The Wildlife Games (5 page)

THE OTHER THREE CONTESTANTS
found five salties basking in the sun behind the Crocoseum, but there was no Anastasia, no Bindi and no next clue.

They were getting used to the film crew following them around, and hardly noticed their presence anymore.

Mimi took out her map. ‘Okay, so there's more than one area with crocs. And of course, there are freshwater crocs and saltwater crocs and they're located in different areas of the zoo.'

Declan nodded. ‘You're a logical thinker. I like that.'

Mimi blushed.

Jason wasn't going to stand around and watch Declan flirt with Mimi, although he agreed that Mimi was worth sticking with for now. She wasn't naturally athletic but she was definitely smart.

He turned to Declan. ‘So, should we split up?'

Declan looked at Jason and then back at Mimi. ‘I think I'll stick with Mimi.'

Jason frowned. ‘Yeah, all right.'

Declan countered, ‘But don't feel you have to stay with us if we're slowing you down.'

The boys eyed each other off, both trying to out-stare one another.

Mimi coughed. ‘Well, you two can stand here and glare at each other all day, but I'm going to aim there next.' She pointed to an area just across from the food hall. The boys nodded reluctantly, still eyeing each other off competitively, and the three jogged towards the next set of croc enclosures.

Bindi had almost finished up her Who Am I? clues and Anastasia was none the wiser. ‘. . . And I have a prehensile tail that is used to hang on to branches like a monkey, but I am not a monkey.'

Anastasia shook her head. ‘There's no such animal. You're making it up.'

Bindi patiently replied, ‘Uh, no I'm not.'

‘No, this is a special trick. You're bluffing. I know it. Obviously I've read and pretty much memorised the animals of the world encylopedia I have at home, and no such animal exists.'

Bindi looked at the director, wondering what she could do. The director held up his hands in a ‘you're on your own' gesture. This Ana girl was a piece of work!

Bindi changed tack. ‘Okay, how about we try it with charades?'

Anastasia brightened immediately. ‘I'm really good at charades.'

‘Great.' Bindi put three fingers on her arm.

‘Okay. Three syllables.'

Bindi nodded encouragingly. She put a single finger in the air.

‘First syllable.'

Again Bindi nodded. She grabbed her ear.

‘Earring?'

Bindi shook her head. She held onto her ear again, giving it a little shake.

‘Oh. Sounds like?'

Bindi nodded once more, and was interrupted by the other three contestants skidding to a halt right in front of her.

‘What's going on?' asked Jason.

Declan made a quick assessment of the situation. ‘Anastasia hasn't worked out the next clue yet,' he said with a grin.

Anastasia stomped on his foot.

‘Owww. Why did you do that?'

‘I don't like your grin.'

Declan smiled harder. ‘Well, you'll just have to deal with it. I'm a happy guy.'

He moved his foot away before she tried to stomp on it again.

Bindi welcomed the group. ‘We're playing charades.'

‘That's a bit random,' said Jason.

Mimi looked at him. ‘It's obviously a clue, Jason.'

Jason focused on retying his shoelace and said nothing.

Bindi quickly repeated the charades she'd already done with Ana so the rest of the contestants were all up to speed.

Then she pointed to her chin.

‘Sounds like chin,' said Jason.

‘He's a genius,' joked Declan.

Jason gave him a death stare.

Bindi nodded. Correct.

‘Hymn?' said Anastasia.

‘Ring?' suggested Mimi.

Declan nodded. ‘Ring-tailed lemur?'

Jason retorted. ‘That's four syllables, not three.'

Declan conceded. ‘Yep, you're right.'

The four looked at Bindi.

‘Okay,' she said, and put up two fingers, and again pulled on her ear.

‘Second syllable . . . sounds like,' said Anastasia, trying to reassert control of the group.

Bindi got down on all-fours and rubbed against Mimi's leg like a cat. Then she pointed to her own back, and stroked it.

‘Cat?' offered up Anastasia.

