Mt Ruapehu

First I'd like to say sorry that I didn't tell you who was writing on the post before this.

It's Becca, one of the kids in room 14.

Anyway, on Saturday we left Rotorua and went to Mt Ruapehu. For about an hour what I saw out the window was either pine/temperate forest and/or meadows/towns, then as we went up the mountain it was cold scrublands (tussock grass and other small plants) which finally turned into snowy rocks. Now, this was the first time I had EVER seen snow, so I want you to imagine it. Imagine the first time you saw snow, and how excited you were. Now imagine how excited you would have been if you had been hearing about how awesome the snow was for about 5 years and not seen it at all until now. Now you know how I felt. I'm 10 now. I was also ten when I saw it.

We were planning to stay there for 2 hours. That was until we discovered that it was 2 degrees outside with 80 kilometer-an-hour winds. Because of that, we stayed for about 2 seconds! We put on warm clothes, crossed the road, picked up a chunk of ice, chucked it in the chilly-bin, and got back in the car! We did stop to look at some icicles on the way down though, and they were really cool.

The picture shows me and my mum by the icicles, and the mountain from the southern side.

Whakarewarewa

On Friday the 19th, I was not at school. I was about 457 kilometers away, in Rotorua, by the time everyone else was sitting around eating lunch. To be exact, I was in Whakarewarewa village. (It is pronouced faka-rae-wa-rae-wa. You can visit their website here.) This village is surrounded by geysers and steam vents, as well as boiling hotpools. The photos show a meeting house through the steam, and a place where the ground is falling away because of the steam. The surface temperature on some of the hotpools is about 200 degrees celcius! THAT IS HOT!!!! The deeper down in the pool you get, the hotter it is. People live in the village too, and they use some of the pools for cooking stuff like sweetcorn in little netted bags held up by a string tied to a rock. They also have put little boxes with lids over some of the steam vents so they can cook their dinner. You can walk all the way around the village and see all the hot pools. You can actually move into the village if you are from the same bloodline as the people living there, but I recommend you don't, not because the people there aren't nice, but because it smells like rotten eggs! Despite the smell, I think it would be really cool to live there! The people are really nice and all from the same bloodline, but there are 26 different families living there. I'll tell you more about the rest of my holiday in later posts (like maybe tomorrow!)

Ice Strikes Summerland!

These past few days its been really cold in the mornings in New Zealand... but Summerland don't care they just have fun on the ice. One morning it got so cold Campbell, Mohsin, Josh and Adam went on the field because it got covered with ice.

Did you know at midnight it was -2 degrees celcius! And this is what we did..

By Campbell, Mohsin, Josh and Adam on ice!!!

NB: Mr Hall is aware that the voice on the video may sound like his. Of course this isn't possible. He would never support such jersey wrecking hijinks.

The Secret Lives of School Bags

Today we played a little game I like to call Innies and Outies. We sit in a double circle, one on the inside of the other. Mr Hall picks a topic he wants us to talk about. Today's one was "Things In My Bag".
One of the girls said her buddy had a sea of rubbish at the bottom of their bag. They said they need to clean it up! One of our ten-year-old boys has a baby toy in his bag! One person keeps their luchbox open ALL THE TIME. This causes all the lunch to fall out. Someone has 9 things in their luchbox. One of our 9-year-old girls has another sea of rubbish, as well as two very muddy toy cars that drown in it!
One of the boys used to have a 'Barney and Friends' raincoat!

One of the boys has a cashew nut wrapped in a blanket (the cashew nut is also broken in half. It was wrapped in a blanket to keep warm.) The broken cashew nut has been lost! Here is a photo of the empty blanket.


One of the ten year old boys has a screw in his bag. The screw, named Lenny, has been in this bag since year 4, but we think it is lost.

This bag also has a comb that looks very much like it needs a wash. It is covered in hair gel.
Would YOU use this comb!?

What secrets do you have in YOUR bag?



By Becca. Roving reporter for the Huia Whanau.

Physics: Playing With Levers and Fulcrums

Check out our slide show of our great lever experiments!
After playing around with lifting people off the ground using only one finger, we set off to build our own levers and fulcrums using newspaper. The goal was to fire a plastic cube as far as possible. Many designs were put forward and tested, and Nael's team won with a mighty shot that cleared the audience!

Star Wars.. The Return, By Mathew.

I was at home with my dad and brother. I was bored because I was not allowed to watch TV, My Dad doesn't like me to. I would have played Lego but my brother already was. All I had was my dad's old toy cars and for me toy cars are not my thing.

