Life or Death - a bit of both!

Abseiling was a VERY difficult task. I stared at the ground trembling in fear. It must have been obvious because the Nicole (The instructor) said “ Little Missy, I think you can go first,” I stared at the ground in disbelief. I had never abseiled in my life! And I certainly did not want to start now. “Come on. Just slip this on and then I’ll get your helmet,” the instructor informed. “Are you okay?” she asked. I stood there for a moment, shaking like a chihuahua. “Yeah. F-f-fine thanks.” I stammered.

My hands gripped around the metal bars tightly. I couldn’t feel my legs. Which was a very bad coincidince. You see, doing something I’ve never done before, then having to climb 15 metres high, and THEN getting stuck because the other instructor wasn’t paying attention, isn’t my exact idea of trying something new and it being fun.

Thankfully, I made it to the top without collapsing. I had just held back my tears. Fortunately there were lots of people, so it would’ve been pretty embarrassing to be crying. I mean, this was a piece of cake. A pretty stale piece of cake though. I took baby steps backwards. I then looked down and gulped. “Kay!,”The instructor called out “Sweetie you don’t need to look down.” I gently released the rope. “Aaaaahhh!!!” I screamed - in my mind.

After a few more mind screams, I was there. I wanted to go again.

Vaka Voyagers

Maori myths and legends tell us stories of how the first Polynseians got to Aotearoa New Zealand. Yet, no one knows where they came from. Most think from the island of Hawaiiki, which is around all the other Pacific Islands. The movie above explains what they would've taken along for th ejourney. Imagine trying to pack food for 50 people, for 3 months!!! These polynesians sure are Mighty Mariners. Too bad no one else can do the same as these brave warriors.

Check ou tsome of my other work on my own blog.

Mighty Vikings

Vikings are Scandinavian traders. They are known to be a type of pirate, wearing : Helmets with horns on the sides, with braided facial hair. These people are proudly strong and fierce, fighting wars to protect or claim their land. The word viking is used to refer to explorers, mariners or pirates.

Curse of the Baby-Sitter

Knock Knock. There it was again. That annoying sound. Knock Knock. I decided it was time to face him. My brother. My little brother.Knock Knock. Okay, it was time. I unlocked my bedroom door and stomped towards my little brother's room. Strange. He was asleep. And it couldn't have been my elder brother knocking because he was at a friend's for the night. It was dead silent. And it was dark. Very dark. The only place it wasn't either of those things, was in the living room.Brr. It was cold. But how could it be when it was in the middle of Summer? I was scared. I started to whisper to myself to create my own company. Shivers slithered up my spine. Who was here?

I tiptoed towards the living room, silent as a mouse. I peered over the sofa.I only saw mum and dad all dressed up fancy looking like they were going--- Uh oh. It couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Not tonight. Any night but tonight. Mum and dad were going somewhere. Without me or Justus. This was no robbery, this meant Aunt Jen was here.

"Oh there you are sweetie!" mum said in a high voice. She turned around, holding a pizza box. That confirmed it. They were out for the night, without me or Justus. "Yawn!" my little brother walked slowly in to the living room stretching his arms out saying,"Mum? Where are you and daddy going?" Mum and dad looked at each other for a brief second."Ummm.......Well we're, we're.... going to school! Why? Do you want come with us?" Mum and dad smiled slyly. Here we go again. The same old excuse. But it only worked on Justus. He absolutely HATED school. " So where is she?" I said as I folded my arms. "Where is who?" Dad said trying to act as if he didn't know who she was. "You know who." I said firmly. "Oh, okay..... Aunt Jen is just outback getting a few things for your special surprise." Mum said slyly .Hmmm. What did "special surprise" mean?

I raced in to my room, bounced on to my bed and continued reading my book called : The Candy Crime:A Lost Licorice. I locked my door and lay in bed. I did NOT want to see Aunt Jen. I'd rather eat a ton of broccoli. "Toreka sweetie!" the evil voice sang,"It's dinner time!" Oh no. My stomach started doing flip flops. Aunt Jen is not the best of cooks, trust me. "Are you hungry sweetie?" she chirped, "I know you wanted my special broccoli pudding,(Yuck) but Mummy insisted on pizza!" "Gasp! Pizza!" I said in my mind sitting up. That's right! I ran to the dining table full of excitement. To my surprise, the pizza was half gone! (Aunt Jen and Justus weren't big fans of pizza-I guess they were hungry) I quickly sat down and got my self all the cheesy bits, (The pizza was called Double Cheese Extreme) When I finished, I did NOT say thank you. After all, Mum was the one who bought it, NOT Aunt Jen.

"Okay," said Aunt Jen rubbing her hands together,"Who wants to see the special surprise?" Only Justus jumped up and down. I couldn't care less. She pulled a colourful bag and whispered,"Take a peek." I didn't care what she had said, I just wanted to see the so called ," Special Surprise". I closed my eyes and reluctantly, ever so cautiously, reached in. To my surprise, I did NOT feel her pet mice, NOT her yuck broccoli pudding, NOT her boring brick collection, but it was something I actually liked. It was "The Candy Crime 2:Curse Of The Candy Cane" I smiled full of happiness. Where's Justus wasn't happy at all. He had gotten a yo-yo.(He's used to flash gizmos and gadgets ) And he was NOT happy about it. I poked my tongue out at Justus and skipped happily to my room. I stopped and turned around. There was Aunt Jen, staring at me. Oh boy. Here we go again. When would this nightmare end? "Thank you Aunt Jen" I muttered quietly as possible, making sure she couldn't hear me. Shockingly she replied,"You're welcome."

A Sad Somalian Story

Hi everyone! As you can see in the title above, this is a sad Somalian story. My reading group "Moreporks" have read another interesting a book called Asli's Story by Adrienne Jansen. It is about a young girl named "Asli" she lives in the country of Somalia. But Somalia is a very dangerous country. Alsi then moves to Kenya, and then to New Zealand. But life gets harder for her as she tries to learn all the new languages and ways we live here in Aotearoa. Watch this movie I made using Hyperstudio...

Tha Boyd Incident

Kia Ora readers. This movie above is going to explain why we had to have a treaty. The main reason is because they had wars and arguments. This movie is another peace of New Zealand History. It is showing what happened after one of Captain James Cook's crew mates, mistreated one of the Maori chiefs. When the first boat of settlers, arrived on the boat called "The Boyd", the members of the tribe killed the people on that boat and destroyed it. This stood out to me that this was a DEFINITE incident. Watch and learn.

Captain Cook Comes To New Zealand

We have been researching what it was like for captain Cook when he first came to New Zealand. He met a new and strange people, who lived very differently to the way he had been brought up in Britain.
Have a look at what we found out.

A Penguin's Pool

Toreka has shared her recount introduction about her chilly visit to the pools:

How can penguins do it? How can they swim in such cold water?
The water I swam in was no where near as cold as a penguin's. It didn't help one bit that my brother was splashing it into my face. I can't believe I came out alive. One word - COLD!!
My little brother had been crying to go to the pools. But I'm glad my Dad agreed. If he didn't, I wouldn't have been on the deck frying like a sunny-side egg in the morning. That's before I went in the water...

Angela and Toreka's MTV

This year I teamed up with Angela and Mubasshira to produce this well-crafted movie above.

It took a lot of practices and brain to create this fantastic film. The song we chose was : Hit Me With Your Best Shot, by Pat Benetar. We had a lot of fun in the making of this movie. We hope to seen see your movies. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie.