Sydney II

I know it took me a while, but I finally have the Sydney photos from last weekend.

I'm going to start from where I left off.

After our horrible walk all over the shopping centre we all felt as if we could never walk again. Emily had a dentist appointment early so we walked into town, (even though our legs protested horribly) caught a train, and went to the dentist office.

We had a full schedule that day so as soon as Emily was done, we were off.

Firstly we caught a train to a place called Circular Quay.

Of course we spent much time looking at the main tourist attractions there.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

The One Legged Duck

The Sydney Harbour Bridge (again)

Three Gorgeous Girls in Front of The Sydney Opera House

One strange thing that we saw was The Tissue Tree. The Tissue Tree was a sort of live commercial for Kleenex. They had a fake tree with fake flowers on it (Very fake if you ask me) and inside the fake flowers was a tissue. You were invited to take a tissue and feel how soft it was. Very interesting thing to look at.

Captain Arthur Philip and I

After we had finished our sightseeing we went to The Rocks. At The Rocks is a huge market place (it's under the Sydney Harbour Bridge) that is held every Saturday and Sunday. They seemed to have everything there! It was all very expensive though. The only thing I bought was a stick of licorice.

Boring old licorice.

It didn't have to be boring though. They gave me a lot of choice.

Sour lemon and lime licorice.

Traditional English licorice.

Spicy apricot licorice.

Yep, I'll stick with the old boring kind.

There was one stall in that market that caught my attention. This guy made masks in his free time. Very realistic looking masks.

Shows the true side of Emily doesn't it?

After The Rocks we wanted to find a place to eat lunch. We were sidetracked twice, firstly because of The Puppet Store, secondly because of The Discovery Museum.

After that we sat down for lunch right in front of the Circular Quay harbour.

I entertained myself by giving bits of bread to the many seagulls there. They flocked to me! In size and numbers! They loved me!

The also loved my bread.

Then, two children, no more than five ran up. Screaming, laughing, shouting. Waving their grubby little mitts in the air.

Scaring away my seagulls!!!


Huh!



Well, when children finally noticed that there was no more seagulls to chase away, they ran away. Glad, I started throwing bread again. The flocked to me once more.

And were once again chased away. I gave up. I went to watched a sort of street show that was being held.

Apparently Bend E Em was very flexible and could fit into a square box, not much bigger than an average computer screen. I wanted to see how this was possible, but I was hurried away. We were going to catch a ferry to Manly and we didn't want to miss it.



We missed it.



So we sauntered over to the Opera House, took a look at it, and went back to catch the next ferry.

I wanted to go out front but mum was convinced that we would get wet.

Ha ha. Silly old mum. We were old enough not to get wet. Couldn't she see that? Finally we were allowed to go, dad promising he wouldn't let us get wet.

So we went out to the front deck, the wind blowing in our face. How could mum possibly think we could get wet? There was no way.


Then up we went over a big wave, down we came, water sprayed up, wind blew water, water wet us.



I hid behind Emily.



Emily was soaked. Me, being only half in view, got half drenched. Having a cold and no spare clothes didn't help.

Mum gave us the eyebrow and an I told you so look.


There were many interesting things to see in Manly. We didn't really have time to see them all but two things there did catch my eye.

1. A man walking easily down the street, with a large black and white cat sitting on his shoulder.


2. A small boy doing huge leapfrog jumps over street pillars.

After Manly we went back to our caravan park. I sat outside on the deck because it was nice and quiet and I didn't have to walk anywhere.

There, up in a tree sat a kookaburra. I don't see these very often so I sat and watched it. It wasn't very interesting to watch. . I decided to take a few photos of it. When I had finished I turned around to put the camera on the table. What was sitting on the rail but a large kookaburra. I turned around and saw the other kookaburra still on the tree branch.

Two kookaburra's in one night! That's a bonus.

I heard a sound behind me. I turned around a again and there sat another kookuburra on another branch.

Weird.

But cool! Three kookaburras! Jackpot!

I turned around again and on a rail, even closer to me, sat another kookaburra. It clicked it's beak and hopped forward. I turned to the tree again and noticed a further two more kookaburras.

Then (Oh no! Not another sound) yet another sound behind me. A turned around, foreseeing in my mind a bunch of evil kookaburras coming towards me, clicking their beaks evilly.

Nope, this time it was a lorrikeet. Perfectly logical of course.

I got some bread and tried to feed the lorikeet. It bit me on the thumb. I tried again and it worked! I had it eating out of my hand. Then, one of the rail kookaburras hopped forward clicking it's beak. It tried to snatch the bread out of my hand, making me jump, and drop the bread.

