Photo Essay – A Week of Volunteering at Elephant Nature Park. (Contains Many Photos and Much Waffling.)

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A baby banana-hoover learns how to do it.

A baby banana-hoover learns how to do it.

September 2013 and I was at it again. I traveled back to Thailand and instead of wallowing at beach resorts and quaffing drinks with little umbrellas in them, returned to Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary North of Chiang Mai, and volunteered my sweat and gave myself some blisters to remember. This time I went for two weeks instead of one, and also hauled my partner along so he could see what I had been rabbiting on about for the last year or so. Here’s a photo essay on being an ENP volunteer.

Firstly, this is where we slept. We were surrounded by Australians, so we dug in, marked our territory and guarded it fiercely. It was a great spot – it had a huge veranda outside, complete with guard dogs and several cats, and our room had a bed with mosquito nets, an open-walled ensuite, a tiny frog and a gecko. Unfortunately, it was situated up some stairs. Fourteen steep stairs to be exact. I know this. I counted them at the end of each long, hot day. Fooouuurrrteeennn of them…

NZ territory - right smack in the middle of Australian territory.

NZ territory – right smack in the middle of Australian territory.

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A Journey with 4 Legs – Short Film

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Hi all. Hope your day is going really well. 🙂

Here’s a really nice short film on Elephant Nature Park and the other projects Lek Chailert has put into place in South East Asia. Take a look – it’s very inspiring.

A Journey with 4 Legs (Save Elephant Foundation)

One of the beautiful eles at Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

One of the beautiful eles at Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Camera Rambles: Hello Ducky

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P1000364 72I spent a couple of hours with these guys. Once they realised I wasn’t made of bread they went back to doing their own thing. Continue reading →

Camera Rambles: In the Moonlight Tonight – New Zealand

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P1000493 72Te Marama (the moon) was out in many guises tonight. Had to go for a ramble – how could we not? 😀 Continue reading →

Things That Rustle in the Night – or – No Nasties in New Zealand

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No words really...

No words really…

Much as I enjoy wandering around the fascinating tropical areas of Asia, there are times when I’m pretty glad I live in New Zealand. As I sit here right now (about midnight), in my awning outside my tiny house caravan, I can hear loud rustling outside amongst the dry leaves – the rustlings of a nocturnal creature of some sort. I am remaining fairly calm about this, because I know the odds are it’s just Russell, the avocado-eating prickle-critter. Russell won’t eat me. He just eats snails, slugs, cat biscuits (stolen ones taste best) and avocados. I think that’s why he lives around my tiny house – it’s situated under a plum tree and an avocado tree, and lately it’s been raining avos down so hard that it pays to wear a helmet outside. A veritable feasting ground for a prickle-critter.

Russell the prickle-critter, saving me from nasty vicious avocados.

Russell the prickle-critter, saving me from nasty vicious avocados.

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Dinovember – When Dinosaurs Run Wild…

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These guys get top ‘awesome parents’ points in my books. Every November this couple goes to great lengths to convince their kids that their dinosaur toys come alive at night.

‘Why do we do this? Because in the age of iPads and Netflix, we don’t want our kids to lose their sense of wonder and imagination. In a time when the answers to all the world’s questions are a web-search away, we want our kids to experience a little mystery. All it takes is some time and energy, creativity, and a few plastic dinosaurs.’

Fantastic! See their latest efforts here and their Facebook page here

Dinovember 72

 

 

Camera Rambles: And Now For Some Elephants – Faa Mai Leads the Ditch Appreciation Project

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While I was at Elephant Nature Park, Jodi and I happened across Faa Mai and a few of her friends indulging in some ditch-diving. Faa Mai was enjoying herself so much she got in and out about three times. Little Dok Mai was very happy to copy what her big herd-sister was doing. Here’s some of the footage I got…

vlcsnap-2013-11-15-22h48m23s140 Continue reading →

Camera Rambles: Rabbits, Cows and Mermaids on Bicycles

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It’s amazing what you see when you go for a ramble with your camera in hand. Here’s a selection of the latest shots I’ve taken.

P1000190 72

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Beautiful New Zealand – My Middle Earth and a Habitat for Hobbits

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I realised a little while ago that I tend to rave on about places in Asia that I’ve been to – especially Elephant Nature Park – but not really raved very much about the beautiful little country of my birth. So here’s a little rant about my place – Aotearoa, ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’. Also know as Godzone by the denizens of the land, or Middle Earth to the world, since Peter Jackson used the exquisite scenery here as the background for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. We may not have elephants here, but we do have hobbits. Yessss, we doesss.

The North Island of New Zealand (Middle Earth) with directions on where to find stuff.

The North Island of New Zealand (Middle Earth) with directions on where to find stuff.

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Free Shadows!!

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It is our right – the right of all beings – to cast our own shadow where we wish, a shadow that has no cuffs, no chains, no cage sides. A shadow that is business only between us and the sun that shines. This is the right of every creature, every being on earth, from the tiny ants to the largest beings on earth. Who is man to change that shadow? Rather, let us put our energy into ensuring that, as soon as possible, every shadow is free. If we insist on seeing ourselves as guardians of the earth, then let this be our aim.

Do what you can, from your little corner of the universe, to remove the things that shouldn’t be in anyone or anything’s shadow – no cuffs, no chains, no cages. Yell out for those who have no voice. Stand up and help whoever and whatever you can to have Free Shadows!

Early morning walk, Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai

Early morning walk, Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai