Sunday 1st March: After a rainy night the campsite was very soggy and the washing we had left on the line had had an extra rinse! The skies cleared and it was a warm and sunny day. Last year we arrived in NZ on 29th February so we have been here one year now.
Today we went to Orana Wildlife Park, as Jonathan’s birthday treat. The park has 400 animals of 70 different species and exists for the conservation and breeding of endangered species from NZ and Africa. So we saw lions, tigers, lemurs, cheetah, tuatara (a reptile), giraffes and two kiwi birds. We spent all day walking around, taking photographs and joining the information/feeding sessions to learn more. In a previous entry I pointed out the lack of Health and Safety concerns here. The next photo is a great illustration......
At Orana Park you can ride in a metal cage into the lion enclosure and the keeper feeds them while you are there. it's an extra $30 for the pleasure and the ride is always full! The photo is actually of the advertising poster for the experience.
In the shop at the end of our day we finally found a toy giraffe for Jonathan. Last year, in Christchurch, on 1st March we lost his “mummy giraffe” and has talked about it nearly every day since. We’ve been looking for a replacement but found nothing suitable until today. There is a photo of them,
and they have settled off to sleep very happily together this evening. The photo of the eggs shows the comparison in size between a chicken egg and a kiwi egg. The latter is the equivalent of us giving birth to a 30lb child! The male incubates them for 80 days, then just as the chick hatches the female lays another egg for him to sit on!! I like the idea!
Back at the campsite we had a swim in the camp pool and then walked about 800m to a Pizza Hut for a treat dinner out as the last evening of our holiday.
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