My dad went out. I started to wonder were he went. Did he go to the dentist or the pub or did he go to the movies? After a while he came home. He said he went to the movies and the video store. He got a bag out of his car and it had EB GAMES printed on it. In the game bag was... Star wars battlefront II!. Oh my goodness!, I was so HAPPY I screamed "Cowabunga". I played the game until it was 9:00 p.m then I had to stop. I got to bed at 9.30.

The next morning I got up at 8.00 am and I went to play again, but my Star wars battlefront II game disc was on the floor! My brother had SNAPPED the disc into four pieces. "Oh no! Oh no! No! No! NOOOOO!" I screamed I could not believe it! I fell to my knees and no words came from my mouth.

So I played cars for hours until it was lunch time, Wait I know what you are thinking. How can lunch be bad? This lunch was bad!

I had pickled onions sandwiches "oh no, come on". I said.

So, after that I went to Dale's house on my bike. It was more fun than playing cars. I did have a Flippaball game at 4.00pm, it was 3.40 "time to go". I said.

I got to the game of flipper ball in time. After a while the game ended at the score of 10 to 1, ''We won! We won!" I could have been the most happy player in my team.

My Mum drove me home. There was a bag on the bench. I could see something inside the bag. I bounced over to see what was going to be in the bag. It was a new Star Wars Battlefront II game disc and a Bakugan. "Yes!". I was happy that my Dad had gone out and bought me a new game. "Whahooo!".

Mick's Pup Purchase

We had to go buy the cat some food so we went to the pet store to buy some. I was super bored. Our cat is fatter than an elephant!!! He did't need more food!!! Then I saw the greatest thing...It was a dog!!! The dog had very floppy ears and a long tail. It waged his tail so much that it seemed like he wanted to play. He was really cute. I really wanted that dog. When I looked at the sigh it said...

SEX:MALE.

BREED:GOLD LAB x GOLD RETRIEVER x BEAGLE.

I asked dad if I could get the dog but he just said ''No''.

I was very sad. I was thinking "NNOOO!!!" I really wanted the dog. I would have spent a lot time with the dog. Like play fetch, or maybe just run around with him. I'm sure fetch or running around would have been fun. But then we left the pet store.

Dad dropped us off at Grandma's place. It was boring. ''Come on, can this day get any worse?'' I thought. Dad came back really quick. ''That was quick'' I thought. But then I thought, dad doesn't usually go to work at these times. For me, it was kind of a mystery to find out where he went.

We went home. I was still thinking about the dog in the car, my dream was to play fetch. He was probably bought now I thought. My dream was over. When I got home..... a dog suddenly attacked me!! ''Is this the same dog at the pet store?'' I thought. "Yes!!" It was the exact dog I saw at the pet store! I was so happy I exploded with happiness. In my head I said..."Yea, whoo!!! I got the dog I wanted!"

We played fetch, it was out of this world!!!

Just then mum came home and she exploded with anger. Dad hadn't told mum about the dog. I came inside. The dog and the cat started fighting.

Later on mum got over it. I thought she would never get over it but when the cat and dog took a nap with each other she was just happy they made no more noise.

And that's my story of how I got my dog.

Superheroes With Room 15!

What a great afternoon with our little buddies from Room 15! The Extreme Team paired up and made each buddy a superhero in their own drama and them performed it to the class. It was huge fun and every story had a nail biting problem and a happy ending. Thanks for a great day Room 15. Your superhero selves are welcome back any time!!











Sully fought Super Harry and became a vicious giant spider. Harry's greatest fear.












Nael and Ollie helped Cayden overcome his soccer fear.












Josh and Noor showed Adrienne as the crime fighting super hero who foils Josh the burglar.












Mathew the evil alien is defeated by Jayda the secret superhero.












Campbell and Travis rode the roller coaster with Imaad.












Ashi had to overcome some strange PVA coated chicken nuggets from Mc Donald's! Lucky Sanaya was there to help!












Mohsin the monster is defeated by Carson in an epic battle.











Kezia uses her Xray vision on Mick the mighty robot.










Neha narrates as Ara becomes a sidekick for Jae woo.

Who do you think looks the most dramatic?
Which story would YOU like to be in?

Birthday Monster, By Ara

Ara's recount

I was very excited! like I could not believe it! we went inside Charlie's party. My friends Courtney, Dain, Sharon, Neha, Stella, lana, Alex, Conan and Renee were all there. This was going to be the best party ever! Mom and Dad gave the cake to the girl. Yummy! But i wasn't sure if Kanishk, Noor, Shania were coming.

