Lamb and Parrots

After my early-morning penguin encounter, I rested up and then walked across town to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. I have to give credit for the second half of my day in Dunedin to my friend Shera, who suggested a visit to the Gardens and also provided me with a fabulous dinner recommendation. Shera had told me about the Gardens' aviary, where parrots are likely to engage in some New Zealand-accented conversation. The aviary was just incredible, with so many beautifully colored, rare species. New Zealand is home to a variety of birds not found in any other part of the world, including the kakapo, a flightless parrot, and the kea, the world's only mountain-dwelling parrot, both on display at the Botanic Gardens aviary. Below are a few contemplative parrots and one parakeet.

I worked my way through all the birds, eagerly anticipating the talking parrots. Finally I reached a section of the aviary with signs explaining that these parrots could talk and listing the things they could say. A particularly talkative parrot, Sid (I could identify him from the description and picture), flew up to me and stayed close by, but didn't say much at first. Then, a deep, gravelly voice asked, "What's up?" It was Sid! In the video below, you can hear Sid's deep voice, and if you miss what he's saying, just wait for me to repeat it back to him. He was probably not impressed with my intelligent conversation.

A few minutes before, I was trying to coax Sid (or any parrot) to say something. The crimson-chested parrot is trying to communicate with me (or so I like to think) by dragging his beak back and forth against the grill of the aviary enclosure. Then a helicopter flew over. I didn't notice it, but the birds went wild. You can see Sid's yellow crest, usually flat against the back of his head, rise up in great alarm. He is also doing this in the photograph below, trying to get attention from me and another visitor. The sound of the parrots going berserk is really something.


While I was talking to Sid (or trying to), I met Sandra, who lives on a farm about an hour and a half away from Dunedin and visits the Botanic Gardens whenever she's in town. She is an active volunteer with the Department of Conservation, and she taught me a lot about the birds, who were more than willing to talk to her. She and her husband offered to give me a ride back into town (about a mile), which was much appreciated because by that time it was freezing. They helped me find the restaurant Shera had recommended for me which is on the Octagon at the center of town, and dropped me off there.

The restaurant, Café Nova, is attached to the city's public art gallery. It's a small and unassuming place, but the food was incredible. I had the soup of the day, which was wild mushroom, and then I decided to try New Zealand's specialty, which is lamb. I ordered "Horopito Rubbed Lamb Rump with mash potato, wilted spinach and vinaigrette." I'm not usually a fan of lamb, but I ate every bite of this dish. For dessert I had "Tiramisu in a glass." This was hands-down my best meal in New Zealand. Many thanks to Shera for such a lovely day in Dunedin!