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From: shan lung <shanlung9@y...> Date: Fri Feb 20, 2004 Subject: Of moas and keas Sadly, we did not get to see any live moas or live kakapos when we visited New Zealand over Jan and Feb this year. I thought I was fortunate to have visited New Zealand for about four weeks until I went there with my wife. NZ was so much more lovely than I expected that I ate my heart out talking with other travelers as they regaled us with the 3 to 6 to 10 months that they have spend traveling about in that beautiful land. Portals that link to Middle Earth and even more exotic realms of fantasy dotted NZ but lack of time forced us to be satisfied with just a taste. My wife Joy has written some of her impressions of that little trip with a few photos culled from the thousand odd that she had taken. She writes better than me. You are all warmly invited to http://www.worldisround.com/articles/31651/index.html Enjoy her other reports there as well. Beautiful as New Zealand is with her mountains, forests, crystal clear waters cloaking her, my main memories in later years will be those people and their fids that have graciously allowed us to visit them and who so warmly welcomed us. That more than made up for my dismal failure in getting a live moa or two to bring back home. I got to blame the shortage of time that I did not have in between enjoying ourselves and driving from one place to another. I also have to report failure in even seeing live kakapos. It seems that whatever is left of them are now fiercely protected on a small island where hopefully they spend their time in creating even more kakapos. Friendly as the NZ people are, they kind of freeze up when visitors express desire to visit that island. Visits to that island are rightfully tightly controlled and you got to book way in advance to join and work in the conservation study group there. Preference will be given to non NZ visitors thus bumping NewZealanders themselves even further down the waiting list. In traveling around NZ and reading some of the historical notes of some places, its poignant to read that just a hundred years ago, travelers complained of the nuisance to their campsites caused by hundreds of inquisitive kakapos and kiwis. Notwithstanding there are now thousands of kakapos that still can be seen, from very tiny to small to larger all carved from wood in souvenir shops, they don?t quite feel the same. In Auckland, we got to meet Solveig who eventually got to meet us after I mislead her with my description as to where we were. I had to agree that ?Oakland road?that we were in sound very much like ?Auckland road?where she thought we were at. She was even delighted when she saw us. She and Phillip introduced us to Phaedrus, their lovely CAG and apple of their eyes and our eyes. Their house seem to be build around Phaedrus, the HUGE cage for him and complex playstation that Phillip build with ramps up and down so Phaedrus can go as he pleased. The nooks and clear spaces are then occupied by sofas, chairs, tables and whatever required by humans. Tinkerbell has been my only exposure to CAG other than the grey owned by my friend?s father that made me so want to have a grey ever since I was 15-16 years old. Other greys I have seen were in pet shops and of course, the many pictures of your loved ones. I was intrigued by him, his shy aloof air about him. I was fascinated by the dignified way that he walked about up and down the ramps to his play station. That is in such contrast to Tinkerbell when she walks. If Tink walks, she does it in a style reminiscent of the way French Foreign Legionnaires do their slow ceremonial march, with the body swaying coupled with sumo wrestlers stamping their feet. Should Halftail the Bimbo approached the sofa when she is on it with me, she would stamp her way over to Bim which is enough to frighten my poor cat away. Otherwise, Tink will start chomping on Bim which frightened me as well. Even if Tink ?walks?on top of shelf and not intimidating Bim, she does so with a rolling gait, nothing of the elegance that Phaedrus demonstrated. We met Melanie and Edward, Mel and Ed for short. They sailed all the way from England with their family and anchored near Whangerei. That is yet another part of NZ that is so beautiful that they fell in love with, sold their boat, bought ?a small plot of 6 acres?(in their own words), and started a new life there. Nicnic, their beloved and lovely Ringneck was in a big cage, with toys and chewables everywhere. Nicnic was frustrated having to stay in the cage not able to fly about. I agree with Mel and Ed that a house with little grandkids running around and likely to leave doors open will not be a good place to allow a fid to fly freely. We later went over to the house their son Ashley was completing to water the horses. The last I heard, the new house was completed, the grandkids will have their own doors to leave opened allowing Mel and Ed to let Nicnic fly about and play. Jennifer met us in Wellington with her lovely daughter Shannen to guide us over to her lovely house on a hill overlooking Lower Hutt valley. She told us she used to sit on the patio and watched part of the filming of