Whangarei Travel Guide

4 more images

The Lion Man is Craig Busch, who keeps rare & endangered lions at his park about 10 mins out of Whangarei, called Zion Wildlife Gardens, after his lead lion (who also starred in the NZ movie The Lion, the witch & the Wardrobe about 2 years ago).

Craig is doing a great job of conservation, and even if the entry to the park was $60 for the basic tour, we felt it was worth it because of this.
Craig has also had his own tv show for several seasons, so this park is known around the world now, from South Africa to Australia, to Europe.

We were lucky to be the only ones on the tour, so had a personal experience with the lady guide.

4 more images

The Kiwi house was good, once your eyes adjust to the darkness.

There was also a Native Bird Recovery centre on the premises where you can see just a few cages of birds they have outside (more like pets these ones I think, which include a Tui bird called Woof Woof who is an amazing talker and even has a Kiwi accent "Want a swum?" and whistles "Pop goes the weasel" a lot of the time. Quite incredible, as this bird even speaks with a man's deeper voice.