New kittens

On Monday 21st November our cat brought in a little kitten up on our back porch and we fed it then we heard another little squeal, it was coming from under the house!! So I looked and tried to see if anything was under the house and there was…….

Another little kitten a exact look alike of its mother, as I was walking to find the kitten our cat came and followed me and brought the kitten out, so all we knew was that she only had two, We fed the two kittens and our cat some jelly meat and they dug into that, they were starving!! 

After they had finished eating there food we put them in a box and kept them worm, our next task is to keep the cute little kittens alive as the weather hasn't been great this week, unfortunately one of the two kittens has got a sore eye so we will have to take it to the vet and get checked! Keep check of my blog to be informed!

Fantastic news

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile my internet at home has been slow!! But I have some fantastic news for you, this week on Tuesday the 8th of November we had our annual Moa Awards/ Moa Kluster. I got entered in for two things, those things included, Best passion blog, and best Music video that I performed the song UP by Olly murs and Demi Lovato. The night was a great turnout and all the four schools, Matapu, Auroa (My school) , Kaponga, and Opunake all had to dress up as it was a formal night. Auroa done fantastic! Plus I won my Best passion blog, it was a great night. Plus it was a bonus as I had already won the category the year before! For the winners we received a Glass plark that had Moa Kluster and the subject you had been awarded for, plus a cool certificate! My sister (Madaline) also got entered in the same category as me but in the seniors and won hers! It Was a great night and I can’t was for 2018 for another Moa Kluster!

Guy Fawkes

Today the 5th of November, a day like no other that is named guy fawkes that embarks of the capturing of the man himself! Guy Fawkes also know as Guido Fawkes was born and educated in York,England. His father died when Guy Fawkes was eight years old, after that happened his mother remarried a recusant Catholic. Guy Fawkes converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years, War. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England.Wintour introduced Guy Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James~1 and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Guy Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days he was questioned and tortured, eventually he confessed. Immediately before his execution on 31 January! To this day we have lit fireworks in the sky since 5th November 1605.

Hockey prize-giving

On the 29th of October 2016 we had our end of year prizegiving/break up for the whole of Taranaki rep teams! The prizegiving was at 3:30pm but all the teams had to arrive earlier for a team photo out on the turf in our playing uniform. In total we have had over ten games this season and it has been a great experience and i have enjoyed every little bit about it and special thanks to our coaches and our managers!

The Prizegiving start at 3:30pm and it was held at Stratford in the TET, everything was set up already and we just had to hand out the certificates, every team came up one by one and all the coaches and managers gave a speech plus we all got a certificate and a badge each that had our team name Rawleigh

and 2016 printed on it. The whole entire prizegiving was two hours and it was great to hear about all the results from the other teams, there were over one hundred and fifty people there, so it was a great turnout.

That day we also had to bring back our playing uniforms, bags and other stuff we hadn't paid for back to Taranaki hockey, It was a struggle managing it all but we got their. Overall it has been a great season and I have really enjoyed it I can't wait till next year!

Swimming

The whistle squealed go a sudden urge for energy hit me I bulleted down my lane my heart pounding the smell of victory lingered in the air.

Two more lengths to go the water was steaming. I was going as fast as my legs would take me my arms thrashing against the water.

Back in the pool I jump and rotating my body it was time for my next event backstroke my knees bent ready to race my feet pushed against the wall gathering momentum going full speed through the calm,cool water.

Taking the lead, 1st place was only an arm's reach away my enemies lurk behind me greedy for victory Kyah was in the lead she touched the wall before I could even say a word second place will do but I will have to see if my next race will give me any glory.

Receiving my token and racing to my last event so far I wasn't the only one that did good that day it was a team event and even though we came last we gave it our all.

The Moa Kluster

Credits: Go to Mr Bloor for creating this great video!!