LOTR on the valley floor below. That was the first time I saw an Alexandrine, her Dino. Dino lived in obvious harmony with her cats and dog. Dino had the run of the house and must have been very satisfied with her own toys as delicate ornaments and picture frames remained unchewed. Dino flights were done on level, with her body dipping slightly up and down that level with her long graceful tail in unison. As I mentioned in an earlier email, like dolphins playing in the bow waves of a boat. I wasn't a very good guest with Jennifer. I was just too captivated watching Dino as she flew about trailing her long pastel yellow tail behind her. Later in the afternoon, we all met up with Linda, Jennifer's mom, and visited Dennis, the bird whisperer of Lower Hutt. Dennis had been taking injured birds lovingly nursing them back to health. Like my friend in TsaoLing, some of those charges knowing a good thing when they see one, stayed on. So when Dennis took us around, a pied magpie flew about us keeping Dennis in sight. I have wanted very much to see keas in their natural surroundings ever since I read that keas may be the most intelligent of the parrot family. When we travelled in the South Island, I kept a sharp lookout for the keas. I was more than prepared to have my car screen wipers stolen and other 'horror' stories that keas were reputed to do. While checking out the Franz Josef and the Fox glaciers, their beauty did not distract my desire to see the keas so said by books to frequent those areas. Perhaps I may be too late, but none were seen. Then when we went by Homer tunnel on way to Milford Sound, no keas were there. It was said that the keas gathered there waiting for handouts from visitors. Just wasn't my luck. I even stopped the car and waited by the side of the road at high point to see if keas were around. The keas, if they were around, were not impressed enough with my calls of 'kiia kiiiia kiiia' to come to me or even make themselves visible. On the way back, we dropped by Jennifer and voiced my disappointment. The next day, Jennifer together with Linda and Shannen brought us to Stagland. Stagland had this little ravine with netting on top making it a walk-in aviary where keas were kept. I opened the gate and looked around tensed with anticipation for the keas and could not see any for a couple of seconds. I just had this feeling and slowly raised my gaze. Just above my head and sitting on the door jamb was this huge massive hunk of dull bronze green with the most wicked looking scimitar masquerading as a beak. He was looking down at me motionless, then I saw the others with him. I always thought keas were small, maybe like CAGs. To say they are the size of BGs cannot give the full picture. Their body were much more stout and massive. Even though I did not see them in the wild, I was immensely pleased to have finally seen them. I went in and stopped. That flock followed me a short time later, staying on the side of the ravine and watching me with full eye contact. When they fly, a flash of beautiful orange under their wings exposed themselves. After some time, I felt that they were as curious about us as we were about them. I felt that they may want to make more than just eye contact. Reasoning that if they were as intelligent as described and backed by the sense of intelligence I perceived of them, they would be very unlikely to want to hurt me. That whatever bad things said about them may be by people with negative vibes towards them anyway. I squat down on the path to bring me nearer to the keas on the side of the embankment. I clenched my fist and brought the back of the hand slowly to about 6 inches from the largest kea. He looked at me a few seconds during which I relaxed and calm my mind thinking just how beautiful he was. He then moved and bend his head and pressed it on the back of my hand and hold it to me for a few seconds. I was deeply moved myself and maintained hand position. Perhaps he did it to bring his nostrils nearer to smell me. Perhaps he also wanted to make such contact with me. Whatever it was, it was one of those moments you never will forget. As if cued by him, other keas came to me and pressed their head on my arm, and my thighs. After he lifted his head from the back of my hand, he matched my steady gaze. I softly asked if I can rub his head and slowly open my hand and raised my finger to the head. He moved quick as lightning, hold my finger, firmly pushed it away and released me. I smiled at myself mentally contrasting that with Tink, and not withstanding his much bigger size and horrendously huge wicked looking beak, he was actually gently than Tink. I overstepped the line, and was told so in no uncertain way. I clenched my hand and offered the back to him again. He bend his head, touched me gently for a second and moved back to look again at me. As if to let me know there is where it stood with him. All too soon, it was really time to go. Until the next time when I am back. ===== With warmest regards Shanlung Joy - wife, Tinkerbell - CAG & surrogate daughter earlier emails and photo links on Tink - http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9 |
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