ANZAC Day

I was lucky enough to march at the St Heliers ANZAC Day Parade with my Scout Troop.  I think it is important to be involved as the men who went over to war, many of them never returned and they went so we could have peace, and it's a chance for us to honour them as well as those who did come back.  For me, an interesting link between St Philip's Church and my Scout Group is that Sgt Brookfield was a member of the parish and our 1st Scoutmaster.  He was killed in action during the war, and the St Heliers parade gives us a chance to honour him, and other Scouts, by laying wreaths at the Brookfield Memorial on the waterfront.

At De Fontein

Last night we had dinner at De Fontein and I had Belgium Sausages. It was delicious. Robin and I played Chess before our meal came because they had a Chess Board on one of the tables. When the food came we started eating. Robin got kids Chicken Nuggets and Mama, Papa and Nana had a Mussel Pot. I think we all liked the food we got as it was delicious.

Nana

This morning Nana came up from Christchurch to look after us for the last week of the school holidays. This afternoon Nana and I went to get my eyes checked at the University of Auckland Optometry Clinic. David was the person who did the testing for me. I have to get new glasses to wear all the time. They are Adidas brand. Sometimes the Supervisor came in and made sure it was all correct. They will be ready to collect later this week. We are not sure what we will do with Nana. Nana goes home next Monday.

Commanders of Evony

On Commanders of Evony I am Level 17. My Town Hall is level four and I have one Level 3 Archer Tower and 2 Level 4 Archer Towers one is upgrading to Level 5. I have 2 Level 4 Cannons and 1 Level 3 Cannon. I have a Level  1 Wizard Tower. I have 1 Level 1 Catapult. I hope to get War Wizards in the Barracks.

CA$HFLOW

Yesterday Robin Oma and I played a game called CA$HFLOW. My dream is South Sea Island Fantasy. My profession is an Airline Pilot. You get out of the Rat Race onto the Fast Track by getting your Passive Income larger than your Total Expenses. You win by being the first to buy your dream or/and you are the first player on the Fast Track to accumulate $50,000 in Fast Track Cash Flow by buying Fast Track businesses. We will continue if it rains.

Harry Potter Book 1 Review

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is a very exciting book. At the start Albus Dumbledore arrives on Private Drive and Minerva McGonagall is is her animagus (a wizard that can turn into an animal at will) and then Rubeus Hagrid appears with Harry because his parents Lilly and James Potter were murdered by Lord Voldemort the most evil dark wizard for a century who had came walking up to his front door when Harry was 1. Harry was living with his only living relatives Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley and Dudley Dursley. After a while Hagrid comes to pick him up and takes him to Diagon Alley. Then he goes to Gringotts to get some money to with draw from his vault. 

I won't spoil anymore of the book but here are some images.

   

Kenny Rogers Farewell Down Under Tour 2015

At the concert first was Jody Direen singing her songs. She is from Wanaka in the South Island. Next there was a band I don't know. Then at last Kenny came on and sang all the best songs. My favourites were  the Gambler, Lucille, Islands in the Stream and Coward of the County. It is his last tour ever, he is now 70 and has been performing since the 1960,s. It was an awesome concert.

Movie Review: The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls is a movie about Trolls who live in boxes and go up  to the town at night and take interesting things. One of them called Fish was given a little boy who wears a eggs box so his name is Eggs. There are a group of people called the White Hats who do cheese tasting and there are another group called the Red Hats who are the Boxtrolls Exterminators. Eggs is captured by the Red Hats and he meets his father who everyone thought was killed by the the Red Hats. Then the Boxtrolls get out of their boxes before they are squashed. Eggs was going to be killed but he was saved by the Boxtrolls and his farther. The boss of the Red Hats life ambition was to become a White Hat so he could do the cheese tasting even though he was allergic to cheese.  He was hit by tonnes of cheese and then he looked like a Troll!!! He took the White Hat and gave the boss of the White Hats Lord Alymere a Red Hat. Then they all lived happily every after.    