Mimi was blushing. ‘Bindi Irwin's rubbing up against my leg like a cat,' she mumbled.

Declan whacked her on the arm. ‘Stay focused.'

Mimi blushed harder. ‘Okay.'

Bindi was again pointing to her back, and pulling her shirt, rubbing like a cat against Mimi's leg.

‘Fleas?' said Jason.

Bindi frowned.

‘Fur?' said Declan.

Bindi jumped up, nodding.

‘Chin fur?' said Mimi, frowning.

‘It
sounds
like
chin-fur,' clarified Anastasia.

They all still looked baffled. Bindi looked over at the director, wondering if she should give up. This was NOT going well.

But the director seemed happy, and gestured for her to continue.

Bindi gave the third syllable and the ‘sounds like' sign once more. Then she moved over to
Jason and waved her hand in front of her nose, scrunching up her face.

Jason looked at her, embarrassed. ‘What?'

Bindi made the same gesture.

‘Smell?' said Anastasia.

Bindi encouraged Ana by waving her hand in front of her nose even more.

‘Whiff?' said Declan.

‘Maybe it's not a clue. Maybe Jason just pongs,' said Anastasia with a sweet smile on her face.

Bindi pointed at Anastasia and nodded frantically.

‘Oh, he really does smell?' said Anastasia, eyes wide. ‘I was only joking.'

Mimi came to the rescue. ‘No, Ana, you said “pong”.'

Bindi nodded again.

Jason wanted this excruciating and embarrassing charades game to end. ‘Chin . . . fur . . . pong?'

Declan clapped his hands. ‘Bin-Tur-Ong. Binturong!'

Bindi jumped up and down, clapping.
Finally!

The four contestants all had a quick drink. Mimi said to the group, ‘But I don't know why the clue didn't just mention that they have stiff white whiskers, love to wander along treetops and are native to South-East Asia? I would have got it in a second.'

Anastasia stayed uncharacteristically quiet as the group ran off in the direction of the binturong enclosure.

THE BINTURONG VISIT MARKED
the end of the first challenge. The contestants were all allowed into the animal's enclosure and were given a talk by the keeper about its likes and dislikes.

While they were busy, Bindi was organising
the next challenge. It was one she was particularly proud of.

She'd been at her friend Josie's house for breakfast a few weeks ago, and they'd been talking about what kinds of activities would make for a great Wildlife Games.

‘I want it to be more than just a fitness and information type of day, you know? I want it to be heaps of fun as well,' said Bindi, looking on admiringly as Josie broke eggs into a glass mixing bowl without any of the broken shell dropping in as well.

‘Oh, B, what about a cooking challenge?' suggested Josie, now sprinkling cinnamon into the egg mixture.

Bindi laughed. ‘Now, how did I know you'd suggest something to do with food?' she joked,
watching as Josie took a vanilla bean pod and, with a knife, carefully scraped the inside of the pod into the mixture. ‘Oh, that smells amazing!'

Josie beamed. ‘It's going to taste pretty good too.'

For a 13-year-old, Josie was already a really accomplished cook. As long as Bindi had known her, Josie had always loved preparing food for her friends and family. If Bindi had been at home, she'd be eating cornflakes with milk for breakfast, but Josie had already organised a fruit platter, and was now dipping the bread into the vanilla bean and cinnamon egg mixture for a second course of delicious French toast.

Once they were sitting down and eating on the back verandah of Josie's house, they continued their conversation. ‘Remember how last time I visited the
zoo, you told me that one elephant could eat up to 150 kilograms of food a day?' Josie asked.

Bindi nodded, pouring a glass of fresh orange juice.

‘Before then, I'd never really thought about how much time and effort goes into preparing food for all the animals at the zoo,' mused Josie, cutting into her French toast.

Bindi's eyes lit up. ‘Not only are you an awesome chef, you're a genius to boot.' She put a forkful of French toast into her mouth. ‘Hmmm. Did I mention that I think you're an awesome chef?'

