Planes, Trains and Automobiles

If I had to pick how I wanted to travel to Milford Sound I would like to walk because:

1.   I would be able to see some scenes of the Lord of the rings movies.
2.   I would be able to see the rivers from the mountains.
3.   I would be able to walk by the snow topped mountains.

Link to Photo   www.milford-sound.co.nz   Reflections in Milford Sound

The Midnight Zone

The Giant Squid weighs 500kg.
An average adult can lift 25kg
An average child can lift 15kg
How many people does it take to lift the squid?

25 goes into 100 4 times.
The squid weights 5 100's
So 4 X 5 = 20
It will take 20 adults to lift the 500kg giant squid exactly.

15 goes into 100 6 times with 10 remainder
6 X 3 = 18 with 30 left over which is 2 more kids
So 20 kids to lift 300kg
So you have to make up 200kg which the kids can't do perfectly so I made it up with adults
25 goes into 100 4 times
There are 2 100's in 200
4 X 2 = 8
20 kids and 8 adults can lift the 500kg squid exactly.

A Local Delicacy

LEEK AND POTATO SOUP INGREDIENTS:

Vegetable Oil
Onions
Potatoes
Leeks
Vegetable Stock
Creme Fraiche
Black Pepper

Link to Photo             BBC Good Food

Night Owls

I am sometimes an early riser and sometimes a night owl. I can get up early if I want to but if I don't want to get up then I get up around 8.

Dad is a night owl but when he has to go to work he gets up at 4:30.

Mum is an early riser because she is up at 6.30am most mornings.

Scarlett, Jasper and Albert (my sister and brothers) usually get up at 7am so they are probably considered early risers. Albert also gets up in the middle of the night quite often.

Stranger Than Fiction

Venus Flytrap and Hydnellum Peckii are similar because they both:

• They can both be found in America
• They both secrete smells (Venus Flytrap a sweet nectar to attract its prey)
• Venus Flytrap looks like its got teeth and Hydnellum Peckii is nicknamed 'Devil's Tooth'

They are different because:

• The Venus Flytrap is a plant and the Hydnellum Peckii is a fungi 
• The Venus Flytrap eats things (flies and insects) and Hydnellum Peckii is edible
• Venus Flytrap doesn't smell bad to us but Hydnellum Peckii does

Link to Photo   Venus Flytrap Jaws of Doom   YouTube



Link to Photo   The Devil's tooth Hydnellum peckii fungus   YouTube

Mighty Mangroves

I have two people that I think are strong. One is Anthony Joshua who is the world's heavyweight boxing champion. He is from England and is one of the strongest people I can think of.
The other is Eddie Hall - winner of world's strongest man 2017 and is also from England. He can lift 500kg Wow!

Twitter    Link to Photo
Eddie Hall                                                                                                       










                                                  Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker
                         The Independent   
                                                                         
                          Link to Photo                 

Weaving a Tall Tale

I have tried flax weaving at school before - we made arm bands and I have also done it with grass (I just made a long line that time) I would not like to become a flax weaver though because it looks very fidgety and hard making difficult things - I get annoyed with fiddly things. I think it would take a lot of practice to get good at flax weaving and make cool things. My Mum says she would like some flax baskets to use as bags at the supermarket.

The Great Taupo Cycle Challenge

If I got to choose any 3 people to have on my Lake Taupo Cycle Race Support Crew I would choose:

• Trent Boult because he is my favourite cricketer and is fit because he bowls at about 137 miles per hour.
• Geraint Thomas because he would be able to help the whole team as he knows all about cycling races - he won this years Tour De France.
• Cristiano Ronaldo (my favourite soccer player) because he is one of the world's best athletes and I think he would help us win with his competitive nature.

Something Smells Fishy

THE OLDEST KNOWN FISH IN THE WORLD IS A 65 YEAR OLD AUSTRALIAN LUNGFISH - TRUE (BUT FOR A START I FOUND THIS Link to 200 year old fish).

