Lucid

Caroline is one very fantastic person indeed. Thank you Caroline, Mystic loves it.

We are all still wishing you the best Mark, and remember, at least all that hard work now is worth it cause the Parks all yours and still pumping along! Hopefully with more people coming in etc from all the work we have all done too. And we will definately get back into the swing of things and help a hell of a lot more once Mystics a bit better again. (shes not good mate) But shes holding up and she said he WILL get better cause she wants to visit the Park and meet you and Caroline! (and Morpheus & Nadyia!) She asked if you and Caroline (together) would mind at all and have seperate photos taken with each of the Lambs for her? :oops: If that would be possible? (she said pweeasee!) Im working on keeping her spirits up by getting her to focus on the fact that one day she could come and see the park, and could have a pair of Red or Yellow Dragons one day for herself, (ok so its her dream to own a 8ft Tank and have a pair of red or yellows, but would be quite a few years away before we could afford them but hey) she has dreams too, and she has seen how your dreams came true (and STAYED TRUE!) and so she has her own, and keeping her focused on it for now seems to have lifted her spirits quite a bit. Just dont know how long for. :-? :oops: Its late, so better go see if she can get some sleep. Lucid

Awesome on the Seahorses Mark, Mystic is very envious! :oops: Nope, she said when she tries it, she gets this falling motion half way through? lol.

Thanks so much for that, means alot. Means more to us than ever expected. The main thing is that the Park is saved. Now to keep it going and get a tiger in there for Mystic! Mystic would like to Sponsor 2 Yellow or Red Bearded Dragons, one animal shes hoping and praying for. Now THAT, she likes! :D:D:D (She has a mini Matrix Jacket too btw) WAHOO! Feel better now Mark? :lol:

Mystic said no probs at all, need help - shes there. She also said that be careful because you will still find that you will need quite abit of water movement to get around that whole section, and you would find that in the end that doesnt have the filter in it will become stagnant really fast. Also, using sponge at the bottom is a good idea (we tried it) but also very small fry get stuck in it very easy and die. Plus you will need to clean it quiet often and that means trying to keep your fry etc to one side while you remove the sponge and clean it. Also, if you have the slightest gaps in the dividers, your fry WILL get through to the other side. She asked how you intend on holding up the dividers, and to remember that when you water change or drop the level at one end (or in one comparement) that your dividers will fall over with the weight of the water on the otherside. Yes water will flow slowly from the other side, but normally not fast enough to fill the compartment you are syphoning from. Cutting the glass to get a perfect fit to including your tubing is normally very hard, unless you have an endless supply of glass you can work with. One heater shouldnt be an issue (maybe put Poly at the back and sides of your tank to help the other compartments stay warmer) but remember that there WILL be a temp difference in the end compartments. Remember to put your heater in the middle one if possible. Glass would be best to use, as Perspex bends over a short time and will become bowed so ends up being a 'not so tight' fit. If you drill holes, they would have to be very tiny (we did this also) otherwise you have fry getting across or stuck in the holes. It also means the whole panel will need LOTS of holes as even half a panel of holes didnt seem to help at all. For fry you are best to use a completely sealed section, and for Breeders it shouldnt matter. But remember if one fish gets sick, the whole tank will get it fast because of it being 'open' as you can call it. (Not sealed off) HTH

Sounds like you have it all sorted then. Cheers Cricketman. If anyone needs help, let us know. Lucid & Mystic

Anyone got any suggestions at all to help the Park long term?

No one from Welly going then Im guessing?

Us too! Would LOVE a pair oneday!

She said:

Anyone from Wellington going up? Lucid

Now that things have settled down at the Park, Mark and Caroline have been able to turn their attention to choosing names for our Arapawa lambs. They have chopped and changed the names suggested by competition entrants - the twins' names came from different people, with the chosen male name actually having been suggested for the stud lamb and the other name having been suggested by the person who suggested the name chosen for the stud lamb, which was actually suggested as a twin name. Confusing? You bet. But finally, the winning names chosen were: SOLE MALE LAMB (destined to be the Park's new stud ram): Morpheus - name suggested by Mystic Vampyre (FNZAS log-in name) MALE TWIN LAMB Crusoe - name suggested by Emma White FEMALE TWIN LAMB Nadiya - name suggested by Mystic Vampyre. Congratulations to our winners, thank you to everyone who entered, and the lambs will be very happy to be called something other than "lamb" from now on. An interesting aside is that when Kaz sent through the name suggestions to Mark and Caroline, she only sent a list of names - Mark and Caroline had no idea who had suggested what names. As it turns out, Mystic Vampyre has been one of their staunchest supporters through all the trails and tribulations of the past few months! Funny old thing, life. Taken From: http://www.livingartwildlifepark.co.nz/lambname.html Morpheus's Video:

Bebo Page is still running, please do support it and Living Art! (Thank you to those that have joined!) http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp

On Saturday October 11 Living Art will be holding an Open Day .... Taken From: http://www.livingartwildlifepark.co.nz/openday.html

They all know where home is Mark ............................................

Yup seen that, thats why I said great one! Good to see some support there guys! Lucid

So a working bees coming up! GREAT GUYS!

Your welcome Caper

CONGRATS DUDE! We are VERY happy for you both! Will pop out and see you when you are back from your Honeymoon. Lucid & Mystic PS: Craig is also known as 'suphew' on here and the Saltwater Forum.

LOL! We have one VERY VERY happy Mystic here today, I think its the happiest I have seen her in months! I know shes got HUGE hugs and a few tears for two of her favourite people right now. Lucid

Tauranga wildlife park is finally safe 19.09.2008 by Alison King Tears of joy replaced tears of sadness at the Living Art Wildlife Park yesterday as the owners celebrated the saving of their home. Mark and Caroline Paterson have been close to losing their 14-year project on several occasions in the past five weeks. The death knell sounded on Monday when the couple ran out of time to stop an auction for the Barkes Corner property. But bids stopped short of the reserve and the Patersons were given one last chance to turn the situation around. "We're back in action again," Mark said. "A cloud has lifted and the sun is shining." He said everything was in place to save the park and it would be signed off by September 26. Last month the Bay of Plenty Times reported the couple were in the red to the tune of $700,000 with one finance company calling in a loan. A High Court injunction was sought and the couple received a month's stay of execution to find $100,000 and satisfy a lending agreement. Crucial to their safety was the subdivision of a section at the back of the property. The subdivision came through on Monday _ the day of a second auction _ but the Patersons were still short of the required funds. The auction went ahead but was passed in at $610,000 for negotiations. "Those negotiations meant we had time to try to save it. The finance company came back and told me they would prefer us to stay," said Mark. So after more negotiations and with two years of mortgage repayments to find as well as $35,000 in subdivision costs it was all on once again. "A lady came in yesterday and made a big donation _ five figures. She's been talking to me for the last five weeks and asking what was going on and how she could help. "She said it [the auction] couldn't be allowed to happen. She came back yesterday and asked how things were going and that she was going to give me a donation. She held out the cheque and I couldn't believe it. It was mind-blowing. "I believe there is someone upstairs who looks after this place," said Mark. He said he and Caroline cried tears of joy yesterday as they realised they and their 600 animals would finally be safe. In the past few weeks he said they had received dozens of food parcels and scores of donations. Visitor numbers have also improved with the finer weather and an application for a zoo licence to hold exotic animals is close to being completed. As a thank you to all their supporters they are planning an open day in the near future.

Never has a quote been more true. More views than posts I have made lol

Hope you slept well the both of you!