The Wildlife Games (7 page)

BINDI ARRIVED IN THE FOOD
hall to see
The Wildlife Games
director, Stan, getting carried away in a stretcher.

‘Stan, what happened?' The paramedics carrying the stretcher held still as Bindi spoke to Stan.

Stan shook his head, annoyed. ‘My assistant was rigging lights for the next challenge and
swung a ladder round, knocking me on the back of the head.'

‘Are you concussed?' asked Bindi.

‘I was unconscious for a few seconds, I think, but I also twisted my ankle when I fell.'

Bindi shook her head. ‘That's terrible. I'm so sorry.'

Stan gave a wan smile. ‘These things happen, Bindi. Instead of saying “break a leg” as they do to performers on stage, I'm thinking about introducing a variation for film crews along the lines of “Don't break a leg or knock your director unconscious.”'

Bindi laughed despite herself. ‘It's definitely catchy!'

Stan's assistant came up to him, looking seriously guilty. ‘I'm so sorry, boss.'

Stan gave him a mock-stern look and then slapped him on the arm. ‘Don't worry about it, mate. Could've happened to anyone. I shouldn't have been standing behind you.'

The paramedics carted Stan away.

Declan was standing nearby, watching the crowds gathering. ‘I bet the tourists think somone's been bitten by a croc.'

Mimi grinned. ‘Or stampeded by a rhino.'

Declan turned to the crowds. ‘Don't worry, everyone. Nothing too serious. It was a concussion caused by a wayward ladder.'

There were a few relieved giggles from the crowd and they slowly dispersed.

Mimi looked at Declan. ‘You are so natural in front of a crowd.'

Declan shrugged. ‘It's no big deal to me. I've always enjoyed school speeches and debating.'

‘You're like the total opposite of me, you know,' said Mimi.

‘Opposites attract,' said Declan with a smile.

Mimi looked at her feet, trying to hide her smile.

Anastasia and Jason were discussing whether
The Wildlife Games
would or could continue without a director.

‘I was already questioning his direction during the treetops challenge anyway. I'm not sure he was positioning his crew right,' said Ana. ‘I'm sure when I was doing the course the cameras were focused somewhere entirely different!' she noted, outraged.

Jason raised an eyebrow. ‘I don't know where
the film crew was, I just knew I won,' he said boastfully.

Ana cast him a competitive sidelong glance. ‘You remember who's coming first overall though, don't you?'

‘It ain't over till it's over, baby, and I'm not far behind you.'

Ana looked alarmed. ‘Eww, did you just call me “baby”?'

At that moment Tara jumped on a table to get their attention. Jason was pleased that he didn't have to explain himself.

‘Okay, everyone, gather round.' Tara called the competitors, the crew and Bindi into a huddle. ‘The show will go on, as they say. Ginny, who's operating the camera, is going to take over as director for the rest of the day's
events.' Tara glanced at her phone. ‘We're not yet behind schedule so let's keep it that way. There are a few golf buggies waiting downstairs to take us over to the cheetah walk area, so let's hop to it!'

As the group headed towards the carts, Bindi sidled over to Ginny. ‘Is this going to be okay for you, Ginny?'

Ginny shrugged. ‘It's fine. All pretty straightforward. As long as I duck out of the way of any low-flying ladders, I'll be sweet.'

Bindi still looked concerned.

‘Bindi, it'll be okay. Stan and I had already discussed the shooting schedule for the whole of today, so there'll be no surprises,' said Ginny reassuringly.

‘I hope he'll be all right.'

‘Stan's been hurt on every shoot I've ever worked with him but he's never been badly injured,' Ginny whispered to Bindi. ‘Seriously, he is the most accident-prone guy you will EVER meet.'

‘You're not just saying that to make me feel better?' asked Bindi.

Ginny smiled. ‘Yes, I am, but it's also the complete and utter truth!'

They jumped in a golf buggy with a few more crew and Bindi was holding her stomach with laughter by the time they got to the cheetah walk. The crew were sharing random Stan incidents and they just got more and more bizarre.

‘Honestly,' said the clapper loader, ‘I'm surprised when the paramedics turned up today Stan didn't already know them by name. They're practically a
taxi service for him.'

‘Stop it,' said Bindi, wiping away tears of laughter.

The hair and make-up artist came and fixed up Bindi a little. She didn't say much but there was a bit of head shaking and tut-tutting. Bindi's hair had come loose from all the running around she'd done and any make-up she'd been wearing had dripped off hours ago.

Tara must have thought Bindi needed a bit of a freshen up too, as she'd brought a change of clothes for the afternoon's filming. Still the khakis, of course, but newer, less sweaty ones. Bliss!