We all got a goodybag with a drink! Inside the goodybag was a pinball game, 4 chocolates, a lollie pack, a crown and a lipblower. Lana was very lucky because she was the only one who got the orange juice. We all exept Lana got a rasberry juice. Ohh Mavie went late. Oh, no!(Gasp).Mum said I have to give all my stuff to Mavie! But why? What?! My Mum said ''There are no more"! I said are you kidding me?! And she said No.

Next was the yummy chocolate mud cake! Mmm But... Suddenly the girl said, ''Dance chipy!'' ? I thought ''Who's Chipy?''
When I turned around I saw a... Big headed MONSTER! Ahhhh!!! "Go away from me!'' I said. Finally he was gone. That was close! My friend Stella said, ''Charlie the chipmunk had hugged me. She said it was freaky! Charlie was an ugly costumed clown. His costume had very skinny and wiggly legs. Everyone laughing at me. ''Oh,! thats not funny guys!" I turned pink. What, do you think it's funny?" I said to my self. Ha ha very funny guys!
I'm embaressed! No more laughing!(phew).

''Now the cake?'' I asked. Oops! silly me forgot about the happy birthday song! And the candles were gold and white. 1, 2, 3. Oops!!!!! Oh, man! I had forgotten to make a wish for lego city police jail and stuff! Because I like to play with lego!

''Now can I open my present Mum?'' I begged. ''Oh! Do I really have to play a bit more?'' My Mum said ''Yes''. Weee , hef, poof I went on the bouncy slide 45 time! I said ''Let's play hide and seek on the play ground!'' And everyone said ''yes''. We did twenty one. Who is in? Alex! he counted up to 50. Oh, he found Neha, then Neha was in!(Phew).All the running and stuff made my heart pound. Then it was present time! Everyone went inside the Charlie's party.

Everyone told me to open my present. But I just opened Stella's first. Wow! it was a littlest pet shop plush toy! My friend said there is a password on the collar. Renee got me a growing crystal. Alex gave me a Hannah Montana hand bag. Countney gave me a spikey ball and Terri got me a littlest pet shop! Very cute! Conan gave me a pokemon. My cousine Dain bought me a solar system. I said, ''Thank you'' to everyone. I had a great day!

Hard Day's Work, By Angel

It was a Tuesday morning and I was thinking I was not going to have a nice day with my mum. I put on the T.V and watched a cartoon lying on the bouncy couch.

My mum came in with a smile on her face. She said we're going shopping. I was wondering which shop we're going to. I asked my mum, "Which shop are we going to and why?" but she didn't say anything. I was curious and surprised because mum didn't say a thing when I asked her. I wanted to find out.

We we're walking towards the car, again I asked, "Mum which shop are we going to," but now she replied saying, "It's a surprise". I had butterflies in my tummy when she said that. I was really tired then so I put the radio on and I drifted to sleep.

While I was in a very good sleep I felt like somebody was calling my name and shaking me then it stopped. Again it happened and suddenly I opened my eyes to see my mum right in front of me. I jumped up like I got a shock but when I looked around I saw we we're right in front of my aunt's shop. I got off the car and wondered why we are here. First I thought we came to buy groceries. "Well lets see," I thought to myself.

We went inside and looked for my aunty. "There she is," I said to my mum. She was helping somebody look for an item. I ran really fast to her like a cheetah and gave her a big hug. My mum came over to her, while I was looking for something to buy.

"Angel come here," mum shouted, "What is it mum?" I asked her, Mum replied saying, "You can work here for half-an-hour since I need to go to work". When she said that I was so delighted and exited, my face grew happier and happier every second. I asked her, "When am I starting?" She replied saying, "When ever you like but it has to be today." "Could I start now?" I asked "Of course you can". I ran to the counter and got ready to start work, "Bye mummy" I said to Mum. "Angel could you help me with these packages and after you done that could you go and help that person over there?" Sure why not" this is hard work I thought to myself.

"Angel I'm back". I looked over my sweaty shoulders to see who that was. It was my mum and she had come back from work. So quickly, I thought to myself. I looked at the clock it was half past 2. I waved goodbye to my aunty while I was going. "Oh wait there Angel I've got a lollipop for you" said my aunt "Thank you," I replied "Bye". While we we're going home I told my mum what I had learnt to do like how to count the money and help people find things they couldn't. I had a brilliant time with my aunt.

Secret Hut. By Ollie

I was at my beach house and was extremely bored. I could have nearly died of boredom. Luckily my cousins were there. We were playing in the sandpit but we had done that a million times. We would normally be playing play-station but we weren't allowed.

Then my Dad said" Why don't you go to the park and make a hut''? So we went to the park. It was lucky there was no-one there otherwise they might have followed us to out hut spot. We went over to the track which is in the bush and went down it.

We walked off the track and looked for a hut. It took half an hour to find a good place but it was worth it. The only problem was someone had already found it. We knew that because some of the walls were already made.

We worked on it for ages. We broke branches and made walls with them. We stayed there all day. We found some logs and used them as seats.

We saw some people.. "Oh no!" I said. "There's some people over there on the track!"

They might be some of the people who made the walls. We followed them but they just went down to the beach.

It was time to go home. We wanted to stay but it was dinner time so we got all our stuff and walked home.

When we got home we told our parents about it Mum said we could go tomorrow if we wanted to, we all said ''yes''!

The Exploding Cake. By Courtney

The cake had exploded and it was absolutely everywhere. I was screeching like a jungle monkey. My mom was in the lounge by the kitchen watching "Chucky". It was horrifying, but when she looked into the kitchen she said "I left you alone for a few seconds and you trash the kitchen what did you do?!" she yelled and nearly lost her voice. If you would like to find out how this all happened, then go ahead and read on.

Mum said that she thought it would be a great day to be cooking. So she started to get the cooking stuff out and I joined in. It was so disgusting. The cake was all lumpy and squishy and I hated it. Until I put the choc chips and the chocolate syrup in and then it was time for the oven. I thought this was going to be great.

I put the cake mix into the oven and turned it on. I watched it for a while and nothing happened so I stared and stared at it. Then it started to bubble so I took it out cooled it down with some cold water and then threw it away because it was pinky-brown and disgustingly lumpy.

I just could not believe what had happened. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. I just could not stand it but then I got over it. We decided to start again and just when we thought we got it... ''Bam Boom Crash Bang.'' The cake had exploded. It was absolutely everywhere. I didn't know what had happened. I followed the cook book and everything. It was so sticky it would not come off anything.

My mum went absolutely crazy running around the house! I knew she was furious! So furious her head could have blown up, but it didn't. We tried and tried to clean it off our clothes. Nothing happened, but finally it came off, and took about two hours to pick it off.

When I was cleaning up I tasted some. It was disgusting. Yuck! It tasted like sour milk and dough. I felt like fainting and I nearly did, because it was so frustrating. ''Cleaning is as fun as getting stung by a bee'' I repeated over and over in my head.

I felt like I was going to explode! That's just what happens when I clean up stuff. I get the shivers and really feel like exploding. And that taught me that next time I should really concentrate more.

Silent Drive To Somewhere... By Terri

I was really bored playing in my room with my brother and my toys I wanted to go out and do something fun but I couldn't think of anything to do, plus my mum was asleep so I wasn't allowed to wake her up. Mums usually up at 8:00 in the weekends but it was nearly lunch time! I just felt the urge to go in there and yell as loud as I could WAKE UP! so I clenched

my teeth and fists as hard as I could and my knuckles soon turned white.

Suddenly mum yelled out "kids! COME HERE!" We both jumped at the sound. Why was she calling us? I really didn't care I just really wanted to get out of that room! My brother and I immediately sprinted to her side when she almost shouted " We're going out so I want you both in the car immediately" Woo hoo! I thought we were finally going out! "We need to be there at 11:30 and it's 11:20 now! so we've only got 10 minutes! so get a move on! I will meet you kids in the car I just need to get my hand bag." "Wait! mum!" I screeched after her but she was already gone.

So my brother and I got in the car and started waiting about 10 second's later mum was in the car and we were driving up the road "Mum" I called and waited for her answer but she didn't. "Mum!" I called again but louder still no answer!. "MUM! HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE!." When I turned to look at my brother he was staring at me with his hands over his ears. "What" "She hasn't answered me yet." "But you are yelling in a car!" He said. " And so are you!" I yelled back to him with a giggle. Just then mum said "Nearly there kids stop fighting!" My brother and I started staring at each other.

Then suddenly we both at the same time remembered where we were going? Were we going to come home again on that day? Then I looked out the window to try to get a clue to where we where going. The first shop I saw was pack 'n' save up ahead in the next street "are we going there?" I thought then we turned to a different street. "Oh come on Mum"!! " at least give us a clue" I thought. Then I saw toy world and deliberately yelled out loud " YAY are we going to Toy World Mum?" "of course Not!" Mum laughed. "why would I waste my time taking you kids to Toy World" "HA!!" she laughed. I soon felt a rush of sadness surround me I was really hoping we were going to Toy World.

