Ice Cream Sundae

The warm sticky caramel sauce ran down across the ice cream scoops and filled the glass to the top.  The children ran in the door noisy from the lawn outside.   They were hot and hungry after the party games.  As birthday boy, Daniel was first to get an ice cream sundae with caramel sauce.  It tasted sweet and yummy. Daniel's mum made one caramel and ice cream sundae after another until all the children had one.  The only noise now was the slurping of ice cream being eaten in the kitchen.   Soon there were only empty glasses lined up on the bench.

My Mihi

Ox World Champs

Ox World Champs

And now, we have the Ox World Champ competition.  The aim of this game is to glide between two oxes for 200 meters and win.  So let's start this competition.  With splashing from the hooves as they hit the water and breathing and roaring from the oxes, the teams separate  from the rest to get in front.  The murky brown water before him is crystal still and has a reflection of him skimming across it on his tummy.  He wins the challenge and is crowned the best in Africa.

The Bunny Olympics

The Bunny Olympics

In Iceland there are 27,000 bunnies; 16,000 of those bunnies have their head stuffed into coffee cups to get a last energy boost for the up and coming bunny olympics.  In bunny times, the olympics are only two days away.  Their furry feet tapped on the smooth ice when the olympics  have started  With Usain Hop winning gold in the 100 meter hop  It was a crisp cold dry day with snow falling but they still made records in the high jump, long jump and hurdles.  The bunny olympics was a success thanks to the new drug, the coffee cup, which is legal.

The Dead Lighthouse

The Dead Lighthouse

On a stormy dart twilight evening, the waves were foaming white as they surged and crashed against the lighthouse.  The water rippled in the distance and sparkled as it cascaded from the rock base.  It was cloudy, chilly and dangerously strong wind.  The bottom of the lighthouse was submerged and old from water battering it.  Murky and standing alone with sea spray going everywhere it stood tall among the surging waves. The relentless waves never ending.  The defiant lighthouse stood proud against the ravaging of time and nature.  This beast will never die.

TURANGA WAI WAI - Our Marae Visit

TURANGA WAI WAI - Our Marae Visit

Arriving at 10.30am on Monday, 1 August 2016 we got to Turanga wai wai marae .When we entered through the gates the powhiri had started.The kuia did the karanga and we waited until everyone was seated, one of the locals welcomed us and did their mihi.

Mr Pene, our Southwell representative, replied with his mihi and thanked the locals on our behalf of us and placed a koha on the ground.

This followed with the locals singing a song to us then southwell singing a song to them called ka waita and we then all took part with a handshake and hongi after the songs.

Splitting into groups, we had guides give us a tour of the marae, giving us the history, for example when it was built, who the kings were and all the buildings on site.  The Waikato river runs alongside, with spring water supplying the marae.   It was interesting to learn about the needle hanging down in the dining hall representing "we are all together".  It was very distinctive, with the top of the needle being a carved man and 2 metres long so it stood out. The marae was set up in 1921, for a cost of $5,000 which was still a lot of money back then, as they only earned $5 a day.  

After the tour, the group meet together for a lunch of fish and chips before climbing back on the bus for our return to school.

On reflection the trip was interesting although I would have liked to experience a traditional lunch or 'food' that represented maori culture.

Glossary
Hongi - to greet someone.  When nose touch each other.
Mihi - a personal speech about yourself, where you come from, family.
Ka Waita - the song.
Marae - home of the king, is a fenced in place with carved buildings and grounds that belong to a particular tribe (iwi), sub tribe (hapū) or family ( whānau).
Powhiri - a welcoming process
Kuia - female elder, who did the karanga.
Karanga - call out/summons - forms part of a powhiri.
Koho - gift.

100WC T3W2

As the green sticky smelly cheese got mouldy everyone moved further away from it. One lone brave boy crept forward and touched the cheese. Suddenly the cheese became alive; everyone backed even further away. There was no way to save yourself and the cheese on the boy's finger grew a spot . The spot grew and grew until suddenly his finger fell off. When his finger hit the ground everything around it turned black. Five years later half of the world was infected, black hairy and smelly and there was no cure to stop it.