a) I have never thought that it's as good as Willowbank
b) I bought an annual pass for my son last year, but when I gave it to my husband to hand over to the counter on his second visit of the year he reckons they made him buy ANOTHER annual pass for my five year old. So our two visits for him cost $28 instead of $14. Grrrr. (Of course, this may not have been Orana Park's fault, it may have been my husband's fault, but hey. It's clouded my perception. And plus I always meant to get our $14 back but then my husband lost the pass.)
But I digress.
So, off we went - there was myself, my two children (aged six and four) and my friend and her three children (aged six, four and one). As neither of us had annual passes (which are well worth it if you're going to be going twice or more in a year - but BEWARE, the passes are not valid for a 12 month period, only until the following July... so don't buy one in May or June if you're not going to go at least twice in the next couple of months!) we paid up: it's free for preschoolers, $7 for children and $21 for adults. But we got a concession (2 adults and up to 3 kids) for $49.
We started walking. The thing I hate about Orana Park is that it's SO spread out. You walk for literally miles and the kids are exhausted. There is a little tractor thing you can catch every half hour, which in retrospect we should have taken FIRST and then have just walked to the good bits for a closer look afterwards. (We made the mistake of spending two and a half hours of walking around the park first, getting totally exhausted in the process. Then by the time we got back to the main base, intending to take the train thing, it had finished for the day. Cue children's tantrums.) The train/tractor is free.
Yep, only another hour of walking to go!Meerkats. Otters. Boring adventure playground with quite possibly the worst designed flying fox around (the rope is too short! Kids can't do it by themselves!). Quite possibly the most depressing farmyard in existence. There was a lamb, two calves, and a couple of donkeys. The kids enjoyed patting the lamb.
The aviary was pretty good, actually! I was pleasantly surprised with that.
The monkeys looked suicidal. The tiger was a disappointment.
We then looked at our watches, realised it was nearly time for the giraffe feeding and so skipped the rest of that section (e.g. lions, zebras and stuff) to hottail it back to the giraffes.
Now, I LOVE the giraffe feeding. A highlight, and it makes the entrance fee worthwhile. You get right up and personal with the giraffes and there is plenty of food for everyone to have a go.
Then we moved on to see the rhinos being fed. Again, it was good.
Then the cheetahs, which was also good.
Then we slogged back around the dry dusty dirt road (just like the African savannah! I was trying to convince myself), past the Highland cattle and ostrich, back to the main building, where we discovered that it was already 4.30pm and that the train had finished for the day. (Did I mention the children's tantrum yet? Yes? Good.)
We tried to remember why we'd left it so late in the piece to come to Orana Park - oh yes, that's right, we wanted to give the kids lunch beforehand so to avoid them trying to get us to eat at the cafe. (There is a cafe, in case you're interested). In hindsight, I think it would have been best with children this young to have got there at around 10am and taken plenty of food and drink for a picnic (there are heaps of picnic spots).
So, next time we'll be doing that. Next time we'll also be getting on that damned train FIRST. Next time we'll make sure we co-ordinate our visit to take in the giraffes being fed, and any other feedings we can make (as they are by far the highlights).
I don't know why Orana Park makes me so grumpy as it's not that bad (and I have plenty of friends who absolutely LOVE the place!). I guess it always seems to exhaust me, and the dustiness, the heat (why is it always hot when I go there?), and the walking long distances just to see a single animal in a field makes me cranky. However, it's actually well worth a look, especially at feeding times. Older children are probably more suited to Orana Park than younger children (Willowbank for them!) due to the long distances.
Go to Orana Park's website for more information, including location (i.e. it's a way out of Christchurch, out behind the airport - it takes about 30 minutes to drive from the central city), prices and feeding times.
