2015 Skiing

7:30 arrival at Ohakune, Mt Ruapehu standing right before our eyes. So many anxious faces awaiting to step foot on the fresh yearly snow. As Jacob and I gradually make our way out of the car we arrived in, we roared loudly with great tired bodies, then slowly made our way to the public toilets to slide our Ski pants on.

I rush over to Mrs Cuming to get myself a gear pass and a Hi-viz jacket, then finally we shuffled back into our cars and make our way through the dense jungle bush and emerge out into the open to see the most beautiful day over top of the clouds. An amazing giant snow white figure gazed over the Mt Ruapehu District.

Daniel Finds us a park right at the front of the car park, and i was first out into the fresh hot air. I popped the boot open, grabbed my gear and pounced like a cheetah to the gear office. First at the que I was and fitted myself a Helmet, Snowboard boots, and a board of course. Tried on some wrist guards and hurtled over to claim the school some tables for the day.

When I got my gloves, Helmet and wrist guards on I finally rush over to the pass gates to gain access ...... but .... ( ACCESS DENIED ) .... ( LANE DEACTIVATED )  Ohhhh !! really, we are too early to be allowed though. It doesn't open until 9:00, the ladies have to come out with the tablet to allow us to go through. ...... .. ... As 9:00 finally struck the clock, we were now allowed to go through to the Movenpick chairlift. Tyler, Geoff, Caelen and I sit ourselves on a chair and start our journey to the top of the mountain. ( GET READY TO UNLOAD, RAISE THE BAR ) Caelen then sits tight and raises the bar ready to be unloaded.
 

Skiing 2015

7:30 arrival at Ohakune, Mt Ruapehu standing right before our eyes. So many anxious faces awaiting to step foot on the fresh yearly snow. As Jacob and I gradually make our way out of the car we arrived in, we roared loudly with great tired bodies, then slowly made our way to the public toilets to slide our Ski pants on.

I rush over to Mrs Cuming to get myself a gear pass and a Hi-viz jacket, then finally we shuffled back into our cars and make our way through the dense jungle bush and emerge out into the open to see the most beautiful day over top of the clouds. An amazing giant snow white figure gazed over the Mt Ruapehu District.

Daniel Finds us a park right at the front of the car park, and i was first out into the fresh hot air. I popped the boot open, grabbed my gear and pounced like a cheetah to the gear office. First at the que I was and fitted myself a Helmet, Snowboard boots, and a board of course. Tried on some wrist guards and hurtled over to claim the school some tables for the day.

When I got my gloves, Helmet and wrist guards on I finally rush over to the pass gates to gain access ...... but .... ( ACCESS DENIED ) .... ( LANE DEACTIVATED )  Ohhhh !! really, we are too early to be allowed though. It doesn't open until 9:00, the ladies have to come out with the tablet to allow us to go through. ...... .. ... As 9:00 finally struck the clock, we were now allowed to go through to the Movenpick chairlift. Tyler, Geoff, Caelen and I sit ourselves on a chair and start our journey to the top of the mountain. ( GET READY TO UNLOAD, RAISE THE BAR ) Caelen then sits tight and raises the bar ready to be unloaded.

Yaju Chengs visit

Learning with Yaju Cheng ( a senior English teacher from Beijing ) this week has been beneficial in so many ways. We have learnt numbers to ten in Chinese, origami papers and the very famous Chinese dumplings; a delicious Chinese cuisine. Learning Chinese languages and exciting fun activities with Yaju is great learning for all students at Apiti as it is not only helpful for us as New Zealanders but we can also teach Yaju things from our country to be taught / shown in China. Learning skills with a teacher from China has been very exciting because we had the chance to learn many different skills from Yaju and her culture as well. 
I hope that Apiti School has welcomed Yaju Cheng to our country nicely and has learned lots from her and has taught her a little bit from our country as well.

Fungi Report

Common Name: Honey Mushroom
Scientific Name: Armillaria

What does it look like? 
With a slime like figure on the top of the fungi cap, this mushroom ( known as the Honey Mushroom ) is just like any other mushroom with a stem, gills and spores.

Where do fungi live?
The Honey Mushroom is usually found growing on the underside of of a decomposed or decaying tree log or stump. 

What do they eat?
As the Honey Mushroom grows off a decaying log, it tends to feed off the logs roots and all of the nutrients and moisture from the wood. 

When and how do Fungi reproduce? 
There are millions of spores in the air we breath, which develop on and are released by a range of unique structures such as the Honey Mushroom,. For the spores to be available to drop, the gills of the fungi have to be vertical to the ground, otherwise the Mushroom will not be able to reproduce and grow.  

Fungal Forae Mushroom description

In the silent days of the Autumn breeze, small white toad stools appear from the overgrown forest scrub in search for life.

The leaf litter of the forest, along with the undergrowth of the soil, feeds the mystical fungal life of the dense forest.

When the sun rises over the horizon, bright sunlight beams over through the trees and into the quiet scene of nature.

Bright colors of the fungi grows off the sense and cold habitat.

From the gills underneath the cap of a fungi allows it to breath, grow and to reproduce.

Other Animals, Birds, wind and insects help the fungi to reproduce by carrying the excess and decomposed fungi by moving it around the forest floor.

My writing was inspired by the scene at  1:30 seconds of the video below.  

Willie Apiata - VC - The reluctant hero

Willie Apiata's childhood was made up of discipline, goals, ingenuity and future dreams and aspirations.
A special mixture of qualities, imagination, independence, courage, loyalty, hard work, stamina and ..... that saw Willie Apiata preform deeds that earned him the Victoria Cross.
He had to learn to overcome tough days through to years, heartbreaks and changes as he was known by a lot of step fathers and many grand fathers.
Growing up in the bush (Papakura) saw a dream come true that gained him respect in sports, school, endurance and bravery as a soldier and a man.
Willie then left high school at the age of 16 and joined the army at a very young age and every day gained strength and discipline.

First world war Mascots.

Paragragh 1

Horses, Dogs, Cats, Donkeys and other animals were trained soldiers to supply the battle with water, guns and medical wagons by the Calvary.

Paragragh 2

Animals or a soft toy such as a teddy bear was used as a so called mascot to represent a group of people or a team.

Paragragh 3

Soldiers had mascots to symblise home and normal day life, and believed that their mascot would bring them good luck and keep them safe.

Paragragh 4

In NZ
Back at home, during training camp, they also used mascots to train them and to hope that the others are safe.

Paragragh 5

Overseas soldiers find or buy a mascot also. Some soldiers fall in love with their mascots soo much that they have to leave the army to stay and take care of their mascots if they mascots cannot go in the army.