Te Papa Adventure....

I hope everyone is having a GREAT holiday!!

In the first week of the school holidays we went to Wellington.

We travelled on the InterIslander Ferry the Aratere.

Aratere means 'Quick Path'.

It was built in Spain in 1998 and can carry 369 passengers.

The Aratere uses 35 litres of diesel every minute!!

It is 150 metres long and 20.3 metres wide.

It travels at 19.5 knots, which is 36 kph.

The Aratere weighs 12,596 tonnes (gross).

It can carry 60 rail wagons, 20 trucks and 130 cars....

and us!

We spent a day at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand -

Te Papa Tongarewa

Here is a link to a short video on Te Papa...

Preview the Museum with our 2-minute video tour

Dinosaurs....

This is John Britten's motor bike that he built in his back yard.

I thought of Room 8 when I saw this boat, it was just like the ones that you made.

Have you been to Te Papa?

When did you go and what did you think of it?

Write me a comment and let me know.

Remember to sign your name and room number when you do.

DISCO was COOL

Hey the Disco was REALLY COOL.

Well done everyone....

Special thanks to Jane-Marie Holmes and the

team of parents who made it all possible.

When's the next one?

Tree planting in the school grounds....

Tia and Findlay were chosen to represent their classes

for tree planting in the school grounds.

The Nelson Environment Centre gave us four trees to plant.

Two apple trees and two pear trees.

They have been planted along Seaview Road.

Go and see if you can find them and discover

what variety of apple and what variety of pear.

Mr Bartlett watches on while all work STOPS to save a worm.

Findlay noticed the worm and called out STOP!

Semi to the rescue and the worm is saved.

Way to go Room 8!

I have just come back from the stream at the end of Seaview Road where room 8 took their AWESOME rafts and had races down the stream.

They had so much fun and I am sure they will now improve their rafts to make them even better.

I'll huff and I'll puff.....

I went out one day

and I had some secret visitors.

BUT...

my sneaky camera caught them!

Do you know what room they are from?

A special prize for the first 5 people to tell me.

Who's been sitting in my chair?

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll find out WHO...

The day it snowed....

When we were living in Ashburton it always snowed in the winter.

In 2008 there was a really big snow. The school was closed for a week.

It took us all day to dig out our driveway so that we could get the car out.

In the photo above, you can see Timothy and Lance getting ready to dig.

Can you see our car?

Timothy the Pirate....

This is my favourite photo of Timothy..... just before he went to a pirate party.

Meet Cosmo and Shay....

This is Shay, she is our cat and she is

5 years old.

Shay is a very independent cat and has settled in to her new home very well.

Cosmo is our dog. He is a cross between a huntaway and a bearded collie.

He is 4 years old and really enjoying the warmer temperatures in Nelson.

Cosmo loves going for walks and playing with the boys. Timothy loves to ride his ripstik and let Cosmo pull him along.

Meet the boys.....

This is Timothy and Lance.

These are their school photos from 2008 when they were both at

Tinwald School in Ashburton.

Timothy was in Year 2 and Lance was in Year 6.

Timothy is now in Year 4 and Lance is in Year 8.

They both attend Motueka South School.

Before leaving Ashburton, we made one last visit to Willowbank Wildlife Park in Christchurch.

The Wallabys were very friendly and we could hand feed them.

One of our favourite places to visit is the Anatoki Salmon Farm, which is near Takaka. These photos show the 'catch' last time we visited.

It took us nearly two hours to catch these salmon.

They were delicious for tea that night.

WELCOME to my space.....

Welcome to the Principal's Blog...... in this space I hope to highlight some of the great things that happen around our school and invite YOU to give me feedback.

This is my very first blog... so I am a 'learner' It seems only right that I would be the 'lead learner' in our school. Learning is what it is all about.