AUCKLAND, 5 May 2024
As I said in my previous post, being tired doesn’t even cover how shattered I was upon arrival. It’s surreal as other times I’ve been lucky enough to fly long-haul (Texas for a wedding and Melbourne in particular) I’ve never been hit by jet lag at all, or at least very minimally.
But, that wasn’t going to stop Jon and I hitting the ground running in Auckland. We had until 5:30pm Monday to see as much as we could before the tour whisked us away on our 2 week journey South. So, we had a full Sunday to do something that wasn’t going to require grand amounts of energy, while being interesting and fun.
Enter…Auckland Zoo
To say, I am blown away by this place, even now writing the following day, is an understatement. I think many people find it shocking that as a vegan, and an “animal lover”, particularly of exotics, that I’m in favour of zoos. Well, that isn’t entirely the case, so, a disclaimer.
Collections, private zoos, menageries, and smaller “for knowledge” zoos are outdated and abhorrent. We know that the best place to learn about animals is in the wild and places like this put all of their focus on making the animals little more than an entertainment piece for people (and their money). However, some major zoos such as Chester, ZSL, Auckland, San Diego et al. are organisations that are carrying out incredibly important conservation work through funding, research, breeding, and sadly, preservation and beyond. Their focus isn’t on the people but the animals they house and we share this amazing world with. They rarely get government help, and it is vital their fantastic work carries on. Lest we live in a world far less diverse.
If you are feeling super lovely, give a little to the WWF, even just £/$ 1. It’s a huge help. Kl
One thing we didn’t prepare for was the bus system. We couldn’t pay with cash or international card, we needed to find a thing called an AT HOP card. Luckily, we had several drivers take pity on us and let us ride for free until we had one. Already, Aotearoa New Zealand has vastly overtaken the UK in terms of people’s friendliness. We got straight into the sun, waiting for buses, eating our various fruits that we grabbed at “Woolies” (for Brits who remember, Woolworths is alive and well in Australia and ANZ!).
The perk of the buses meant that our 90 minute commute in to Auckland was unbelievably scenic. Over huge bays, bridges and all while seeing more foliage and green inclusion than either of us had ever experienced anywhere. We make parks and try to hem our nature in. ANZ truly does work in flow with it.
I say this with no embellishment, Auckland Zoo is the greatest zoo I’ve ever been to. It felt like stepping into Jurassic Park. The place is covered in thick forests that make the transitions to each “biome” seamless. It also has huge, space-giving and authentic enclosures for the animals, but with smaller viewing areas, and full of hiding spots. The focus was very clearly on the animals welfare, well-being and care, and that made every space all the more exciting. There was an island of lions that was surrounded by trees, a swing, several appropriate toys and they looked so healthy, nourished and happy. They played and lazed together with enough removal from the small openings people could view them. The same for the gigantic Orangutan enclosure-s. There were three forests they could hide in surrounded by huge rope bridges.
Jon and I coudn’t stop being in awe of everything. We saw lions, walked through a *literal* rainforest jungle, a forested area with beautiful aviaries for Tūī’s (a native bird with a beautiful white tuft on its collar), a tiger cub, white rhinos, a beautiful Asian elephant that loudly snapped and munched at bamboo and more. Most importantly, these animals were all so obviously cared for and happy. There was no pacing, no catatonic stares or bored eating.
I don’t want to give too much away with both info or tons of the photos I took. Unlike the tour we’re about to journey on, where I can describe the adventures in great detail, Auckland Zoo is a place I hope everyone visits and should do! So, I will at least reveal some here:
We saw every exhibit, fron the spiders of Australia to a beautiful Gharial. Most importantly, while we couldn’t spot any of the shy, nocturnal kiwis, we DID see a few Wēta’s, particularly Wētapunga’s (Giant Wēta’s). An endangered (though this is changing almost single handedly from work by Auckland Zoo) insect endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand! As an exotics lover…this was beyond cool!
***
After the Zoo gift shop was well and truly investigated (so much so a manager asked us to start leaving), we wandered through the suburbs of Auckland to Burgernaut – brewing company Urbanaut’s in-house burger bar.
We both, by chance, got completely the same meal. A double vegan smashed patty stacked with cheese and a loaded fries with chillies and sauce (beyond amazing, far beyond the size we thought it’d be…).
The lucky streak for us continued from yesterday. The food was phenomenal. The beer, brewed in-house, was gorgeous..
…then came the journey home.
All good things must end.
It took us forgetting to tap off and losing $6 on our bus card, getting off early by accident, a cab ride, only to get to our hotel to make 3 different front desk trips because our cards didn’t work…add to that our jet lag making us flag and to say we were testy is an understatement.
BUT, if that’s it!! That’s the price to pay for the day that we had?
It is price worth paying.
Every time.
– Jake
6 May 2024
P.S. Jon is also writing about his version of events over on his Tumblr page, Misplaced Midlanders! Check it out!
The Long Expected Journey 