Swimming

Today Mama, Robin and I went to the Panmure Pools. I said "Hi" to Samuel, Benedict, Joshua and Steven who were there with a school holiday program. Robin and Mama started swimming laps while I was mucking about in the first lane. Then I swam one length because Robin was chasing me. After that I continued playing in the first lane. Then I swam two more lengths of breaststroke, before going back into the first lane. When Mama finished we went outside to the Splash Pad where we saw Benedict again. We were blocking the water from coming out everywhere. Before we went home, we had showers and left, having had a good time.  

At Oma and Opa's

On Friday after Mama, Papa and Robin went home I was playing Tanki Online. The next day on Saturday I was playing Tanki Online and we went to Matamata pools where I was on  the slide and was playing with a beach-ball I found. Then I went back onto Tanki Online on Sunday and leveled up to Sergeant. Yes!!! On Monday I went to the library, the school and Opa had his blood done. At the library I got six books. The next day I was on Tanki again, I read lots of books and then I went outside to help Opa with the firewood. The next day, on Tuesday, I was on Tanki and got the Hammer and leveled up to Staff Sergeant. DOUBLE AWESOME!!!!! On Wednesday I played Tanki (which was not that exciting for some reason) and I mowed the lawns out the back  On Thursday I was on Pottermore and was put into Gryyfiondor house (the same house as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore the most famous wizard ever) and went to Putarau and went to the library and got four books and finished them all in one day. Now I am at Oom Rons house and I was on Tanki and went under the sprinkler.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling is a story about Harry Potter in his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In his first year he defeated Lord Voldemort (the dark wizard who's name many wizards fear to speak so they say "You know who" or "Don't say his name". Harry and his friend Ron Weasley are late for the Hogwarts Express so they go in a flying car. Ron, Harry and their friend Hermoine take polyjuice potion to get in to Slytherin common room. Hermione accidentally uses cat hair and this is her in the picture. Harry gets into the Chamber of Secrets and defeats Tom Marvlo Riddle also called Lord Voldemort.

Christmas

On Friday Robin, Mama, Papa and I hopped in the car to go to Lichfield. I had a little sleep on the way. When we got to Oma and Opa’s house I said “Hi” to Oma and Opa. Then I went to sleep on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds in a room full of Coca Cola things in it.

On Saturday Oom Ron came to Lichfield for an early Christmas and Christmas lunch with us all. We got to open our presents from Oma and Opa.

At Sunday lunchtime we hopped in our car to go to Wellington. We stopped at the Waiouru Army Museum. Robin and I were crawling on the Tanks outside. We stayed at a motel beside the beach in Petone.

On Monday we went to the Government buildings and saw the Beehive, Parliament House and old Library. In the basement, we were able to see how they have earthquake-proofed the building, by cutting it off its foundations and sitting it on huge rubber cushions. At Te Papa we saw the Colossal Squid. Next we went onto the Wellington Cable Car and we went up and down. Next we went Abrakedabra, a Turkish cafe, for dinner. I had a chicken kebab. At seven we went to line up to go on the Santa Regina (the Bluebridge Picton Ferry we were on). Then at eight we went onto the ferry so we could leave at nine. I was up watching Wall E and The Lego Movie during the crossing, while the rest of the family slept.

On Tuesday when we got to Picton at five-past-twelve in the morning we drove to Christchurch. When we got to Christchurch we went to sleep at Nana’s house. Then we went to the South Christchurch Library in Beckenham to meet Aunty Christine and Kaelan for lunch. I was playing Tanki Online while I waited for them. Then I got bacon and egg pie for lunch. Then we were watching another boy on a PS3 and I was helping him. Then they came to Nana’s to play before we went to Uncle Steve and Aunty Sue’s house in which I was playing with the Lego and Robin was playing with Action Man. After we put the toys away I was playing with Chloe the Terror, their new kitten. Then we opened our presents and I got Lego Technic Pull Back Motor.

On Wednesday Nana, Robin and I went over to Okains Bay for Christmas. I made up my Lego and it really works!!! Then we went to Church for a Christmas Eve Service. Then we went back to the house and went to bed.

