We live in unusual times. It all gets a bit much some days. So each weekday we’re bringing you a much-needed dose of positivity to remind you that there’s inspiration, kindness and quirkiness out there too.
Baby giraffe charms crowds
A weeks-old giraffe has enjoyed his first jaunt at Orana Wildlife Park, after initially being frightened off by a cluster of pukekos in his enclosure.
A three week old giraffe has been out for the first time at Orana Wildlife Park
The giraffe, who is yet to be named, attracted crowds of fans and staff on Tuesday for his first foray onto the large display yard.
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Affectionately nicknamed ‘Grinch’ and ‘Kevin’ – the former due to his spending the Christmas period at the Rangiora Vet Centre under 24 hour care – the giraffe’s early weeks were being treated with special attention.
The young giraffe was initially reluctant to explore the yard because a cluster of pukekos were by the entrance, but after some encouragement by staff and a bottle of milk, he began to investigate.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff
A three-week-old male giraffe calf on display for the first time at Orana Wildlife Park. With Stewart Taylor, acting exotic-species assistant manager.
After half an hour, he began intermittently galloping along the path, and was later joined by two of the adult giraffes – one of which, at one point, he began doing laps around.
“He’s doing a lot of zoomies,” said Rachael Mason, manager of exotic animals for the park.
The doggy daycare bus
A group of dogs in Skagway, Alaska, don’t have to walk to daycare – they take the bus.
Amaru, a 5-year-old rescue dog, is one of them, and patiently waits on the roadside for the bus, the Washington Post reports.
“He got used to sitting in that spot. He even looks in the direction he knows they’re going to come.
“He’s a very smart guy,” says owner Gary Hisman.
The bus is run by Mo Mountain Mutts, a local dog walking and training business, run by husband and wife Mo and Lee Thompson.
Their adorable way of collecting the dogs for the day has been captured on videos, which have becoming wildly popular: one recent TikTok video has been viewed more than 50 million times.
The aviation buff who has been collecting Air NZ memorabilia for 50 year
JASON DORDAY/STUFF
Blair Knill has been collecting Air New Zealand memorabilia for 50 years.
A memorable flight as a child has led to a lifelong obsession for one Kiwi aviation buff, who has been collecting Air New Zealand memorabilia for close to 50 years.
Blair Knill said he had just over 4000 items at the last count about two years ago, which have been added to since then – making it what is believed to be the largest collection representing the national airline and associated airlines, including the New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC) and Mt Cook Airline.
It all began back in 1973, when Knill and his family were travelling from Auckland to Christchurch.
For the trip south, they had flown on a 737 operated by the NAC – at that time, the national domestic airline, before it was amalgamated with Air New Zealand, which was then the international airline, in 1978.
But the return route was unexpectedly operated by one of Air New Zealand’s brand new DC-10s, which were usually reserved for international routes.
Jason Dorday/Stuff
Blair Knill has been collecting New Zealand aviation merch for 50 years.
Knill, who was six at the time, ended up keeping plastic headphones, a wet wipe, a plastic cup and tray from that special flight, as well as a tiki handed out as a souvenir to children onboard.
“I was also allowed to go in the flight cockpit for five or 10 minutes – they invited up a handful of kids, we spoke to the pilot then went back to our seats,” he said.
“That really triggered my love of aviation and my love of flying.
“Then I just started ‘hoarding’, as my wife would call it – until she saw the value in it.”
His collection consists of everything from in-flight menus, swizzle sticks and bathroom soap to business class amenity packs, aircraft models and Air New Zealand-branded beer.
Reunited with Henry the dog after 55 hours
After 55 hours of desperately searching for her lost dog, Katina Delamere fell to her knees on a disused railway line, exhausted and crying.
Then suddenly Henry, missing in Stratford since Saturday afternoon, was in her arms.
STUFF
Henry the dog went missing on Saturday, leading to a frantic search around Stratford.
“I knew I was so close, but I couldn’t see him for myself, I became overwhelmed and sat on the tracks, I was crying ‘Henry, I want to go home’, and he just appeared out of nowhere, he was just there.”
After sleepless nights and two days of fruitless searching, the Canterbury woman received a rush of phone calls and messages from people who had seen her missing dog running in paddocks and on country roads on the town’s southern outskirts.
Newly-restored Roman mansion in Pompeii unveiled to tourists
It was believed to be the home of two former slaves who achieved wealth – and now this newly-restored remains of a house in Pompeii is letting tourists see what it was like to live in style in Roman times.
The House of Vettii has been opened to viewers after undergoing 20 years of restoration, AP reports.
Much of the city was buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which caused much of the city’s ruins to be preserved.
Andrew Medichini/AP
Colums frame the ‘peristylium’, or courtyard, in the center of the Ancient Roman Domus Vettiorum, House of Vettii, in the Pompeii Archeological Park, near Naples, southern Italy.
Andrew Medichini/AP
A view of the impluvium, the rain water-catchment pool in the atrium of the Ancient Roman Domus Vettiorum, House of Vettii, in the Pompeii Archeological Park, near Naples, southern Italy.