Soon after, the camera was ready, the microphone was fitted to her new shirt and Bindi was ready to begin the afternoon's shoot. Ginny
had already organised Bindi's co-presenter for the afternoon – a very sweet and sleepy koala who happily grabbed onto Bindi as though she were a gum tree.

‘Welcome back to the afternoon session of the Wildlife Games. I have with me one of the games' adjudicators, Keith Koala. He takes a very dim view of . . . well, practically everything because he doesn't really have great eyesight, but he'll be helping me keep a tally of points gained and will be refereeing any disputes that arise, won't you, Keith?'

Keith chewed on a gumleaf tip lazily, his eyes half-closed.

‘Yes, he's a very sharp character so the contestants better beware.'

The camera panned over to the four con
testants, who were in various stages of warming up, although they were completely in the dark about what they were warming up for.

‘This challenge will be a running race with a difference. You will need to be quick, you will need to be smart and you will need to be good at teamwork.'

The contestants looked surprised when two of the crew came out and separated the boys from the girls. Ana and Mimi were asked to jump into an unusual zebra-striped jumpsuit. The tricky bit was that there were only three legs, and the two girls had to share the middle one.

Ana did not seem thrilled. ‘Don't we get to choose our partners? Wouldn't that be fairer?'

Although Mimi didn't voice it, the look on her face hinted that she was feeling the same way.

A make-up artist came over to the girls.

‘Ah, finally. Do you have any concealer, or just a foundation touch-up would do?' Ana asked.

The make-up artist grinned, and drew a quick black and white striped zebra pattern on both girls' cheeks.

Ana looked grumpy.

‘The black and white stripes sort of act as concealer, don't you think?' suggested Mimi.

Ana laughed. ‘I guess so.' She was beginning to realise Mimi's quiet optimism might be a good thing in a partner.

Jason and Declan were getting into a tiger jumpsuit with only three legs, not speaking or looking at each other. They both managed to overbalance, trying to get their leg into the jumpsuit and looking accusingly at each other, before
trying again. This time they managed.

Jason tried to convince the make-up artist they didn't need make-up. ‘We're guys. We don't do make-up!' But the make-up artist had a job to do and she wasn't going to let anyone interfere with it. She painted orange and black tiger stripes on the boys' cheeks.

Declan winked at Jason. ‘Don't worry, mate. It makes us look more manly.'

Jason nodded. ‘Yeah, more ferocious and carnivorous than those vegetarian zebra girls over there.'

Mimi and Ana rolled their eyes at the boys.

‘Yes, everyone, this is a partnered obstacle course,' explained Bindi. ‘We have the tiger team and the zebra team – costumes and face art should make which is which self-evident. There will be
a range of obstacles to overcome, and the biggest obstacle of all will be that one of the partners will be blindfolded. And you get to choose which team member will do the course blind.'

Ana and Mimi looked at each other. ‘Umm, what would you prefer?' asked Mimi.

‘Obviously I have a lot more faith in my ability than yours, so I think you should be blindfolded,' said Ana, not interested in mincing words.

Mimi agreed, and the blindfold was put on her.

Declan and Jason decided that Jason would wear the blindfold. Once the four contestants were ready to go, the crew brought out the first set of obstacles.

Bindi dispensed with a last-minute tip. ‘Verbal communication with your blind partner will
be important in this challenge. And your time starts . . . NOW!'

THE TWO PAIRS STRUGGLED TO
find a rhythm but after a few stumbles, they began to run as fast as they could. Their first obstacle was a gate two metres high that had been rolled into position and secured. They had to climb over it, which took a lot of coaching by the seeing partner.
Once over, there was a jungle gym with swinging rings. At the same time, the two contestants had to reach and grab each ring, staying in time with one another, before moving to the next ring. Bindi stayed close throughout, giving advice and encouraging them. At the end of that part of the challenge, they were allowed to ditch the jumpsuit and swap blindfolds. So now Mimi and Jason were in charge of Ana and Declan.

They rounded a corner and Ana pulled up short, screwing up her nose.

‘Oh my gosh, where is that terrible old barn smell coming from?' she asked, noticing the eau de saddle cologne getting stronger as Mimi directed her towards a fence where two camels were tied up.

Declan laughed. ‘I don't think we're about to go on a horseride, Ana. I'm guessing we're in the presence of camels!'

The seeing partner needed to help the blindfolded partner onto the camel, and then jump on behind them. It was not easy, and poor Jason and Mimi had their hands full trying to heave up their partners. Bindi was on hand to help the contestants into the ‘saddle', but there was much hilarity and camel jostling before they were ready to take off on a bumpy ride through the avocado orchard.

