(New Zealand) Kauri Trees

When I was in New Zealand my mom made me do a report on Kauri trees. So, I did and I think it came out pretty well. I also went to see the largest kauri tree in New Zealand. Here is the report I wrote.

 

 

Paragraph on Kauri Trees

Kauri trees are New Zealand's largest trees. When cut open you can see rich looking wood. The ancestors of the first kauri appeared 190-135 million years ago. The largest tree that is still alive is named "Tane Mahuta". The oldest tree alive in New Zealand is named "Te Matua Ngahere", estimated to be 2,000 years old. Wood from the Kauri tree is one of the best in the world because it is used from many purposes. For example:  Ships, houses, and furniture. Scientist found some trees that were up to 50,000 years old buried deep in the ground. Also, in a museum they have a Australian Kauri tree that is 30,000 million years old. Kauri gum is what comes out of the tree as a liquid when cut to protect itself from diseases or other things that could damage the tree. When healed the gum would harden and fall off. After thousands of years the gum turns in to what we know as amber . Many gum diggers look for it in the ground. Even before the European got to New Zealand, the Mari, New Zealand people, used it for cooking, lighting fires, and even as chewing gum. Kauri have been around since historical times and are interesting trees.

 

If you have any question just ask on my blog and I will find the answers.     

 

 

 This is Mom and me in front of a large Kauri tree trunk.

 

 

These are the four sisters. They some how came together and are now one tree in fours.





(New Zealand) Zoo and Narnia

I went to the New Zealand Zoo and here is some emu that we meet along the way.

 This is me and Elvis. Next to Elvis is his girlfriend Priscilla.

 

 This is Elvis and Priscilla.

 

 This is my mom and Priscilla.

 

This is Elvis in a close up.

 

 

 

Here is another movie related subject.

 Here is another movie related scene. Guess what scene it is.... Its Narnia.

Here is me jumping on Phillip, Edmond's horse. Pretty cool, right?

 

Even if its side ways, this is the cave that the four came out of in Prince Caspian.

(New Zealand) Hobbiton

I am very sorry that I didn't write in a very long time so now I have so much to tell you.

First lets start at the famous and great Hobbiton!!!! Yeah, that's right. The one and only filmed in New Zealand "Lord of the Rings" and " The Hobbit" is right here in these pictures.   

 

 First off, I have here is me standing in front of a hobbit house. They are a lot smaller then they look.

 

 

Next, is the street that Gandalf and Frodo rode down in the start of Lord of the Rings.

 

 But it gets better, right here is the one and only tree that sits on top of Bilbo Baggins's house.

Here's a secret.....Its fake!

 

 This is me in front of Baggins house.

 

This is a better view of the house and the steps.

 Here, is me and my dad sitting in side of a hobbit house.

 

 This is the party tree and the tents that were used in the birthday part of Lord of the Rings.

 

Here is Samwise Gamgees's house.

 

 Last but not least, is the great Green Dragon!!!!

 

Another secret. The Green Dragon is a real building. I am sitting in a seat with a ginger ale. That I do not like.



Green Sea Turtles

On Moorea, I went to a Turtle Rehabilitation Center, where they take care of sick or injured turtles. They were all Green Turtles and they are indigenous to Tahiti. Some had eating problems and some had floatation problems. There were not that many turtles, but there were two babies which made me sad.

Here is some in information on them. When they are young they eat worms, crustacean, aquatic insect, grasses, and algae. When they grow older their jaws become serrated which help them eat algae and other food off rocks. They stay near beaches or on reefs and are rarely are out in the ocean. They are endangered because people kill them for their shells and to eat them. Also people throw plastic into the ocean and a turtle could mistake a plastic bag for a jellyfish. If a turtle ate the plastic bag they could choke and die.

Sea Cucumbers

I met a Marine Biologist named Susan Scott. She writes a column in the Star Advertiser, a newspaper on Oahu. Her next article is going to be about sea cucumbers, a very fascinating creature. I learned a little about sea cucumbers and here is some information on them.

