June 9, 2017 - Orana Wildlife Park and Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

Today we’re going to eat lightly because our evening includes a four-course dinner!  We have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grab our gear and head out.  But before I continue, did I mention that yesterday’s little blue penguins are really blue!!  Who knew?  It continues the color theme of the trip with our blue car and the white and blue toilet paper we bought, just in case!  My car charger for the phone is even blue!  But I digress!

We head north of Christchurch to the Orana Wildlife Park.  It is the best kind of zoo, where none of the animals, except some of the birds, live in cages.  They all have grass and trees and all the natural comforts of home in which to roam.  We start by waling toward the shuttle station, where we will pick up the tram.  Along the way we see the meerkats and a volunteer suggests that we go around the corner.  There we see a few more meerkats; but these are cohabitating with giant African porcupines!  They’re huge!  Then we pick up the tram with our driver/narrator, Jenny.  She is a volunteer who has spent a lot of time in Africa and knows a great deal about all of the Orana residents.  

Along the way we see three cheetahs, American bison, a giraffe, springboks (did you know they lock their knees and bend their backs in order to jump straight up in the air?), water buffalo, yak, white rhinos, zebras, monkeys, lions, and a giant kiwi – but he’s a statue!

  

We thank Jenny for the wonderful tour and set off on foot to explore as much as we can before leaving for Willowbank.  We check out the sheep, in case we don’t see any other sheep in New Zealand!  (giggle!) then head toward the birds.  There is a whole section of New Zealand birds, some in separate cages and some in two lovely aviaries.  But the highlight of the bird section is the kiwi house.  Kiwis are nocturnal so you have to be very quiet and wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.  And you have to be patient!  We’ve had practice waiting for birds, and our patience was, once again, rewarded!  One of the not-so-little guys comes all the way down front to the glass so we can see him!  They are much larger than we had expected – perhaps the size of a small turkey!  They scurry along quite quickly and stop to peck on logs and the ground for dinner – or maybe it’s breakfast!  We are beyond thrilled!  People had come and gone while we were in there without seeing anything!

  

There are free ranging peacocks, both blue and white, and a kea who is extremely entertaining!  We continue on our rounds and see the spider monkeys and ducks, and a majestic tiger!  He’s just lying in the sun, taking his ease, when suddenly he charges up to the barrier and starts running along it.  He’s spotted the keeper who is coming with an afternoon snack!  We follow him – the keeper that is – and watch as he throws a chunk of meat over the fence for our tiger and his brother in an adjoining enclosure!  Such a gourmet delight!  

We’re inspired to go to the lion feeding in half an hour to see the people in the cage while the lions are on the outside, being fed!  With some time to kill we go to see the Tasmanian devil!  After all, not a lot of those at home!  Jenny had told us that they are endangered in Tasmania because 60% of them have died from facial cancer!  Orana is breeding them in hopes of returning them to Tasmania and repopulating them there.

On to the lion encounter!  Another volunteer tells us a bit about the lions and then a truck appears pulling a cage full of humans!  As advertised!  There is a keeper in the cage with the civilians and, also as advertised, one of the lions jumps on top of the cage!  Turn about is fair play!

 

It’s getting late and we have already stayed longer than we thought we would!  We had no idea it would be such a cool place!  All “zoos” should be wild life parks;  no animals should live in cages.  Orana’s volunteers all say that they are lucky because they have so much land and never had cages in the first place.  They don’t receive government funds and are completely supported by donations and admission.  On the way out we stop in the gift shop and chat with the two ladies who work there.  We laugh a lot and exchange stories from our travels and their encounters with tourists.

We just about have time to get to Willowbank Animal Reserve before 4:30, when we are to meet Marilyn’s 99s buddy, Pam.  Sure enough we are fifteen minutes early, even though the entrance only says Willowbank café and gift shop!  We are looking through the gift shop when Pam arrives and she is a delight!  She’s been flying for fifty years!!  She says she was lucky enough to get a scholarship to finance her first set of lessons.

