in the world issues area. You can set it to vibrate at different frequencies to simulate the tremors of powerful earthquakes across the globe - biggest one first, obviously, which was around nine on the Richter scale.
Live science show and top tips
After a good 90 minutes of blowing balls up into the air, getting lost in mazes, shouting down long pipes and testing their heart rate after 10 star jumps, they decided to sit down for a bit and have a look at one of the live science shows.
The day they visited was The Battle of the Bangs - a free show, you could pay a £1 to guarantee entry or just queue up and take a chance. They did the latter and still got a spot in the front row.
Unsure what to expect, Williams was mindful they were indoors, so flames and explosions couldn't be that wowing. She was wrong. What a brilliant addition to the morning of play and learning.
Sporting their ear defenders, the engaging and informative host delivered an entertaining half-hour zipping (carefully) through the science behind fire, explosions and more - pitting each experiment against each other with the audience voting for their favourite.
There were custard powder flamethrowers, Skittles rockets and something called the carbide cannon - each demo almost bigger than the last and that applied to the "ooos" and cheers after the flames hit the air.
For Williams, this show was worth the entry price. All the adults and kids in their party were glued to the action and they couldn't wait to vote with their tokens at the end.
One tip she would say, apart from go early, is to take a packed lunch. They did make a last minute decision to visit Techniquest, so they weren't as prepared as she'd like. But there are lots of seating areas to eat your sandwiches and fruit etc and you can carry on exploring and playing for as long as you'd like then.
Another tip: if you live locally there's an off-peak pass where you can visit outside of school holidays. It lasts a year and is £38 for adults and £34 for kids - you can also add a donation. Techniquest is also a registered charity so making a donation or buying a ticket will help keep the doors open.
Williams will gladly make a repeat visit despite not having been in the 40 years it's been open, as there were loads of things she wanted to do again and didn't see. Maybe she came with school at some point, but it didn't stick in the memory like this outing - she'll never look at custard powder the same way.
Techniquest is on Stuart Street, Cardiff, CF10 5BW. You can book tickets or find out more information, here.