This year the Moa Kluster is held in Opunake Event Centre on the 8th of November and it is a great night, everyone from all the four schools come along! The four schools you ask, well it fits into the name of Moa Kluster! The four schools include Matapu, Opunake, Auroa , and Kaponga. It is an awards night and is great fun to go along to!!
Here are the catagores you can enter in and also the judging criteria:

- Best Student Blog (Intermediate and Senior)

- Best Student Blog (Teacher)                         

- Best Short Movie (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)                

- Best Animation (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)           

- Best Music Video (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)          

- Best Educational Video (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)  

- Best Actor/Actress Narrator/Performer

- Best Teaching with ICT (Teacher)

- Graphic Design Poster (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)  

- Best Original Image (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)                                        

- Best Te Ao Maori (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior)

- Best Book Trailer (Intermediate and Senior)

Calf and lamb day 2016

Today Thursday 13th of October was Auroa a Primary Schools annual calf and lamb day! Unfortunately I was not able to compete in the competition this year as we have been very busy with our hockey tournament as you can see in my previous post and would not have been able to feed and look after our animal. But we still came along to the day as it was great to see everyone and their animals.Instead of a animal I was inside helping my mum or in her words (nagging at her for some more money!) There are three different categories you could have entered in including: 

1) Calves,leading and rearing 

2) Lambs, leading and calling

3) Most loved pet!

Everyone who competed in the day got a pack of stuff with a drink bottle, notepad, pen and got a calcium milk drink! Also everyone got a participation ribbon for competition get in the day!! The year ½ were first and they went up from there. Well done to everyone who got ribbons! Everyone done great! There were many other things there on the day as well in the hall they were selling: cakes, tickets, lollies and many food selections.

 Also at lunch rabo~bank ran the BBQ (the sausages were good!) Among all the shops there was also some games running including guess how much lollies are in the jar, can you win it, and many more, they were great fun! Also Auroas school PTA gathered lots of prizes together and sold them for an auction and also leftover spot prizes for the lucky names shown up on the T.V. It was a great day and perfect weather. I can't wait till next year!!!

Also this week at Auroa Primary School every classroom has been working on art based on the calf and lamb day projects. We had to make, A 3D animal background, A farm landscape drawing, A tinfoil farm object and a photo that was taken by ourselves. It was great fun and I fortunately won both of my 3D animal background and my photo! Also check out this great video Mr Webb has created!

Rawleigh under 13 girls hockey tournament

This week from Monday the 3rd to 6th on Thursday we had a whole week of hockey. We had one game on Monday, two games on Tuesday, two games on Wednesday and on Thursday our team had our last game of the Rawleigh under~13 girls hockey tournament. There were eight teams in the competition overall including our team Taranaki among the teams were. Wanganui, Wellington, Wairarapa, Rangitikei, Poverty~Bay, Hawke's~Bay, Manawatu and our team Taranaki! It was a hard week of games and unfortunately I was not allowed to play in the last two games of the season as I was sick! But as it was the last time our team will see each other until two months when we get all the teams from hockey Taranaki and have a big prize-giving. Do you play hockey? Have you been in a tournament/competition? Let me know in the comments below!!

For our Rawleigh hockey tournament this week we also got eight ribbons, one from every team! The ribbons were great! All of the eight teams had a ribbon ceremony on Monday day one of the huge week of games, it was in the afternoon after all the games had finished. How the ribbon ceremony worked was that every team lined up in a circle and we all gave each other one of our teams ribbons! In the end we all finished up with eight ribbon’s! All very different ones. Each team had the option to decorate their own ribbons and a couple teams did putting lollipops and stickers on them! Here are a picture down below of the ribbons.

 

Dehorning the calves

Today the 28th of September the calves had their most likely least favourite day of the year, dehorning day, dehorning is when the vet comes in burns all the calves horns off with fire! (OUCH) To get the calves ready for dehorning we had to put every calf mob into a shed/shelter because they were not able to eat/drink that morning when they were getting dehorned!