I went inside after that. I lorikeet can bite pretty hard, but I'm sure a kookaburra can bite harder.

We watched a movie that night at the caravan park. Nobody suggested going to the mall again. Instead, after the movie was done we drove to an Italian restaurant for pizza.

Thank goodness we didn't have to walk.

Jordan

Book Review-Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists

Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists
Written and Illustrated By Mike Venezia

‘Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists’ is a series based on many different artists.
It teaches children and adults to enjoy art. The books are filled with the artist’s most famous pictures, funny cartoons, as well as the artist’s history put into an interesting and easy-to-read context.
While reading the ‘Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists’ series you will learn about the world’s most famous artists including ‘Michelangelo’, ‘Paul Gauguin’, ‘Henri Matisse’, ‘Rembrandt’, ‘Pierre Auguste Renoir’, ‘Monet’, ‘Picasso’, ‘Johannes Vermeer’, and many more.
I enjoyed reading these interesting and sometimes amusing books. I would suggest them for kids of all ages to read and even adults will find them enjoyable.
Mike Venezia has written several other series including, ‘Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers’, ‘Getting to Know the U.S Presidents’, and ‘Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Inventors and Scientists.’

Jordan

Chocolate Eclairs

A friend came over the other day bringing these with her. They were absolutely delicious. She wrote out the recipe and I thought I would share it with you.

Chocolate Eclairs

Makes 13.

1 cup cold water

120g unsalted butter

1 cup of plain flour (sifted)

4 eggs

Method

Bring water and butter to boil. Take off heat, add flour, and mix. Return to the the heat, cook until mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Cool mixture till able to put your finger in it. Add the egg gradually. About 1 tablespoon at a tume. Put onto tray and cook in a 210 C oven for 20-30 min. (Depending on oven)

Jordan

Lichen

Now I know I said I would tell you the rest of the Sydney story in my next blog but I'm still waiting for the photos so for now, for your enjoyment, I will do another science narration.
Can anybody tell me what this is?

Yes? You in the cheap, striped, mauve tie? Why no, it is not the remains of someones bringing up of pumpkin and cauliflower salad . It is, in fact, lichen.

Nope, not the skin disease. This is the other type of lichen. The plant kind. Now, I don't find anything hugely interesting about this plant. But one thing I do find interesting about it is that it can survive in anyplace. It grows in hot places, (as in deserts) cold places, (as in Antarctica) and just about everywhere else. It is also used for blue hairdye.

One kind of Lichen was thought to be the 'manna' that the Israelites ate in desert. Now I'm not suggesting that you should go off and eat this mossy, pretty, plant but if you are hungry and in a desert and ravens are bringing you mossy plants, you may think about eating them.

That's all I have today so..er..thats all folks......

Jordan

Sydney I

This weekend my family and I went to Sydney. It was a crazy trip. Starting at 4:00 AM and ending at about 12:00. We had to leave early to pick up my older sister from the airport. It seemed very long and after a few hours my sister and I were naming drinkbottle brands for something to do. (Literally)

We also had some fun with the camera in the midst of our boredom....

I can't show all the awesome photos I got in this blog because my dad took the camera with him when he went away, but I can show a few of my sister's photos.

(It was cold and rainy the whole way to Sydney. This picture is a car-view of us about to drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. )

When we got to Sydney we went first to the art musuem. Lots and lots of old stuff there. I couldn't take any pictures though because that was a big NO-NO there. There was a lot of cool pictures there though. Some of them were HUGE.

One thing that there was plenty of in Sydney was statues. Statues, statues, statues. So many statues. Everywhere of everybody. Anyone who ever did anything for Australia was cut out in stone or marble and placed in Sydney.

Of course we saw plenty of The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House, icons of Australia.

One thing that I will not forget about that day was our little night...er...incident. We went to Macquarie Shopping Centre for dinner and a movie. The movie ended about 9:30. By then, some parts of the shopping centre were closed off.

One thing I forgot to mention about this mall was that it was enormous. With many levels, and many carparks it would have made a fantastic maze. Unfortunatly, right then we weren't looking for a maze. We were looking for our car, and we seemed quite unable to find it. We searched everywhere! Up and down car ramps, through fire escapes, up and down stairs, going up levels, going down levels. We finally decided to ask for directions. The first guy we asked looked like a janitor so we went up to him and asked him if he might give us some directions?

No.

