The friendly kakarikis

First, some housekeeping. I turned off comments moderation, so if you feel so inclined and have had difficulty in the past, it should be so easy to leave me a comment now.

After the thrill of hobnobbing with lemurs, we continued our walk and entered the Free Flight Sanctuary. The first enclosure contained a couple of keas. Keas are large parrots that are unremarkable in appearance but are extremely intelligent and full of personality. They are nicknamed clown of the mountains for good reason. They are quite prevalent in the South island and have been known to rip the rubber window seals off cars and steal anything that piques their interest. One particularly brazen fellow even stole a Scottish man's passport! One of the keas we saw that Monday was busily ripping apart a telephone book. Their beaks are formidable.

As we walked on, we saw some smaller, bright green birds flying around freely. They turned out to be kakarikis, the New Zealand parakeet. These fearless birds make good pets and their breeding is encouraged. One of them took a liking to Anne's purse, which you may remember from this post. 

It was determined to examine and tear apart every item in that fascinating cavity, so we eventually had to boot it out.

Whereupon, we were ambushed by several more birds.

John, of course, was happy.

And so was I!

Sneak purse attack!

The weather was not improving, so at length we bid a fond farewell to the kakarikis and headed off down the path...

...to where we had heard there were white rhinoceros babies.

Sure enough, this one was nursing from its mama, right next to the path. Mama felt disrupted as we passed and moved away. Baby (who must surely be a teenager, for goodness sake) became petulant and started whining. Mwree, mwreee, it trilled, in a high, fractious voice. We laughed and wondered how it managed to latch on without goring mama to death. She eventually conceded the point and let baby do its thing again. Turns out baby tilts its head at a strategic moment before fastening on. 

In case you were wondering.

Q: What do you call a baby rhino?

Leapin' lemurs

On the last day I spent with Mum, we took her to Hamilton Zoo. It was a strategically selfish move on my part. Ever since I saw (recently posted) facebook photos of my nephew's family in the lemur enclosure, I had been determined to do the same.

And you know me:

Susan T. Osborne.

"T" for Tenacious.

As luck would have it (and luck was with me on this trip, except for the mosquito bites) the Face 2 Face time with lemurs was on Mondays. The first Monday was during school holidays, so we nixed that as a possibility, as only ten people can partake of the lemurs' charms in one day. The second Monday promised to be torrential downpours, but we decided to risk it.

Now or never.

Do or die.

And it was perfect.

The torrential downpour waited until about three o'clock, when we were done anyway.

So, for a mere $10 a person (admission not included) we spent some quality time with ten ring-tailed lemurs and a ruffed lemur or two.

Hint: lemurs love grapes.

Carrots, not so much.

So if you ever meet one on your travels, you will know how to get on its good side.

Who, me? Oh, I couldn't. Really.

Must. Resist. The grape.

Oh, alright, if you insist! Mm mm mm.

I was in lemur heaven.

We were only allowed to pick up the ruffed lemurs.

Who were, quite frankly, only in it for the grapes.

Ring-tails don't like to be petted, apparently.

Lies, all lies!

Mum got a huge kick out of it. She thought she was going to lose her hat.

John is the only person I know who gets a greater kick out of this sort of thing than I.

It was all very delightful.
Hamilton Zoo is a small but unique zoo, with wonderful habitats for the animals and friendly volunteers who love to share their passion. There are still some marvels to share, but sixteen photos in one post is enough, don't you think?

With fronds like these, who needs anemones?

One of the things I wanted to do while in New Zealand was to hike in the bush with my dear friend and flatmate, Leah, and her husband, Derek. The planets aligned just so and I met them the day I flew into Auckland (Thursday) and on Friday we went for a hike in the Hunua Ranges. 

The weather was a bit iffy but we took jackets and Whittaker's peanut slabs and hoped for the best.

The jackets lasted about ten minutes.

This was mostly what we saw of Derek, as Leah and I did what we do best: yack and walk.