Maybe we were going to my friends house wait then why was my brother with me? No we couldn't be going to my friends house my Mum would have told me about that one. Hey I've got it! We could be going to my cousins house. Wait, my good cousins or my bad ones? last year my bad cousins came up behind me when I was playing hide and seek with my good cousins and squirted me with a water gun! I mean what did I ever do to them? Nope we weren't going to any of my Cousin's house. We turned into a completely different drive. "Phew" I thought as we went in a different direction to see my bad Cousins.

Then suddenly the car stopped and I nearly smacked my head on the front seat when I looked to see my brothers expression I saw that he was bouncing up and down in his seat with a huge grin on his face staring out the window then I saw what he was looking at it was the Movies! Mum took us to the movies! I just couldn't believe it! It was so cool,.. but, new problem. What were we going to see?!!

Weekend With Nannie and Grandad. By Tori-Grace

There I was playing with my toys. I wanted to play at my friend's house and play with her toys. But my mum told me no! She was too busy.

A few seconds later my mum called me to her room. She told me the bad news. I was going to my Nannie's and Grandad's. I just wanted to scream! Every time I go over to their house we do nothing fun. If I'm staying with them we sometimes play games, like snakes and ladders. The times that I play with them my brother always wins. It is very annoying! Why couldn't I win for once?!! When my brother and I go over nearly every single time we fight. My throat gets so sore.

Eventually we were on our way to Nannie's and Grandad's. I was starving. My brother was so annoying! Finally we got there. We barged inside to give Nannie and Grandad a hug. Soon it was dinner time and we had the same old peas and potato. I hate the peas and potato she makes. It's horrifying! Oh and the carrots! I have to eat them. They're hard orange things that make you see at night but I don't believe that!

The next morning I went through to the dining table to eat some breakfast. Every time we eat breakfast I have the same food. We always have licorice after we have breakfast. But this time it tasted unusual. I think it was expired!! But why? Would my Nannie really do that? I didn't think so. She's nice. After breakfast I played with my brother outside with one of his toys.

At afternoon tea time, we had to eat biscuits and drank the juice. I love the biscuits she gives me. I've tried them once before. They were so delicious that my mouth was actually watering! I ate all my food and dinner was still to come.

Soon it was dinner time. We were at the dinner table. Nannie gave me a little bit of meat. I only ate half of my plate. I wasn't very hungry. After dinner, I was full. I just heard Nannie say "It's time for bed." What? it's way to early for me to go to bed. That can not be right but I just went to bed to make Nannie happy.

The next morning it was time to go home. Mum came and Nannie and Grandad gave me a present before she picked me up. They had given me a swimming bag.I had really needed a new one. ''Thank-you this is so lovely! I love it but best of all I love you!'' I said in a high voice. After a moment I gave Nannie and Grandad a hug. We were on our way back home.'' I will always love you Nannie and Grandad'' I said as the car went further away.

Sharon's Digital Doggie

It was my birthday at my house and everyone was watching me open my presents. Ara my friend, gave me a toy cat with crystals to decorate it. The cat looked like a big pink circle with its purple collar. Ara also bought me a card with fairies on the front."I love it" I said to Ara. We hadn't finished opening the presents yet.

My mum said "Come here". We went into the garage and my auntie was there. She had a dog in her hands it was fluffy and white. It ran into the house It was so cute. Then Two other dogs rushed into the garden so I ran to pat them. They were so cute too but I liked the first one the best because its neck was short and shiny white and it was cleaner than the other dogs. My friends were crazy. They ran around the house chasing the dogs It was funny. Then we calmed down and started opening the present again.

My mum handed me her present. I opened it as fast as possible it was a pink nintendo! I've always wanted a nintendo because my friends have nintendos too. My heart was pumping so hard I felt like it was going to pop out! My mum also gave me a dog game called Nintendogs. My best friend Bianca had the same game and she had let me have a turn when we were having sleepovers. I loved it!

I turned it on and tried it. First in the game was the pet shop that had only dogs. I choose a dog to take home. I chose a dog my friend liked and took it home. I had to make it learn its name but it forgot and forgot I wondered if it was fake. Finally after a few days it learnt its name. But then it had to learn how to sit it didn't work! I got fed up, It WAS fake!My friends were right, it was fake.

But after two weeks of trying, it worked. I told my friends that they were wrong. It was probably that it was a really bad dog and it didn't like learning. I felt surprised, exactly like when I first saw my nintendo.

Now that I have my supplies my friend's dogs can meet together using wireless nintendo ds! That was the best birthday ever!!!