I don't even think he spoke English. He seemed totally vague and bewildered. He gestured and pointed but in the end it came down to nothing. We were back on the search. We must have asked at least seven people for directions that night. Some tried to help, others were in the same boat as us. We finally asked two men who were riding on a golf cart sort of thing. They gave us their suggestions, just like all the others had. They started to drive off but we stopped them and asked if they would lead us to the place they had suggested. I think we were all getting frustrated and we weren't going to let them drive off until they took us to our car. They did. Eighth time lucky I guess.

By the time we got back to the motel it was about 11:30. We had taken an hour and a half to find the car. We were all pretty tired and I don't think any of us were ready for the things that awaited us tommorow....But that's another story. Tune in next time for Sydney II. This is Jordan, over and out.

Jordan

Jeanne Darc of Doremy

Joan of Ark and Her Marching Orders

Written By Phil Robins and Illustrated by Philip Reeve

Jean D’arc was born in Doremy, France. She grew up in a village where she was kept busy milking cows, playing with her friends, and sewing with her mother. Little did she know that in a few years she would be fighting battles, sitting in prison, being questioned non stop by her enemies, and being responsible for the crowning of a king. Known as Joan of Arc or ‘The Maid’ she soon becomes a hero, winning wars for France and encouraging the wimpy dauphin to get crowned.
I truly enjoyed this fabulous book about Joan of Arc that tells many interesting facts about her life, from her childhood to her horrible end. It also includes funny pictures, easy-to-read history, as well as how Joan of Arc, a teenage girl, gave an entire army it’s marching orders. This book will be enjoyed by ages 9 to 15.

Jordan

St. Andrew, and his...spider.

Today in science I learned about St. Andrew's Cross Spider. Now I know that you're all probably freaking out like I did when I heard the name. Your mind must be full of questions. Who's St. Andrew, why does he own a spider, and what does a cross have to do with it?????

You must understand, I know your pain and great curiosity on this matter. I hope this http://http//www.waratahsoftware.com.au/wp_spiders_st_andrews_cross.html or this http://http//www.walkaboutpark.com.au/index.php?id=60 explains it. If not, too bad.

Jordan

Utes in the Paddock

This afternoon my parents and I went for a drive. We came across an art form called 'Utes in the Paddock.' I thought I would share some of the pictures we took. By the way, all of these works of arts are actually utes.

'Golden valley wealth gained from rural enterprise.'

'The Stockman'

(This one is my favourite.) 'Clancy Stops The Overflow'

'Drizakubra'

'Clean Running Backed by Ned'

'Circle Work'

Jordan

Phobias

Here's a list of silly phobias I found. Anyone got any of these?

Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- Fear of long words

Pteronophobia- Fear of being tickled by feathers.

Zemmiphobia- Fear of the great mole rat

Consecotaleophobia- Fear of chopsticks

Dendrophobia- Fear of trees.

Dextrophobia- Fear of objects at the right side of the body.

Euphobia- Fear of hearing good news

Genuphobia- Fear of knees

Geliophobia- Fear of laughter.

Graphophobia- Fear of writing or handwriting.

Leukophobia- Fear of the color white.

Levophobia- Fear of things to the left side of the body.

Linonophobia- Fear of string

Logophobia- Fear of words

Lutraphobia- Fear of otters.

Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything

Papaphobia- Fear of the Pope

:) Jordan

Scary Spiders

This will be my last Science narration for a while.

Spider facts:

Webs get dirty and torn, so lots of spiders make a new one every day. They don't waste the old one, though--they roll it up into a ball and eat it.

Certain female species of spiders such as the Australian crab spider, sacrifice their bodies as a food source for their offspring.

Some male spiders pluck their cobwebs like a guitar, to attract female spiders.

Fried spiders taste like nuts. (This does not mean that I have tasted a fried spider)

Spiders usually have eight eyes, but still they cannot see that well.

Spiders have claws at the ends of their legs.

Spiders, no matter how scary-looking, are quite interesting. One thing about spiders that I find really interesting is their web. It is actually five times stronger than steel and it also contains static electricity that helps it trap it's prey.

Spiders
No wonder spiders wear bear feet
To run their cobweb races.
Suppose they had to have eight shoes,
How would they tie their laces.

Once again I tried the quiz and once again I failed horribly. Here is the link to this quiz. http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Animal-Quizzes/s/Spider-Facts-Quiz.asp

Jordan

Nicola and the Viscount

Here's my weekly book review.

Nicola and the Viscount
By Meg Cabot

Nicola could feel Lord Sebastian’s heart beating. It was the most delightful feeling in the world. Surely it meant that The God liked her. More than simply liked her- loved her even, it had to! It just had to!

