Posts Tagged ‘rotorua’
NZx February 22: A true kiwi experience
Naumai
Looking for a true example of a sustainable kiwi experience? Wingspan (the National Bird of Prey Centre), nestled in the picturesque Paradise Valley just north of Rotorua, is a great example.
Established in Rotorua in early 2000 the key objective is to celebrate and share New Zealand’s unique natural heritage, particularly taonga such as falcon (karearea) , kahu (Australasian Harrier) and morepork (ruru).
The key elements, from a purely visitor experience, are the interaction between the guides and the audience, the guides and the raptors and the raptors and you. A chance to see raptors fly, have them land on your hand and head (!) .
The Centre also has a small Visitor Centre and shop but your focus should be on on the interactive afternoon session www.wingspan.co.nz
Like so many conservation initiatives in New Zealand the enterprise is underfunded. Its definitely a real kiwi experience, not overdone and truly interactive.
Visit and help celebrate our taonga!
Ka kite ano
Malcolm
Ruru experience
NZx 3rd January: Luged
Naumai
So lets put one of New Zealand’s top soft adventure activities to the test……..
Hot summers day, fifteen of us on Skyline Rotorua’s luge.
Nice ride up in the gondola and great views over the city and lake. Pretty basic instruction but soon we were off…downhill – fast.
Sadly that was about as fast as it got……Once we hit the bottom we ran into a “luge-jam”. Essentially there was one staff person on duty; lots of people getting off luge’s and leaving them in the wrong place, luges weren’t going up the chairlift, and all in all utter confusion.
It was all capped off when the staff person yelled at an international visitor to drag their luge over to a certain area. The guest looked utterly bewildered….considering how many non-English speaking people visit this was not a good look.
We all calculated that by the time we accounted for the luge down time we probably lost the equivalent of two extra rides.
Skyline may have been trying to save money by not having a second person at the bottom of the luge, but they certainly ended up with lots of frustrated customers. Waiting, when you have paid a lot of money, is not a good thing…..
This is definitely not a good example of customer service or a visitor experience.
Ka kite ano
when not waiting in line this is what you get…………….
Malcolm