Kids on holiday down under

last day

2009-01-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

I am at the airport waiting to get on the plane to go back to Holland. Nice jokes 4CK!

I like everything about Australia. While I have been in Australia I have seen 22 kangaroos. I saw them at the yarra valley in the hills. Today I caught a baby gecko and I got its tail because it fell off. I found it in my little cousins bedroom. I got a new tshirt with the southern cross on it. The southern cross is 4 stars shaped like a diamond which you can only find in Australia and New Zealand.

I have enjoyed writing this blog. Thank you to everyone who has followed it.

See you on Monday 4CK!

Yarra Valley

2009-01-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

I'm here in the yarra valley with my family. It's really dry and my cousins have a dam so we can go swimming. Today i woke up and it was going to reach 43 degrees! i saw 2 wild kangaroos, they were hopping around my familys next door neightbours property. in the forrest next to our property there is a paint ball place. And my cousin took me on the quad bike, and we saw 2 rabbits while we were on it.

My Collage

2009-01-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of the collage I did for Nan.

My last week

2009-01-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

The photo is of me with Mr Howe who was the deputy prime minister of Australia.

He came to dinner. He is a friend of my nan and grandad. My nan used to work for him in the University of Melbourne.

Today I had to put a sofa on a trailer and drive to the church. The church is going to sell it for some money.

I have been painting a collage for my nan and she is going to buy it from me for $25. I will try and put a photo of it on my blog.

Tomorrow is my cousin Ryan's birthday and we are going to their place in the Yarra valley. They have a cottage where we can stay.

Here are 4 jokes:

Q. What are 2 things you cannot have for breakfast?

A. Lunch and dinner

Q. What has eyes that cannot see, a tongue that cannot taste and a soul that cannot die?

A. A shoe.

Q. What can you hear but not see, and only speaks when it is spoken to?

A. An echo.

Q. When will water stop flowing down hill?

A. When it reaches the bottom.

Aussie Language

2009-01-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

I tnew ot dubesor yadretsey dna I tnew ot eht hcaeb.

yadot I ma gniog ot eht yrrebwarts mraf.

Yadretsey I was a eulb eugnot drazil ni eht tsopmoc nib. tI dekool ekil a ekans neht I was eht sgel.

kc4Y ti saw nevesytriht seerged yadretsey dna yadot ti si neetneves seerged redloc.

Blairgowrie

2009-01-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we arrived in Melbourne and my Nan and Grandad were there to pick me up. We flew across the Tasman Sea which is named after Abel Tasman. He came from the Netherlands and he was a famous explorer who discovered New Zealand and Australia.

My nan and grandad live on a peninsula on the skinniest point. They live in Blairgowrie which is named after a place in Scotland. See if you can find it on the map.

Today we went to 2 beaches. The first one I collected about 80 shells and I used 3 towels and 1 boogey board to put all the shells on. I am making the shells into cards and pictures. I made a card for my cousin Ryan who is turning 3 on Saturday.

The second beach we went to had lots of rockpools and we got a special type of seaweed and we could squirt each other with it.

It was really hot today and when we went to the beach it was 36 degrees and when we left the second beach it was 29 degrees.

My nan and grandad have a dog called Saffi who we feed every morning and take for a walk to get lid bread. Lid bread is a kind of bread roll which has a round thing on the top and you peel it off first to eat it.

More photos

2009-01-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

I have added some photos to my earlier posts. Please scroll down to see them!

Lake Tarawera

2009-01-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

2 days ago I went to Bay Wave which is a pool in Tauranga. It is a pool with a Hydroslide and lots of waves. I went on the Hydroslide 6 times! But I prefer boogey boarding. I went boogey boarding with my friend Felix and it was really fun. You go really fast when you catch a wave. I was swimming in the Pacific Ocean. It was very salty, and very warm.

The next day I went to Lake Tarawera which is about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Tauranga. The photos are of Mt Tarawera and Lake Tarawera. In Lake Tarawera we went to Hot Water Beach where my friend Joseph was camping. There is hot water there because Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886 (?) and there is volcanic rock at the bottom of the lake which heats the water. I got burnt feet because I was standing in the part of the lake were it was steaming.