After that breakfast, Bindi had come back home and written down the ‘ingredients' for challenge number two.

And now, as the contestants trailed out of the
binturong enclosure, thanking the keeper for the great background chat, they saw Bindi wearing a chef's hat, standing behind a table with five dishes of food.

‘Thank goodness, I'm starving,' said Declan, as he reached into one of the bowls.

Mimi grabbed his shoulder. ‘Uh, I wouldn't if I were you,' she said.

Declan took a closer look at the contents and withdrew his hand hurriedly. ‘Ewww.'

The camera turned to Bindi and she began the intro to the next challenge.

‘Congratulations on finishing the Trivia Treasure Hunt, team. Because there was no outright winner for the first act, you have all been given 10 points, and the chance to get up close and personal with a binturong.'

Anastasia grinned. ‘They really do have super-cute whiskers!'

‘Shhh,' said Jason.

‘But now it is time to introduce the next item on the menu,' continued Bindi. ‘In front of me are five dishes of food in five different-coloured bowls. This food is not a snack for you.' She gave a pointed look to Declan, who looked sheepish. ‘The bowls of food are for five different species that we feed at the zoo. Your job is to work out which bowl of food goes to which animal.'

One of the film crew handed out pieces of paper and pens to the contestants.

‘You will write down the animal or animals you think each coloured bowl will go to. You cannot discuss your answers with the other contestants. The food is fresh and if you wish to
taste it to help make up your mind, it is fine to do so.'

She produced an old-fashioned hourglass egg timer from her chef's apron. ‘You have three minutes starting . . . now!' She put the egg timer (which she'd borrowed from Josie) on the table, and watched the sand begin to trickle into the bottom of the hourglass. It was quite relaxing to watch.

In fact, it was much more relaxing than watching the panicked expressions of the four contestants as they scrambled to work out the answers to the challenge in the allotted time!

EXACTLY THREE MINUTES LATER,
Bindi called a stop to the second challenge. ‘And pens down!'

‘Uggh. I just had a flashback to my last maths test,' Anastasia shivered.

Mimi was looking quietly confident. She'd been brave enough to stick her finger into some of
the concoctions and felt she was in with a good chance.

Jason was also pretty sure he'd done well because Jason generally believed he did everything well.

Declan, on the other hand, was sweating. His hunger had made it hard to concentrate. He kept imagining a packet of salt and vinegar chips and a big carton of chocolate milk (or maybe a choco-caramel milk), and had to keep dragging his mind and tastebuds back to the task. He'd taken rough guesses, and didn't rate his chances of winning this one too highly.

Anastasia had screwed her nose up at most of the food, and had scribbled her answers down quickly. She'd finished in two minutes and 22 seconds and had spent the remaining 38 seconds reapplying
her mascara. She was still annoyed at not winning the binturong challenge. She rang her mother to ask why they had an animal encyclopedia that did not include the binturong. It was outrageous! Her mother promised to ring up the publishers and complain, which made them both feel better.

Bindi took the pieces of paper to check, and the contestants went off to have a nice human snack while she sorted through the answers.

She'd enjoyed coming up with the food choices. Some were easier than others.

1. Bamboo for the red pandas: easy.

2. Hay with lucerne – DJ the rhino's favourite food. The ponies would happily eat this too.

3. A piece of cacti – Aldabran tortoise food: slightly
trickier.

4. Eucalyptus tips for the koalas. They were fussy eaters, and were only interested in the newest and freshest tips: easy peasy.

5. A delicious mushed-up puree of ants, termites and beetle larvae for the echidnas: kinda tricky and gross.

She tallied up the answers and was surprised by the results. Challenge number two had an outright winner. Challenge number three was going to be interesting but before that, the contestants had a special event to attend.

There was a media throng positioned at the African Savannah. Someone had tied an enormous red ribbon along the fence, and now they were
waiting for the official opening to begin.

A couple of golf buggies turned up, with Bindi and the contestants in them. ‘Hi Mum. Hi Robert!' Bindi ran over to her mum and Robert, giving them a hug.