It was extremely hard work for both teams. Without sight, the blindfolded team member had to be super aware of their partner's instructions, and get into the rhythm of the camel's gait.

‘This is sooo uncomfortable,' shouted Ana
halfway through the orchard trot. Ginny was ahead of both camels with Bindi, shooting from the back of a golf buggy. She was able to do a close-up of the camel's expression and it was very clear he was thinking unkind thoughts about his ill-mannered passenger!

‘You're doing great, Ana,' reassured Mimi, who was possibly equally as uncomfortable but doing her best not to show it.

Jason, on the other hand, was loving every minute of it. ‘Yee-haa! Giddy up, camel.'

Declan was having a pretty good time too. Not being able to see anything was not stopping him from keeping up a constant stream of enthusiastic chatter. ‘I never realised my first ride on a camel would be blindfolded. Are we ahead of the girls, Jas?'

‘You bet we are, Dec. Giddy up!'

The camels trotted the two teams over to the back of the elephant forest, where the elephants spent their time when the zoo was closed. The two pairs had to dismount, say goodbye to their camels – or ‘Good riddance!' in Ana's case – and then race through the bushland, the sighted one leading the blindfolded one, to arrive at the finish line, which was the back entrance to the elephant daytime enclosure.

The two teams were neck and neck until Jason decided he'd be better off piggybacking Declan, and the two boys raced into the lead, only to be stymied at the last minute by a loose shoelace that sent both boys sprawling.

Mimi stopped to help them up and make sure they were okay, which Ana knew was a tactical
error, but she quietly forgave her. She also wanted to make sure the boys, whose company, if anybody tortured her, she'd admit to enjoying, had survived the fall.

The boys were now covered in dust, the stripy make-up was smudged and all of them smelled like a mixture of sunscreen and camel. The footage of the last 200 metres was priceless. In the planning stages, the team had thought that this last run would be an all-out fight for victory. But the truth of it was that the contestants were panting, laughing and running hard, goading each other on, looking like four friends racing into the ocean for a swim.

Jason managed to reach the finish line first, with Declan pulled along closely behind. Mimi and Ana were only seconds behind them. All four of them
collapsed in a heap, still giggling. Ana and Declan ripped off their blindfolds and took a few moments to readjust to the daylight.

Bindi walked over to them with a broad smile. ‘Well, guys, that looked like so much fun I wanted to be a part of it!' she said with a laugh.

She handed cool towels to the contestants to wipe their faces. ‘Jason and Declan are joint winners of this challenge,' said Bindi, as Mimi and Ana mock-groaned in disappointment. ‘But Mimi scores extra points for compassion. She stopped to make sure the boys were all right, and in the Wildlife Games, that makes you a winner.'

Ana and the two boys cheered Mimi's success.

Mimi blushed with enjoyment. ‘This is the most fun I've had with people my own age, like, ever!'
She looked around at the group, a little breathless. There was a moment's silence. ‘I just said that out loud, didn't I?'

Ana leaned over and gave Mimi a hug, and said teasingly, ‘Out loud and on national television, no less.'

After they'd finished cleaning themselves up, Bindi took them over to the Asian elephants and they got a chance to get up close and personal, feeding them and even giving their feet and enormous toenails a scrub.

Ana sighed as she buffed Sabu's toenails, sweeping her fringe out of her eyes. ‘Now I know what it's like to be on the other end of a pedicure,' she said seriously, causing the others to burst out laughing.

‘What?' she said.

Declan smirked. ‘Well, I bet you haven't likened yourself to an elephant too many times in your life.'

Ana looked wide-eyed for a second, about to deny the claim, before she giggled. ‘Well, I'd be happy to be compared to the gorgeous Sabu. I mean, look at her. She has natural charisma, poise and personality. Actually, thinking about it, she and I are really quite similar.' She gave Sabu an affectionate pat and continued to buff.

Bindi was watching Ana from a short distance away. Tara came over. ‘Is that the same Anastasia Hunter we had at the start of the day, Bindi?' asked Tara suspiciously.

Bindi nodded. ‘I know, I was thinking the same thing. She seems a lot more . . .' Bindi paused, trying to think of the right word.

‘Human,' said Tara, coming to the rescue.

Bindi nodded. ‘We knew she was driven and committed, but it's really nice to see this warmer, sweeter side too.'

‘Who knew the Wildlife Games would actually wear down the contestants' competitive streaks, and reveal them as not only high achievers but really nice people too?'

Bindi thought for a moment. ‘It isn't really a surprise, you know. Australia Zoo is special. We know it. And once anyone has spent a bit of time here, they know it too.'