The next morning when I woke up I opened up my Santa Stocking. I got my two favourite stuff which were Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul and The Wimpy Kid Do It Yourself Book. Before lunch Uggie, Grandma and Gugs came and we had Christmas lunch. Then we opened the rest of our presents.

Saturday and Sunday were really fun. Robin and I went to the beach on both days and on Saturday Robin and I got sunburnt, which was not quite so fun.

On Monday, we all drove back to Lincoln, and Robin and I stayed at Grandma and Gugs’ house while Mama, Papa, Uggie, Nana and Grandma went to Aunty Margret’s house for Aunty Margaaret’s birthday. Robin and I stayed with Gugs and watched TV, read books, talked to Gugs and did some washing for the family because at the house in the bay we only have an old ringer washing machine. We went back to O'Kains Bay that evening. The next day, John (Nana’s friend) came to visit us. On New Years Eve Robin, Mama, Papa and I stayed up until 12:00. We watched movies. On Janurary 1st Papa and I biked to the Summit Road and down again. It was really windy at the top.

On the 3rd of January we went to Grandma and Gugs' for two nights. We had heaps of fun. On the 4th, we went to Nana's house for a while, then we went to Uncle Steve's house and played with the Lego. Last we went to Papa's friends house whose name is Mark Hunter. While we were there we had a punch and an ice-block. After that I played with their toy trains, farm animals and toy cars. Then we got Dominoes pizza for dinner and went to Nana's to eat there. When we got back to Grandma and Gugs' house we went straight to bed. 

On the 5th we visited a friend of Mama's from Christchurch who now lives in Queensland (he and his family were visiting his mum), then we drove to Blenheim for the night. On the way we stopped at Kaikoura for lunch. We saw two seals!! They were really cute. The next day we biked to Omaka Aviation History Museum, which has displays of WW1 aircraft and memorabilia. While we were there we saw tons of World War 1 Fighters. My favourite display was the Red Barron's Death. The Red Barron was one of the best German World War 1 pilots. A bullet went through his plane and then through his body.



Before we left, Robin and I bought Jubilux, an equivalent to Lego. I bought the helicopter in the image, a jeep and a troop transport.



Then we biked to a winery and looked in the Wine Cellar. After that we biked back to the motel and I made up my jeep before we went to one more winery and the people there told us we should go and see the "Spy Domes" which are two balloons with massive radar dishes in them located in the Waihopai Valley. The next day we drove to Picton. Before leaving Blenheim, we went to Makana Boutique Chocolates, and were able to sample a few of their delicious chocolates! On the way to Picton, we went to another winery. When we got to Picton we were on the waterfront before we got on the Kaitaki to Wellington. Nigel Kennedy, a magician did a really awesome magic show. 

When we got to Wellington we drove until after midnight to Oma and Opa's house. When we woke up we were watching TV and then we played with our Jubilux.

Christchurch Earthquake

Christchurch Earthquake

Crumbling buildings

Humans screaming

Roads cracking

Intense shaking

Sad families

Trembling people

Churches breaking

Hurt people

Unsightly liquefaction

Red blood all over the place

Christchurch Cathedral spire tumbling

Houses falling

Earth rolling

Aftershocks continue

Rubble all over Christchurch

Train lines buckled

Hygiene falling

Quakes are devastating

Under the rubble, trapped people

Asking will it stop

Kind rescue crews

Endless quakes

By K. Plessius

Bradly the Battered Bully

The Case of the Battered Bully by  Marion Thomas is a story about Sally the Sleuth solving a mystery about Bradley the Bully getting beaten. At the start when the Year Sevens get to the Year Seven Camp it was pouring down with rain so they did their lessons. When the rain stopped at dusk, they wandered around hoping that the next day would be better and then later on they watched a video.

At 12:00am there were smokes and beer in Bunkhouse C and no one owned up. The punishment the boys in Bunkhouse C had was rubbish collection the next morning. The next day everyone went kayaking on the lake, horse riding and playing on the flying fox. Everyone had fun that day for except for a few people including Bradley who over the course of the day had managed to give Frankie a bleeding nose because Frankie had referred to the night before, held Keith’s head underwater because Keith wouldn’t give Bradley basketball cards that belonged to Keith and called some girls sissies because of the night before.