She turned to the contestants. ‘Anastasia, Declan, Mimi and Jason, this is my mum Terri and my brother Robert.'

They all shook hands. Poor Mimi, who was almost used to Bindi now, got a new attack of nerves upon meeting Terri, but Terri soon put her at ease.

Jason and Robert took all of 30 seconds to start talking about Australian lizards. Anastasia complimented a passing tourist on her stylish handbag, and they were soon talking labels and
the best places to shop in New York, while Declan was spellbound by the new enclosure.

Bindi sidled up to him. ‘Of course, this may be your 23rd visit but it's the first time you would have seen this.' She gestured to the wide open space in front of them.

Declan nodded. ‘It's fantastic. The zebras look right at home next to the giraffes and the rhinos.'

Bindi nodded. ‘Our zookeepers were very cautious at first, making sure the different species were going to get along with one another, but it has worked out so well. There's enough space for everyone to get along.'

‘And of course, there are no carnivores to take a bite out of you when you're not expecting it.'

Bindi giggled. ‘Yes, that too.'

Terri gathered the group and formally opened
the African Savannah. She made special mention of the Wildlife Games team as well. Cameras flashed, videos filmed and Anastasia did her best to get in as many photos as possible.

At the easternmost section of Australia Zoo, near where the Madagascan lemurs hung out, a team of experts had hooked up the ultimate treetops challenge for the competitors. It stretched 500 metres through a forest of trees. A flying fox had been rigged between two sturdy eucalypts, below which was a murky-looking swamp. There were roped walking paths and ladders along with a monkey bar across two shorter trees, ending with a spider-web-type climbing apparatus and two climbing ropes, knotted at the end for the dismount.

This would have been heaven to the lemurs, but it was going to be a test of strength, bravery and agility for the four contestants in the Wildlife Games.

Jason was thrilled he was finally going to be able to use what he considered to be his superior sporting skills.

As soon as she saw the course, Anastasia started limbering up as though she was about to launch into a gymnastics routine. The height above ground and the strength required were obviously not going to be a problem for her.

Mimi turned to Declan after Bindi had shown the group the course, and said, ‘I'm not feeling so well.'

Declan patted her on the back. ‘You do look a little pale.'

‘I have no trouble naming all the trees and their
genera in this area but I don't like climbing them!' she said a little breathlessly.

Once the cameras were rolling, Bindi turned to the contestants. ‘So, you will have gathered that challenge number three is a treetops challenge.'

The camera panned to Mimi, who was still wearing a panicked expression.

‘Hey Mimi, you'll be wearing a harness the whole time,' soothed Bindi, noticing that she looked a little strained. ‘You won't be in any danger. It will be the contestant who finishes the circuit first that will win this challenge.'

‘Do I lose points if I take three hours longer than anyone else?' Mimi asked, only half-joking.

Bindi grinned. ‘Of course not, but you'll understand if the film crew decide to go off and have lunch in the meantime.'

Mimi almost smiled. ‘That would be fine with me. I'm not so keen on my fear of heights being displayed for all to see on national television.'

Jason overheard this last comment. ‘Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you auditioned for the Wildlife Games,' he said bluntly.

Declan wasn't impressed. ‘Leave it alone, Jason,' he said.

Mimi interrupted. ‘No, he's right, Declan. I knew what I was getting myself in for.' She took a deep breath, steeling herself.

Anastasia sidled up to the group, not pleased to see Mimi the centre of attention. She gave her competitors and the camera a shrewd look. ‘It might just be an act, you know. Mimi might be a totally
expert climber and she's gaining a psychological advantage by pretending she's nervous and scared.'

Both Declan and Jason looked from Anastasia to Mimi questioningly.

Mimi shook her head. ‘I wish that were true.'

Anastasia wasn't willing to let it go. ‘Well, we'll find out soon, won't we? Bindi, who goes first?'

‘We'll let the lemurs decide that one,' replied Bindi mysteriously.