The tour guide gathers up her charges and we are off to see the animals.  We begin with the kea, and talk about up close and personal!  There is a cup with a little honey and a spoon.  The person with the cup becomes the center of attention for the birds and they land on your shoulder and lick the honey off the spoon!  And they’re big , heavy birds!  It is so much fun!!  When they fly you can see the vibrant red under their wings!  We  see several other species of birds, then visit the kiwis in their nocturnal house.  After learning a lot about the birds themselves and why dogs should always be kept on a lead and wear a muzzle.  We go into their environment.  They can’t see the color blue, so our guide, Kim, shines a blue flash light so we can catch a glimpse of one or two of them.  It is almost, but not quite, bright enough to get a photo;  but the trill of seeing them is enough.  We’re glad we had the earlier experience, though.  Somehow it was more satisfying to spot one by ourselves than to have one pointed out.  They are adorable, though, however you see them! 

After the animal tour it is time for our Maori Experience.  Our lovely guide, Grayson, is a Maori and prepares us for what we will see and do.  It is an abbreviated version of the way Maoris greet visitors.  First one of the young men comes forward to meet the visiting chief and determine whether or not he is friendly.  He had a long stick which he uses to intimate the visitor, and if the chief roves to be friendly, he receives the stick.  If this is not done correctly, in can result in war! 

We have to choose a chief to represent us and since there are only four men present, the choice is pretty easy.  The youngest guy is the unanimous choice of the other three!  Grayson shows him how to receive the stick. There is also the traditional handshake with involves each man placing his left hand on the other's shoulder and touching noses!  After that we all move forward to listen to the welcoming speech by the elder, accompanied by the welcoming song, performed by the entire group.  Then we all move into the performance space.

We are treated to another welcome and introduction to the dances which include a welcoming dance and traditional stick tossing.  Then the girls perform with poi, after which the ladies in the tour are brought on stage to attempt a simple poi routine.  It is way harder than it looks!!  One of the dancers offers to take photos and she does a much better job with the camera than we do with the poi!  Next the guys perform the haka, or warrior dance, and our guys are supposed to follow suit.  It’s pretty difficult to stick your tongue out and bug your eyes if you haven’t grown up doing it! 

The final act is a spiritual performance and is deeply moving.  We are told why the dancers continually shake their hands.  It is symbolic of connecting with the spirits.  After this we return to the dining room where Grayson greets us in her costume from the performance and tells us that she actually travels a great deal as she is a model and actress!  She learned Maori as a child and says that now all the children study the language in school.  Like in the USA, the native language was forbidden in the past.  She also tells us that the traditional tattoos can represent many things, where you are from, what role you play in the group, anything that is personal to you.

It’s finally dinner time!  We start with appetizers of breads to be dipped in tomato and horopito salsa, smoked fish dip and watercress hummus.  The lady across from me is gluten free and shares some of her bread!  We also decide that a bottle of wine would go nicely with dinner and Pam, Marilyn, and I share a Stoneleigh pinot gris from Marlborough.  Each part of New Zealand has its own varietal!

Next comes a choice of soup, wither seafood chowder or creamy kumara, coconut, and watercress.  All but one of our group chooses the kumara!  This might be a good time to mention that there are seven of us, as some of the earlier participants didn’t stay for the dinner.  There is an Australian couple, a British couple, Pam, who is a Kiwi, and the two of us.  It is such fun to listen to them all talk sports – primarily rugby as there is quite an important series of matches being played.  All over New Zealand you can hear and see all about The All Blacks, the local heroes! They are playing three matches against the English and Irish Lions.  Rugby is the national sport of New Zealand and everyone is involved!!

The main course is quite a feast!  The traditional Maori feast is called a Hangi and is cooked over hot rocks in a pit.  The rocks are covered with damp leaves and the steam is what cooks the food.  While we’ve been eating and chatting, Grayson has set up a buffet behind us with traditional Hangi-cooked meats including lemon and kawakawa chicken thigh, ginger and 5-spice pork belly and garlic and rosemary lamb shoulder chop.  There is also hangi-cooked carrots, sweet potato, and regular potatoes and seasonal tossed salad and brown rice and soy salad!  Everyone samples everything and no one is disappointed!

While the plates are being cleared in preparation for dessert, we all go outside and feed the deer!  They are beautiful and gentle and it is a delight to feed another creature after we have been fed!

When we come back inside we are greeted with traditional pavlova with berry couli, topped with cream and kiwifruit and New Zealand’s hokey pokey ice cream! It’s traditional plain vanilla ice cream with chunky of honeycomb toffee!

  

What an amazing experience!  We’ve filled our tummies, stirred our souls, and finished our wine.  It’s time to thank Pam for the wonderful suggestion and head home.  She gives us simpler directions, which work perfectly, and we are asleep within minutes of opening the door to our room!