Two of the most significant documentaries, both made by NHNZ, are "Kakapo - Night Parrot" (1982) and "To Save the Kakapo" (1997). The BBC's Natural History Unit also featured the Kakapo, including a sequence with Sir David Attenborough in "The Life of Birds". It was also one of the endangered animals that Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine set out to find for the radio series and book "Last Chance to See". An updated version of the series has been produced for BBC TV, in which Stephen Fry and Carwardine revisit the animals to see how they are getting on almost 20 years later, and in January 2009, they spent time filming the Kakapo on Codfish Island.
Stud poker
Stud poker is a variation of poker where players are typically dealt a total of five or seven cards, with the best five card poker hand winning (in situations where more than one player has the same poker hand, like a flush or straight, the winning hand is determined by whichever players has the highest one).
Stud poker has neither community cards nor blinds. Instead, each player at the table must ante first, and then is dealt two cards face down (hole cards) and one card face up. In typical stud games, the player with the lowest card showing must pay the ‘bring in,’ an amount relative to the limits, which starts off the action.
The bring in is typically a fraction of the limits, (for example, the bring in for a $1/2 stud game may be $.25), with play then continuing clockwise around the table, where players have the choice of folding, calling the bring in, or making the bet ‘complete’ (in our example, completing the bet to $1). Once a bring in has been completed, it can be raised by a subsequent player, doubling the amount to twice the completed bet.
Each player remaining in the hand is then dealt another card face up, with the betting beginning with the player showing the highest two cards and proceeding clockwise around the table. Again, players can fold, call, or raise the bet. In a five card stud game, players are dealt two hole cards facedown, then two cards face up, with the fifth card being dealt facedown. In a seven card stud game, players are dealt two hole cards facedown, then four cards face up, with the seventh card being dealt facedown.
Betting takes place between each dealt card and generally becomes a higher amount after the fourth card dealt.
Each round of betting is typically referred to by the number of cards a player has in front of them. After the initial deal, players are considered to be betting on ‘third street’, represented by having three cards in front of them. After the fourth card is dealt, players would then be on ‘fourth street’, and so on. Stud poker is generally played as a limit game.
Gundagai, New South Wales
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is a small town, but authors often write about Gundagai. It is seen to be the typical Australian country town. It is built on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. It is near the Muniong and Yambla Mountain ranges. Gundagai is 390 km south-west of Sydney. Gundagai is part of the Gundagai Shire Council Local Government Area. In 2006 there were 1,998 people living in Gundagai.
The bushranger, Captain Moonlight, is buried in the Gundagai Cemetery.
Parkes, New South Wales
Parkes is a city in New South Wales, Australia. In 2006 there were 9,826 people living in Parkes. It is the centre and main city of the Local Government Area of Parkes Shire. Parkes is on the main Australian transcontinental railway line between Sydney and Perth. The Newell Highway between Victoria and Queensland goes through the city.
Parkes has had an important role in science. it is the home of the Parkes Radio Telescope. As well as local research done at the radio telescope, Parkes scientists have helped NASA. For several missions the telescope was the Southern Hemisphere relay and communications station. The movie "The Dish" was based on the job of the telescope during the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing.
There are many different kinds of farms around Parkes. Most farms are growing wheat and sheep.
Parkes is has a gold and copper mine, Northparkes, north of the town.
Parkes was an important transport centre after the railway was built in 1893. Many passenger and freight trains stopped at Parkes up until the 1980s. Governments began cutting back the NSW country rail systems and the trains are no longer an important part of Parkes. One company, FCL has a big train and truck transport centre at Gooobang Junction on Parkes' western edge. It was opened on 20 October 2006 by NSW Premier Morris Iemma. Specialised Container Transport's transport terminal is built on a 296 hectare site. It has 5 km of railway sidings, a 7,400 square metre warehouse and about 40 people work there. An even larger terminal to be built nearby is also being planned.
Over the years governments and businesses have talked about making Parkes an "inland port". Parkes Regional Airport would be made much bigger. This would become a starting point for goods coming from Australia and other countries that were to be sent to places in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. All the studies have been done, agreements to start building have been made, some land has been bought.
The Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW has the Western Regional Office built in Parkes. Country Energy which supplies electricity and gas has a training and maintenance (repair) centre.
Many people come to Parkes to see the CSIRO radio telescope which is 20km north of town on the Newell Highway. other things to see are Bushmans Hill, and the War Memorial Lookout. Nearby there is the Goobang National Park, and Peak Hill. peak Hill has an open cut mine (a big hole in the ground) that can be visited during holidays. There are also many great parks.
Parkes was started as a settlement in 1853. It was first called "Currajong" after the many kurrajong trees in the local area. After a while it was called "Bushman's" after the local gold mine named Bushman's Lead.
In 1873 the town was renamed to Parkes in honour of Sir Henry Parkes. He is called the "Father of the Federation". Sir Henry Parkes is famous in Australia for getting Australia to become one country in 1901. Before this Australia was made up of separate British colonies.
A lot of people came to Parkes in the gold rush of the 1870s. There are still mining companies with sites in the local area.
Parkes has a dry climate. The winter temperatures are rarely lower than 0 degrees Celsius during the night. In summer daytime temperatures can be as high as 40 to 45 degrees Celsius. Temperatures in the low to mid-30s are most common.
Parkes has a local bus service run by Western Road Liners. It took over from Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific train also stops twice a week. The Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, goes to Broken Hill on Mondays and to Sydney on Tuesdays. Parkes railway station is situated on the Broken Hill railway line. It was opened in 1893. There was also a small station at Parkes Racecourse from 1923 to 1937.
Parkes hosts a yearly Elvis Presley Festival in early January to celebrate Elvis Presley's birthday. The first festival, held in 1993, was a one night show with 200 people coming along. Over the next few years more events were added and the festival was extended to two days. By January 2005 the 3,500 people came to the festival. In January 2006 there were 5,000 going to the festival. It brought about $8 million into Parkes.
The 2007 festival had over 60 events and was held over 5 days. More than 6,000 visitors attended. A new world record was set for the most Elvis impersonators (people trying to look like Elvis) in one place. SBS TV made a half-hour film about the festival. It was called "Elvis Lives in Parkes". It was shown on Australian TV on 10 January 2007. The festival is still getting bigger with more than 8,000 visitors in 2008.
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