Sea cucumbers look like blobs on the sea floor when they are actually the vacuum. They eat everything on the sea floor, picking up droppings or dead fish. With this they process more than 300 pounds of sediment a year! They are related to the Starfish and the Sea Urchin. There are many different types of Sea Cucumbers. Some spit up their guts when threatened which is very deadly and toxic to fish and other animals that live in the sea. If a fish got caught in the deadly strings of guts that are very sticky, the fish would not be able to move and then slowly dies while the Sea Cucumber slides to safety.

Fakarava

This is my hand with a hermit crab. They were everywhere!!!!

These are clams. They have very bright colors and are beutiful!

                                         This is me in a river on a  uninhabited island.

This is a crab that we saw all over the island in holes.

There was a table on the island that was covered with names of other boats that visited the island before. Here is our name under a boat that we are friends with.

Funny story time (have to read!)

Funny story time! I was thinking that if you follow me on my site, we can have funny story time where I tell you a hilarious story of something that happened on the boat. This story is called:

The Solar Eclipse

It was in the Tuomotus and yes, I know I’m way behind on my site because someone (ahem) Dad dropped the camera in the water and now it’s not working. But also that the places I’m going are, well, internet-free. But anyway, I was drying laundry because it needed to hung. The windows on the boat come with a screen, so you can get air but keep bugs out. We have a huge ceiling window (in sailor terms is called a hatch) in the bathroom on the back of the boat and I was on the back siting almost on the window. I scooted back, forgetting that the hatch with a screen cannot hold a person’s weight at all. My parents were in the bathroom talking about something, I don’t know….. cheese? Then my rear end comes crashing into the window caving in and my parents freaked. I was laughing, saying that was awesome, but mom was angry because she almost had a heart attack. Dad came to me and said, “That was an eclipse.” I asked why and he said “Because your moon was blocking the sun.” I got a laugh out of it, but knew I almost got my neck broken…..

It was greatJ 

Parent’s comments:

“We weren’t both in the bathroom. I was in the bathroom doing laundry and your father was in the kitchen” (Which was right next to the bathroom.)- Mom

“And all of a sudden it got dark.”- Dad

Nuku Hiva

 

 

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This is me at the shore of Nuku Hiva. The shore was more like a wall, so when the waves got big they would explode upward. Dad and I made it a contest of which wave exploded the largest. This wave was a big one.



This is our tour guide named Mahina who led us around the island and gave us lots of fruit.

 

This is Mahina at a water spring that came out of the ground and you can drink it. It tasted like bubbly water.

 

This was a picture of the moon that Dad took. I think it looked pretty.

Tahuota

If you look closely you will see dots in the water. The biggest on the bottom is dad's head, the dots on the top are dolphins. There were a lot of jelly fish so I didn't go in. This was in the morning, but you definitely do not want go swimming in the afternoon at all. Why? One word- Sharks!

 

This is me at the bow watching the sun set in the sky on our night passage. It was very bumpy so the picture is blurry.

Fatu Hiva

The lady sitting next to me is named Desiree. The two sitting across from me are a couple that sailed the world for ten years and this is their second time going around. Their names are Bruce and Cheryl and they came from Australia.  The lunch was delicious and there were even french fries! Desiree is a great cook. Her husband, Jacques carves wood to make tikis and other amazing things. They have two sons, one named Jean-Pascal and I forgot the other one. They owned a big space of land and had lots of puppies! 

This is a church in the town.

 

 

This is a picture is of jagged rocks that stuck out of the bay. It was cool looking, my favorite parts of the jagged rocks were that wild goats loved climbing them. 

This is a picture of me standing in the road that leads to the bay.

 

 





Hiva O'a

We went hiking in a car up a mountain in Hiva O'a. In this picture is:
Me sitting with the blue t-shirt.
To the very left is Scott.
To the very right is Britton.
And in the middle is James.
It was very high, so high that I got a headache from not having that much air to breathe.

This picture is also from Hiva O'a. In this one is a foal and it's mom, there where wild horses up on the mountain. They were in a herd, the guys in the picture above were in the back of the truck so the horses suronded them and drooled on them for one thing. Water.

This is a valley in Hiva O'a. It was very deep, Dad was teriffied because the road was really small and we were on the edge.

First step of the way

This is my dad and his crew, they are going to the Marquesas and are already half way there. I can't wait to see them again.