SHARKS ARE THE ONLY FISH THAT HAVE EYELIDS - TRUE (BUT IT'S NOT AN ACTUAL EYELID JUST WORKS LIKE ONE, IT'S A MEMBRANE)

STARFISH ARE A TYPE OF FISH - FALSE

FISH COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER BY MAKING LOW-PITCHED SOUNDS (MOANS, HISSES, ETC.) - TRUE (FOR ONLY SOME TYPES)

FISH USUALLY SWIM TOGETHER IN GROUPS CALLED 'CLASSES' - FALSE (SCHOOLS)

Surfs Up!

One of my favourite activities to do in summer is horse riding.

This s a photo of me on Whio at my Du'ee and Pa's.

Horse riding is one of my favourite things to do because you can have races, do work (like move animals) and I can get places by myself faster than walking.

Going, going....gone

I am writing this in the last week of New Zealand breathing air.

New Zealand has fresh green grass, lots of dark mountainous evergreen forests that often go right down to the sparkling sea.

When I go for walks I can hear birds chirping often you can see a river or a lake or hear a waterfall.

It is usually a comfortable temperature and doesn't get too hot or too cold but I live on the West Coast of the South Island an it rains quite a lot here.

We have a lot of pests (not native) that are good to hunt and eat like rabbits, deer, goats and pigs. There are also other pests that we try and get rid of but don't eat like possums, stoats and rats.

A lot of our native animals are birds like the shy kiwi (who can't fly and only comes out at night) and fantail (which has a tail that spreads out like a fan and often follow me in the bush when I go for walks) and we also have lizards.

A lot of New Zealand has farms with animals like sheep, deer, cows, goats, horses, chickens and pigs. Most of our animals are farmed outside and it is nice seeing happy animals eating the green grass.

I wish New Zealand wasn't going, I am going to miss my home.


Link to Photo   Backpacker Guide NZ   10 West Coast Must-Dos   Pixabay

Living on the Edge

Dear Mum

The trip her to the Tundra was boring and long but we finally got here at 1am on Wednesday morning.

It is very cold even though I am wearing 6 layers of clothes, luckily we came in summer!

It was strange seeing wildflowers growing since it's so cold but we went for a walk this morning and saw some! The teacher said we weren't allowed to pick them though.

Yesterday I saw an arctic fox and there was a polar bear destroying the neighbouring village!

It is hard to sleep at night because there is sun all day and night but eventually I fall asleep.

2 days ago I tried digging a hole to see how far down I could get but after I got only a little way the ground was frozen.

Hopefully tomorrow we are going to see a reindeer (they call them caribou here).

I'm looking forward to coming home and feeling warm again.

From Andrew

Towering Timbers

I support logging in New Zealand because:

It is New Zealand's third biggest export money producer, bringing in $5 billion NZ dollars in 2018, this makes the country richer because that money is then spent around NZ.

The industry employs about 20,000 workers and that money that they earn supports them and their families. Those people buy stuff to live and the money they spend pays for other people eg. buying meat to eat at the butcher pays the butcher and his workers.

The wood can be used in New Zealand to build things eg. houses and if we use our own wood then the money is going to New Zealand not overseas.


Link to Photo                     www.ribbonwood.co.nz           convert your land

Salt and Pepper

I would build my hotel on the Cliffs of Moher which is in County Clare, Northern Ireland.
The cliffs get almost 1 million visitors every year so my hotel would make lots of money.
From my hotel you would be able to see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head.
You would so be able to see O'Brien's tower if you looked North.

Pancakes and Maple Syrup

One of my favourite foods is chips steak and coleslaw.
For chips peel and cut up potatoes in to thin long slices and then deep fry them in dripping. When they're ready put salt on them.
For steak you put the steak in a pan with butter in it wait until one side is brown then turn over and when that side is brown take it out of the pan and it is ready to eat.
For coleslaw cut up green cabbage, grate cheese, carrot and apple, add mayonnaise and mix together.
For mayonnaise put one egg yolk in a cup and beat quickly while slowly adding about a cup of olive oil, add salt to taste.