There is nothing quite like the New Zealand bush. 

The way the sun filters through the fronds of the tree ferns.

The way the undergrowth stacks in layers.

The way epiphytes make each tree interesting.
Yes, there is a trunk under all those plants.

The vines, mosses, and parasitic plants that live on the tree ferns and other trees.

I believe this is one of the four reservoirs in the park that supply up to 60% of Auckland's water.

We stopped for a few minutes to rest in the kauri grove. Kauris are mighty trees and one of the largest trees in the world is a kauri tree that grows north of Auckland. Its name is Tane Mahuta, which means Lord of the Forest. Its girth is 45.2 ft, trunk height is 58 ft, total height 168 ft, and the total volume is 18,250 cu.ft.

The ancient Maoris revered the mighty kauris as gods, but unfortunately only about two dozen of the giants survived logging by the early European settlers. Many of the trees that were felled were much bigger than the survivors. 

Leah and Derek.

I love them!

There is nothing in the world like the damp, fertile smell of the New Zealand bush.

Clambering around on the rocks was not my favourite part, but I managed it without mishap.

Leah said the falls were not impressive, so we didn't bother.

The impressive part was the bush track.

We emerged from the bush a few hours later, damp, sweaty, and tired.

It was perfect.

The tie that binds

All women become like their mothers. 

That is their tragedy.

No man does.

That's his.

Oscar Wilde.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in my life.

The three (horrible) bears

My sister, Anne, and I spent the first week of my time in New Zealand cleaning out my Mum's little house. For those of you who are new to the story, my Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in January and went into a care home. We needed to go through Mum's house to get it ready to sell.

It was a job that was at times disturbing, often heart-rending, and sometimes hilarious.

My Mum was an avid collector of things.

Which she then proceeded to wrap in gobs of tissue paper and plastic bags and boxes.

These are just a few of the books we unwrapped. Sometimes, there were multiple copies of the same book, especially if they were new. We don't think she ever read any of them.

John particularly liked this purse. 

He actually pleaded with Anne to keep it instead of the black patent handbag to which she was inclined.

Mum had closets full of clothes that she had never worn. Most of them were op-shop bargains, we are sure, but some of them were new with expensive price tags. And sometimes there were multiple copies of the same item! 

I persuaded Anne to model a couple of outfits, because some of them were kinda gorgeous. 

And I could never have squeezed into them!

John took off for the beach after a day or two. Work to do, he claimed, better than hanging around with the girls. Then Anne got sick with some kind of virus, which I managed to catch a week later. 

Sharing sisters!

One day, after hours of sorting and tossing, I walked into the living room where Anne was lying, dying, on her mattress. I looked at this basket that has sat by Mum's wood stove for years.

Those bears are horrible, they've got to go! I declared.

What? says Anne, suddenly alert.

Those bears are horrible, they've got to go!

I'll have you know that my children made those bears, she said, and we both started laughing uncontrollably. Which act usually entails clenching the thighs tightly, because, you know, weak bladders and all! It was worth a good thirty minutes of entertainment, as she showed me the unique qualities of each bear and how she could tell which child had made which bear. 

We rolled on the floor and we cried real tears. 

All she had to say to get us both in stitches again, for the rest of the holiday, was Those bears are horrible!

Now, I don't want you to think we were disrespectful. It was a strange situation, cleaning out one's parent's house before they are dead. Mum has always been a very secretive person but she never threw anything away. 

Not one envelope.

So it was an enlightening week and I think I learned more about my mother than I have learned all the rest of my life. It was good in most ways and helps me to be more compassionate towards her in her present state. Some of the history was rather bizarre and shall not be repeated here, but it just goes to show that still waters run deep. 

And I tell you this, if there is anything in your possession that you want to remain a secret, dispose of it now.

This very day. 

Because when it is discovered, you will not be there to explain it. 

And that is a very bad thing.

And about that grove of trees.

Mine to know and yours never to discover.

And in case you're wondering, there is no documentation!