Lord Sebastian is handsome, charming, and friendly. Everything, Nicola Sparks thinks a man ought to be. It’s not long before she’s fallen in love and not only that, but she thinks he loves her too!
Suddenly Nicola is thrown into another world when Lord Sebastian asks her to marry him. All goes well at first in their engagement until Nicola’s cousin tells her some surprising information that could change her life.
What is Nicola to do? Should she go ahead with the wedding?
I think this fictional book is a great read for girls 11-15. By Meg Cabot, bestselling author of The Princess Diaries.

Jordan

Snazzy Snails

Since yesterdays blog was ever so interesting ( :) ), I thought why not do it again?
Today's science was on snails. The slimy, snazzy, snail.
I did go out to the garden to search for a snail so that I could get a picture of it, but I was unable to find one. So instead I went to the ever-so-helpful internet for an answer.

Here are a few snail-y facts.

1. Snails have 20,000 teeth
2. The heaviest snail ever weighed two pounds
3. A snail can walk over a razor blade and not get hurt
4. Some snails have been known to live up to 15 years
5. Snails cannot hear- (Meaning if you shout and scream and hurl insults at a snail (as you do) it will not hear you)
6. Snails hibernate during the winter and live on their own fat
7. The garden snail is cooked and eaten as a delicacy called escargot.
8. May 24th is National Escargot Day- (Run away snails! It's coming soon!)
9. Snails can crawl upside down if they wish

Once again I tried a quiz, on the snail this time, and once again I failed. (4 out of 12 questions is pretty good)

This is the link to the quiz if any of you are brave enough to step up. http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Animal-Quizzes/s/Snail-Facts-Quiz.asp

Oh snail, oh snail,

You are so bright and gay,

I just hope that you make it past,

the 24th of May. :)

Jordan

Hmmm...I don't know...What does have forty-six legs and needs lots of time to tie it's shoes?

In my science book, The Wonderland of Nature, I've been learning about centipedes.

Since I haven't had much to blog about, I decided centipedes will have to do for the time being.

First of all, this picture is made up of three pictures. The first one is of a centipede, the second one is of a centipede's nippers, and the third, of a few of their legs.
I know it's a pretty bad picture (for a better look, double click) but it's all I could get, and I wasn't about to go out searching for them outside. Especially after the stories I've heard of my father waking up in the middle of the night with a huge centipede on his stomach. Mum said he killed it twenty times over.


A few facts...

1. A centipede's main enemy is the trapdoor spider.
2. Centipedes bite with their adapted front legs.
3. In some cultures centipedes are used for a treatment to malaria.
4. A centipede has 23 pairs of legs.
5. Centipedes are distant cousins of shrimps, lobsters, and crayfish.

Despite his relatives desire for water the centipede is quite content to stay on land. Some centipedes can grow up to twelve inches long.

Another facinating fact is that some centipedes can live up to the amazing age....of six! :)

I recently took a quiz on the centipede (feeling vey confident) and suddenly found out that I do not know half as much as I should about these interesting (but ugly) creatures. Look up this link: http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Animal-Quizzes/c/Centipedes-Quiz.asp: to try the quiz for yourself.

Anyway, I must go.

Jordan

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Choc Chip Cookies (CCC- For short)

Ingredients-

125 grams butter (4oz)

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 1/3 cup self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt- (I don't usually add this but you can if you wish)

125 grams chocolate chips (1/2 cup)

1/4 cup walnuts- (optional) -(I don't do this either)

Method

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Add egg. Gradually mix in flour and salt. Add choc chips.

Shape into small balls. Allow room for spreading.

Cook in moderate oven 180 C for 10-12 minutes.

Jordan

To keep the rabbits out...

Yesterday Emily and I had to build a tiny replica of a bit of the Great Wall of China.

This is what the instructions looked like.

They weren't all that easy to understand. Most of it was something like...'Divide section K into three by folding twice, join the the two pieces of the wall to the side of the main tower. D-E-F should join to the left hand. Flaps on G, H and I should face inwards but the end of H should face downwards.'

It didn't look too bad when we were nearly finished...

but lots of it was still held together with pegs while the glue dried.

And to make it all the more complicated we had to find some way to make the Mongols stick on.

This is the nearly finished piece of work.

It didn't look too bad when we reached this stage but with instruction like that you expect it to.

Three things I learned from this project was...

• Don't underestimate instructions...
• Little paper Mongols look like they're easy to stick on but they're not...
• And even though The Great Wall of China was built to keep the rabbits out, it should have been able to keep the Mongols out as well. (Trust me, I've built it, it's pretty sturdy. Well, if you call held togther with pegs sturdy.)

Jordan