In a couple of weeks I will be setting off again on another Asian trip. The previous two threads are Chlidonias goes to Asia, 2009 and Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part two: 2011 if you want to get up to speed. This one is a little different to the others. The first four countries of this trip I have never been to before, which is exciting. But I’m not going to tell you what they are or where else I’m going or even how long I’ll be travelling for. This will be a thread of surprises – not least for me, because I pretty much work seven days a week so I haven’t really had a lot of time to do as much prep-work as I would have liked!! I can promise some very interesting and exciting animals along the way though (or, at the very least, searches for those animals; finding them will be another matter entirely!!).
For full lists of birds and mammals seen as I travel you can probably (hopefully) keep up to date on this thread: ZooChat Big Year 2013
A little background to this trip. Up until a couple of years ago I lived in Christchurch where I worked at the Southern Encounter Aquarium (for seven years!) until the earthquakes destroyed everything, and so I moved to my sister’s place in Wellington for a little bit and then did the Indonesian trip of 2011. When I got back I went to Hokitika and became the manager of the National Kiwi Centre (a kiwi house and aquarium). This was a tad run-down due to years of neglect so I pulled it into shape as best I could with no money, doubled the number of exhibits (largely through fixing everything that was broken!) and tripled the number of species on show. Apparently it now looks better than it has done for the last decade or so. But there’s only so much one can do on the smell of an oily rag, so after a year and a half I have decided to move on once more. I looked into buying a zoo when that came up for sale but that never went anywhere for reasons, so I kept my money and decided to just go travelling again. I’m at my best when I’m wandering. One of my favourite quotes is from Jack London, “The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
Or, I guess, from Jack Sparrow: “Better to not know which moment may be your last....every morsel of your entire being alive to the infinite mystery of it all. And who's to say I won't live forever, hey? It's a pirates life for me. Savvy!”
Arr matey, I know it will be a good trip because I got a new passport and it has birds on the pages inside!! How’s that for foreshadowing?!
For full lists of birds and mammals seen as I travel you can probably (hopefully) keep up to date on this thread: ZooChat Big Year 2013
A little background to this trip. Up until a couple of years ago I lived in Christchurch where I worked at the Southern Encounter Aquarium (for seven years!) until the earthquakes destroyed everything, and so I moved to my sister’s place in Wellington for a little bit and then did the Indonesian trip of 2011. When I got back I went to Hokitika and became the manager of the National Kiwi Centre (a kiwi house and aquarium). This was a tad run-down due to years of neglect so I pulled it into shape as best I could with no money, doubled the number of exhibits (largely through fixing everything that was broken!) and tripled the number of species on show. Apparently it now looks better than it has done for the last decade or so. But there’s only so much one can do on the smell of an oily rag, so after a year and a half I have decided to move on once more. I looked into buying a zoo when that came up for sale but that never went anywhere for reasons, so I kept my money and decided to just go travelling again. I’m at my best when I’m wandering. One of my favourite quotes is from Jack London, “The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
Or, I guess, from Jack Sparrow: “Better to not know which moment may be your last....every morsel of your entire being alive to the infinite mystery of it all. And who's to say I won't live forever, hey? It's a pirates life for me. Savvy!”
Arr matey, I know it will be a good trip because I got a new passport and it has birds on the pages inside!! How’s that for foreshadowing?!
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