I went biscuiting with my friends and we went really fast. Biscuiting is getting pulled on a round thing that looks like a donut from the back of a boat. I fell off because one of my friends was sitting down and my other friend was standing up. I was at the end and my friend that was sitting down pushed my other friend who was in the middle and he fell on to me and I fell off. The boat didn't stop because they couldn't hear us shouting. So I had to swim until the boat stopped to fill up the water bottles. I then got onto the biscuit which was really hard. I swam about 50 metres to catch up to them. It was really fun. When we were going back to the bay we all jumped off and swam to shore in our lifejackets. The water was fresh and not salty like the ocean.

Thank you to everyone who has been posting comments. Hi to Y4CK! Keep yawning!! My next post will be from Melbourne, Australia. See if you can find it on the globe.

Tauranga

2009-01-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who has been sending me comments about my blog.

I am now in Tauranga staying with my cousins. It is on the east coast of New Zealand. There is a mountain here which is famous called Mt Maunganui. It is by the beach and is actually a volcano. Hopefully it won't erupt while we are here.

There are sheep, horses and cows. Yesterday we had round up the cows because we had to take them to another field. The baby calf ran away and we had to chase it.

I got my hat signed by 16 Blues players. The Blues is the Auckland rugby team. I watched them train. Then they had a swim in a pool of ice. I had to put the ice in for them.

Hopefully my mum will put some photos on my blog soon. She just needs to work out how to do it!

Birthday

2009-01-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went rock-climbing . I made it to the top of 7 rock-climbing walls! I'll add some photos later.

It was really fun and I got a crunchie. Before that I went to the beach and went swimming.
Today it is Marks birthday and we are making a cake for him. Tomorrow I will be training
with the Blues. I will post about it soon.

To all the people how have never been to New Zealand.
New Zealand is 2 islands and I live in the north island. It is very green with lots of green grass and trees and is named after Zeeland which is in the Netherlands.

New Year

2008-12-31T19:34:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I went to Wellington which is the capital of New Zealand. I stayed at a place called Pekapeka. Most of my friends from my old school were there. Mostly all we did was swim in the pool and then I stayed at my friend's house. Then I went to Auckland and am staying at my other friend's house. I got a Blues hat which is the name of a rugby team. I am going to train with the Blues tomorrow because my friend's dad is the Blues trainer.

Today I got nipped by a crab at the beach. And I went canoeing. It was hot and I felt like a hot potato because the sand was soooooo hot!

Sorry for not posting sooner. I couldn't because in Pekapeka there was no internet connection.

Me on the aeroplane

2008-12-31T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is me on the plane to Wellington. Can you see the little TV screen and an empty cup? I really like flying in a plane.

Christmas in the sun

2008-12-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day, I got more than 11 presents. My favourite ones were the Guinness Book of World Records 2009 and a Ipod. Here is a photo.

On Boxing Day, I went to the beach at Noosa. I went bodysurfing. The waves were really high. I got knocked over 3 times. Here are some photos.

Today is the last day that I will be in Noosa. The next time I post will be from New Zealand.
First we will be going to Wellington, then Auckland, then Tauranga and lastly Melbourne, Australia.

PS I can't put the photos on for some reason. I will try again later. (Ed)

Australia

2008-12-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

The flight to Singapore was 12 hours and Singapore to Brisbane was 7 hours. I watched about 9 movies on the plane. I am staying with my grandparents and today I did lots of diving in their pool. Here is a photo of my best dive.

Today I saw a squashed frog on the side of the road. And pelicans at the beach and in the water I saw a stingray. It was about as long as my knees to my toes.

It is 29 degrees in Noosa today.

School

2008-12-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Today school finished . It was a half day. I got to bring in a PSP[PlayStationPotable]
It was really fun. I am going to my friend's house for a sleep over. When we leave Holland, we'll go to Singapore for three hours so I might be able to post to you there or in Australia when
we get there. In Australia it is summer so it will be about 30c every day and we will
be staying with my grandparents for Christmas. They have a pool so we will probably swim every day.

Alex

About me

2008-12-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

I am Alex. I am 8 years old. I like playing rugby. I come from New Zealand but I live in Holland.

I am doing this blog for homework because I will not be at school for 2 and a half extra weeks over the Christmas break. So I am doing this blog to show you all the things I am doing when I am down under. Down under means the southern hemisphere. I am going to Australia and New Zealand.

From Alex