Later on Bradley was banned from the flying fox as he had been pushing kids out of the way to get on it and deliberately kicking at to spectators legs. During dinner the boys in Bunkhouse had a food fight and no one owned up so the boys had toilet duty.

At 12:30am a tremendous din was coming from Bunkhouse C. It was Bradley. Someone had beaten him up. Blood was pouring down his face and his right eye was already half closed. Sally went into Bunkhouse C to investigate but found nothing.

Then Sally went to the flying fox and the wire was half cut. She got off and looked down. There were blood stains on the platform and there were big footprints at the bottom of the ladder. The answer was Bradley was trying to cut the rope for the flying fox and slipped so he broke two teeth, got a black eye and had lots of blood all over him.

By Karl.

Lost in the Rainforest

Lost in the Rainforest by Sonya Stoneman is a story about Jade and Matthew’s (who are brother and sister) plane crashing because of a fire in the engine in which everyone except Jade and Matthew are killed. Then Jade and Matthew decided to go and find a village so they would be safe.

After one hour they got to a river and Jade dipped her feet in it and was almost eaten by a crocodile! Luckily Matthew warned her and pulled her away in the nick of time. Then when they were crossing the river on a fallen tree further along the river, Jade fell in and there was an electric eel swimming near there.

Later on it started to pour down with rain and there was some thunder. Matthew had found two massive leaves from a tree and gave one to Jade and kept one for himself. Then Jade found a hollow bit in the bottom of the tree and suggested that they could go in it so Matthew felt around inside it and there was a snake inside it already.

When the rain stopped Matthew and Jade quenched their thirst by drinking water that had collected on leaves and had some berries because previously Matthew had climbed up vines to get some berries.

As they were walking they came upon a column of army ants which stung to death a huge tarantula and a coral snake. A little further on they saw some toucans. Round the next bend in the river they came across a small Indian village. The man who took Matthew and Jade in to his hut couldn't understand Matthew when he told him he was hungry but found out that they were hungry when Matthew was rubbing his tummy and touching his mouth. Then they were given a hammock to sleep in..

About a week after the crash Matthew and Jade heard the engine of a motorboat and heard a familiar voice calling out their names. It was their dad! After one week with the indian tribe they were finally able to go home.

By Karl.     

Fractions Splat

Today I played a game called Fractions Splat in class. It was easy and I got 9 points. I think more people should play it.

Sunday 26 October 2014

Today Robin, Mama, Papa and I went to Arapuni to bike along the Waikato River. One quarter of the way through my bike broke so Mama took my bike back to the car. Then I went on Mama's bike and Papa, Robin and I continued going ahead. Once we got to the Arapuni Dam we continued along on a harder path. After a while on that track I got scared because, I had almost fallen into the water, so we turned around. When we got back to the swing bridge we had lunch and then Robin and I walked along the bridge.

When we got back to Putaruru, we got an icecream from Countdown and then we all stopped at a railway crossing and saw the steam train Passchendaele that going to Glenbrook. After we saw the train we went back to Oma's and Opa's house.

Saturday 25 October 2014

Today we went to Firth Tower Museum in Matamata. Matamata is a town in the Waikato. First we went into the Matamata Church. We could only go into it before 2:00 as there was a wedding. Then we went into the Post Office and at the back of it there was a book sale and that was very awesome. After that we went into Mark Madill Shed to look at all the different types of farm machinery. Then I was looking at a model railway in a old train carriage.

Later on after we had looked at all the other buildings we went back into Matamata for lunch before we went to Opal Hot Springs which is at a campground in Matamata and went on a slide that reaches into the water at Opal Hot Springs. I was playing wrestling with Robin. Last we went to see Tarore's (a Maori girl who had a bible and treasured it but was killed and her bible helped spread the words of god) grave.

Then we came home to Oma's and Opa's house.