Ollie and Russ have been busy.

 It’s Ollie and Russ here. We have been doing so much exploring this week. We went to Waitangi on Monday and then came to a place called Hohoura which is really far north. We are staying at a camping ground where there are people fishing and catching snapper just off the beach. Today we went to Cape Reinga and learned about the Māori spirits leaving here to travel back to their ancestors homeland in the pacific. It was such a sunny day we could see the Three Kings Islands. 

There are some giant sand dunes up here at a place called Te Paki. We had so much fun going down them on our body boards. They are so steep and high and we went so fast.

Maisie has been riding Rocky

 Pip and I decided to go down to the ponies. We tacked up Whizz and Rocky and went to the beach.

We jumped the small bank for a long time. 

Pip said, “It’s windy.’’ 

I said, “One more time.” 

I jumped and opened my eyes and Rocky was on a lean. He was half way over and the bank collapsed behind Me. I was so scared. I decided that it was enough for today and went to our tying up spot, untacked the ponies and walked up the track .  

Missing tooth

 

The Bakery

 

It is whitebait season.

 

Tillie went swimming in the freezing sea

 

Anita's funny dog

 Have you ever heard of a phantom pregnancy? 

A phantom pregnancy is when a dog thinks she has had pups, but she hasn't. 

Our dog Jill thinks she has had pups but she hasn't and we don't know why she does this. 

Jill is acting very strange today. First she came into the school room when I was playing Minecraft and she started to whine. Then she acted like she wanted me to follow her. So I did but then she just jumped on the couch and was still whining. I didn't understand what was going on and my sister didn't either. Then when I went back into the school room to play Minecraft she came in and she whined at me again. She went out of the room and jumped on the seat. Now I really didn't know what was going on. 

When Mum came home I knew what was going on. Mum said that she was having a phantom pregnancy. Jill thought that my mum's sweater was her pups. It was very very very weird.  

 I had a great idea. I was going to get to some of my toy dogs and pretend that they were her pups, but she didn't think that they were her pups. I was a bit disappointed.

Ocean has written a cool story

 Today when I woke up Isac’s boat was gone.    

 Isac is my best friend. He is 9. We go out fishing and we sometimes catch big fish and we sometimes catch nothing. Isaac is going to Poor Knights, one of the top 10 diving spots in New Zealand. 

When warm blue water goes to Poor Knights, Turtles and whale sharks come into a cave. Great whites also come into the cave to eat fish.

Ocean has been working on INTO207

 Ocean has designed a machine to help him lift heavy weights.

He has also found a lot of simple machines around him.

Ocean has made a book for ENG227 Bags and Balloons

 

Bloem has drawn this beautiful picture

 

Check out the slips near where Willow and Winter live.

 

Check out all the cool thigs Zara has been doing

She has been to see Beauty and the Beast

She has made clay pots

She has been for a hike.

She made chickens out of boiled eggs

 

Bodhi has got a bulldozer

 

Tillie's sunflower

 Yesterday I planted  some little sunflowers. I planted them in a little pot. I have to give them water. Then they won't die. 

I like sunflowers because they are yellow. Yellow is my favourite colour.

Check out Ori's art. He was doing string art from a maths book

 

We got Evacuated- by Zara

 We got evacuated!

The police knocked on the door at 10 a.m. in the morning and said, “You have to leave!”  

We were on 565 Rocks Road and there was a BIG slip above the house we were in. The whole hillside had been evacuated. There was a big slip above the road because the rain had softened the soil, so it slipped down. 

We had to take the dog and all the dog stuff.The dog is called Penny. Penny is a border collie, so she won't leave my grandparents' side. 

We only had 30 minutes to pack before we had to leave.

We had to go to Christchurch to my grandparents' bach.

Bloem is going to the hot pools

 Tomorrow me and my family are going to the Hanmer Springs hot pools. I am so excited to go to the pools because they have massive slides that make you scream.

We always need to go to the hot pools first because Mum and Dad want to, but we want to go down the slides. 

We first go to the small slides and then the big ones and do it all over again. When you're at the top of the big slide your heart always beats fast from excitement. My favourite part is when you go down  the really steep slide and all the way back  up and come zooming down. It’s like a bumpy slide. I scream as loud as a wolf, but after a while I don't scream anymore.

Maisie went skiing at Mount Hutt

 

Mount Hutt 

It took 8 hours to get from my place to Mount Hutt.

We got there at 7pm. We stayed at a lodge.

The next morning I was so, so excited.

We took our truck all the way to the top of the ski field. I was so itching to get out .

Finally I got out and got my skis and helmet and went to my ski lesson. We went on the magic carpet with my teacher Takara.

The Parrot Place by Russ

 

The Parrot Place

My family and I are staying in Kerikeri for a couple of weeks. Today we went to a place called The Parrot Place. There we so many parrots and we went into a big outdoor cage and the parrots all flew around and landed on us. They really liked the seeds and nuts we had to feed them.

When I first went in there were big parrots and their favourite thing to eat was the peanuts still in their shells. They flew right up to me and took them.

My favourite parrot was a little Masked Lorikeet called Pompom and she came and landed on me but didn’t want food, only cuddles and when I opened my mouth to talk she tried to clean my teeth with her beak.

There was also a big cockatoo who danced and when he had finished his dance he would try to peck my eye.

Here are some pictures we took.

Up in the roof by Scott

 

Giant Gumboot by Ollie

My family and I are doing a road trip in the North Island. On the way to Taupo, we stopped in Taihape and saw the giant gumboot. We had a bit of trouble finding it. When we found it, we took this photo.

We have done a lot of looking around the North Island and have seen so many new things. Now we are in Kerikeri staying at our friend’s house for a couple of weeks and we plan on getting out on the water and seeing the Bay of Islands.

We are also going to visit Waitangi and Russell and do some camping when the weather is good. It is so much warmer here than at home in the South Island.

 

Ethan did an experiment where he had to leave and egg in vinegar

 

Willow's Mum asked her to make her a tea cozy. So, she made one for her coffee plunger! She just made up the pattern.

 

Willow has been doing more origami.

 

Willow has been writing instruction for making her knitted creations

 

Tildy has made her own book using Book Creator