'Ooh, where am I?' Nextra-terrestrial Giraffe tells her story!

'What an eventful few hours this has been! After spending many days in storage with all the other giraffes, passing the time chatting and playing games, we were suddenly all loaded onto transporters to go to our new homes for 12 weeks ...'

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'After what seemed like quite a long journey I was left standing in unknown surroundings. I felt very alone. Where were all my giraffe friends? Were there any humans here?'

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'"Stand Tall," I said to myself, feeling a tear roll down my neck.'

'Then suddenly I was surrounded by friendly, welcoming people! They smiled at me, put their arms round my neck and posed for photographs with me. There was a lovely feeling of celebration. "Welcome!" they said, "Welcome to Clacton Factory Outlet, we're so glad to have you here."'

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'Ooh, now I know this is going to be a nexciting, fun-filled summer!'
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Nextra-terrestrial, the giraffe painted by Ingrid, is one of 30 large 2.5 metre high giraffes that are part of Stand Tall for Giraffes at Colchester Zoo. These giraffes are now situated in different locations around Colchester and Essex for 12 weeks, prior to going to Colchester Zoo for a final week, followed by a week at More London. Then they will all be auctioned to raise money for wildlife charity. 

You can see more about Nextra-terrestrial  on her very own blog which even has downloadable pictures to colour in!

Neckshund Nexploits at the Botanic Garden!

Wednesday 1st of June was another nextra special day at the University of Durham Botanic Garden. Once again, Necky Becky travelled all the way from Giraffe World to take part in a story-telling session with Ingrid. This time she brought her beloved neckshund dog Hals with her, and her toddler brother Littl' Nicky too!

They were all very nexcited to arrive at the secret portal behind the Intergalactic Cacti.




During the storytelling Hals got very hungry and decided to pop back home to get some of his favourite biscuits.

He went to the Intergalactic Cacti, but though he tried and tried, he couldn't get the secret portal to Giraffe World to appear!


"Oh dear!" he said to himself. "I'm so very hungry. I wonder if there are any nice biscuits in the Botanic Garden?"

Someone had left the door to the glasshouses a teeny bit open, so he squeezed through into the fresh air.



There were lots of beautiful flowers in the Garden, and Hals sniffed them. "How lovely!" he said. "But not like biscuits ..."




Further along the path he found a big display board. There was plenty of information about trees on it, but no directions to biscuits.




He trotted past the gunnera and stopped for a moment. They looked so huge and the stems were
very prickly-looking, so he decided not to look for biscuits there!

By now he was feeling tired and very hungry indeed. He wondered if Necky Becky had noticed that he was missing. Maybe she would come and look for him. That would be so comforting.




Suddenly Hals came face to face with a very strange looking creature. In the shadows under the trees he couldn't tell if it was a fallen log or a huge monster!
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He turned and ran, looking over his shoulder to see if it was following him. Faster and faster, his little legs moving so quickly you could hardly see them, until he arrived at a big blue door - the Visitors Centre!




As he stood outside panting, so very tired and thirsty from his mad dash through the garden, one of the ladies in the cafe saw him. She brought him a big bowl of water to drink.



By this time the story-telling had finished, and how pleased Hals was to see Necky Becky and Littl' Nicky running towards him! Guess what Necky Becky had in her pocket? Some of his favourite biscuits!

They all sat by the Intergalactic Cacti and waited for their dad, Raph, to collect them.



Back through the secret portal they go in their family bus, until neckst time!

Necky Becky's dad has his own blog, Raph's Ramblings, where he writes about his thoughts and the family adventures.

A Nextra-terrestrial Visitor at Durham Botanic Garden!

On Saturday 14th May a small pink giraffe with a suitcase suddenly appeared in the glasshouses at the University of Durham Botanic Garden. Her name is Necky Becky, and she had travelled all the way from a planet called Giraffe World in Camelopardalis Constellation.



The adventures of Necky Becky and her family, the Neckmanns, were the subject of special May Madness story-telling sessions by Ingrid. Necky Becky stood patiently, (well sometimes a little grumpily!), while the stories were told. She did enjoy being admired by all the children and their families though!


After each story there was the opportunity to colour in some pictures of the giraffe characters, and families could take some extra colouring pictures home too.


Necky Becky very helpfully went outside to make sure everyone knew where the entrance to the glasshouse was.

However, she had also heard about the lovely cafe at the Botanic Gardens, and decided to go and visit it by herself.




The temptation of the huge and delicious-looking cakes proved too strong, and she sneaked behind the counter ... Just as she was about to grab a large slice of carrot cake, she was spotted! She ran ...



... all the way down into the Himalayan Dell, where she tried to hide among the Himalayan birches!

One of the main Secret Intergalactic Portals to Giraffe World is arched with birch trees, and we thought maybe Necky Becky was feeling a little homesick. We decided it was time for her to go home.


Ingrid walked with Necky Becky to the entrance to the new woodland area, and there under the birch archway, she was safely transported across the galaxies to her own planet.

Her little neckshund dog, Hals, was nexcitedly waiting for her on the other side. In the distance their family home Necky Knoll House stood welcoming, and Necky Becky thought she could smell mushroom noodle bake cooking! She ran happily all the way home.


You can read more about Necky Becky and her family at Raph's Ramblings.