Scaling New Heights

If I met Sir Edmund Hillary 5 questions I would ask him would be:

1. How long did it take you to climb Mount Everest?
2. What made you think a tractor would drive to the South Pole?
3. How did you prepare to climb Mount Everest with no oxygen?
4. Why did you decide to climb Mount Everest?
5. What food did you take with you on your expeditions?

Hillary on the summit of Mount Seally in the Southern Alps NZ 1947. From  Pictorial Celebration Sir Edmund Hillary
Link to Photo

The WWF: World Wildlife Fund

1. The WWF are trying to help save Freshwater Seals.

2. The WWF are building snowbanks for the pups to be born in so they have shelter from the weather, other animals and humans.

3. About 50% of the pups will die without snow banks so they are saving half of the pups born, this is not really a long term solution though, it should be able to happen naturally.

The Secretive Skink

Three good things about working as a DOC ranger are:
1. Protecting and restoring historic sights
2. Making and maintaining tracks, signs, huts and fences
3. Monitoring native wildlife, habitats and plants

Three bad things about working as a DOC ranger are:
1. Having to work evenings and weekends sometimes
2. May have to travel to attend meetings
3. Telling land owners they are not allowed to do things they want to

I would not like to work as a DOC ranger because I don't like 1080.

Fantastic Beasts

My fantastic beast call the Brisban Burner.
It is 50cm long amd is a smooth camouflage orange colour with 2 legs in front, each ending in a poisonous pointy claw and one hopping leg at the back with a retractable pincer.
It has a pointy face with 2 eyes, 2 nostrils and one mouth with no teeth and a pointed snake-like tongue.
If it is scared it can become invisible and it can liquify its bones so it can fit through any gap.
It eats grass using its tongue to wrap around the stalks and break them off.
It likes hot temperatures and lives in the hollows of trees in Australia.
Its poison mixed with Phoenix tears can make any human immortal.

Weird and Wonderful

My cactus plant needs 3ml of water a day.

There are 365 days in a year (366 in a leap year)

To work out how much water my cactus plant needs over a year I X 365 by 3

365X3

300X3=900

60X3=180

5X3=15

900+180+15=1095

My cactus plant will need 1095ml of water in a year

Fabulous Ferns

Three New Zealand sports teams with the word 'fern' in their name are:

1. Tall Ferns (Basketball)
Link to Photo   Basketball New Zealand   TALL FERNS BEAT DPR of KOREA AT ASIA CUP

2. White Ferns (Cricket)
Link to Photo Owner of photo: Newsie Photographer: sportsfile/sebdaly

3. Silver Ferns (Netball)
Link to Photo   The Hits   Photo / Getty Images

My favourite team uniform with the name 'fern' in it is the White Ferns their uniform looks like the Black Caps.

Giants Among Us

I would like to visit Tane Mahuta because it reminds me of 'The Faraway Tree' which I read when I was little - it was a huge tree too.
I also like that kauri were perfect for ship masts and building.
I like forests (because of Rangers Apprentice) so I think I would like the walk to Tane Mahuta.
Also 1250-2000 years old is VERY old, it makes me think the tree is really special.

Link To Photo

Ice, Ice Baby

North and South

Hokitika

I live in Hokitika which is in the South Island of New Zealand.

It is a small to medium sized tidy town which is on State Highway 6 so it has a lot of cool shops for the tourists that travel up and down the Coast.

Hokitika always looks clean, and it is a friendly beachside town.

It is at the mouth of the Hokitika river which is usually a sparkling blue but in bad weather turns angry and grey.

I enjoy running on the grey sand and smooth stones of the beach, playing rugby on the green grass of the park and visiting the cian, diamond sparkling gorge.


Link to Photo

The legend of New Zealand

My top 3 fun facts about New Zealand are:

1.  Gisborne is the first city in the world to see the sunrise because it is 496.3 kilometers away from the International Date Line.

2.  New Zealand was once governed as part of the territory of New South Wales and later a part of Australia.

3.  It is one of the three countries in the world that has two official national anthems of equal standing.  The first is God Save the Queen and the other is God Defend New Zealand.