When the vet arrived they heated up the fire tool and get the anesthetic ready which will numb the calves so they won’t feel the burning! First the vet had to move all the calves into one corner and then the vet jabbed the calf in the tail and spray-painted it so she knew they were done. It looked like a painful job as there were some big ferocious calves in there that liked to bunt! Once the anesthetic kicked in they fell to the ground in a deep sleep and the vet came around and gave them another jabb by their horns so it would work twice as good and they won’t feel a thing she also spray painted them so she knew she had finished that already, that bit was a piece of cake as they were all drowsy and asleep.

Once each calf had been given both jabs the two vets came around and burnt their horns! They wore face masks as it was very hot and made lots of smoke. It took the vets thirty minutes for each mob and there were three mobs to do so overall it took one hour and a half! Once the job was done the vets went off back to work and we had to wait another two hours for the affect to wear off and the calves to wake up! At the end of it the calves came our colourful from all the spray paint that they had put on them, they were blue purple and orange!! At feeding time they made the most of the milk they got as that was their first drink. Are you a farmer? Do you live on a farm? Have you dehorned your calves before? Let me know in the comments below! P.S all these calves are alive!

Harry my cat!

This is my very big fluffy cat, his name is Harry and he is currently nine months old, we got him last christmas. He loves to play and especially his favourite thing to do is annoy me and my family!! He loves playing outside and is very active. He is a ragdoll cat, ragdoll cats are so fluffy just like Harry. Harry's nickname is Big fluff-ball and suits his name as he is so soft and fuzzy!! We have three cats in total, including Harry. Do you have pets? What are their names? Comment below and let me know!



This video I created on iMovie and shows some things that my cats likes to do including. Playing, Eating and Sleeping. These are among the many things Harry enjoys.

This photo I edited and designed from an original picture and turned it into a canvas piece of artwork.

Swimming

The whistle squealed go a sudden urge for energy hit me I bulleted down my lane my heart pounding the smell of victory lingered in the air.

Two more lengths to go the water was steaming. I was going as fast as my legs would take me my arms thrashing against the water.

Back in the pool I jump and rotating my body it was time for my next event backstroke my knees bent ready to race my feet pushed against the wall gathering momentum going full speed through the calm,cool water.

Taking the lead the lead 1st place was only an arms reach away my enemy's lurk behind me greedy for victory Kyah was in the lead she touched the wall before I could even say a word second place will do but I will have to see if my next race will give me any glory.

Receiving my token and racing to my last event so far I wasn't the only one that did good that day it was a team event and even though we came last we gave it our all.

Mt Spa Crosscountry

On the 16th of September the Mania golf course held the annul cross-country competition where all the schools from around the area come and compete including- Opunaki, Mania, Rahutu, Matapu, Kaponga, St Josephs Kaponga, and our school( Auroa Primary School. We left school in the morning at 10:30 am and arrived at the Mania Golf Course where the event was being held at 10:50am. The races started at 11:15am with the first race starting from the younger kids Ages nine and under up-to ages twelve and thirteen!

My race was the 5th race so I had plenty of time to warm up! Eeeeh!! The siren sounded it was time for my race 11 year old girls, I reckon there was over 20 people competing in my race, so that's when nerves began to get the me!! The horn blew and we were off the first lap down of our 3-kilometer race, In 10th place so far so good, my heart racing, the slightest thought popped up into my that I might be lucky enough to go to the Taranaki cross-country. 1-lap to go, I picked up my pace passing three people it was now down to the final sprint myself(Jorja) against Charlotte another friend of mine from school, unfortunately she got away from me at the end. The final score Lexi-5th from Auroa, Charlotte-6th from Auroa, and myself (Jorja) from Auroa.

The was a great turnout and the races were very difficult, fun and enjoyable!! My little thought that I may make it into Taranaki came true, YAY, also the top-ten from all the races also go, I cant wait till next Wednesday for the Taranaki cross-country! Do you compete in cross-county? Have you ever made it to Taranaki cross-county? Let me know in the comments below.

Sunrise and Sunset

The sun coming up from Jorja Symes on Vimeo.


The sun going down from Jorja Symes on Vimeo.

Facts:

One million Earths could fit inside the Sun. The Sun’s surface area is 11,990 times that of the Earth’s. The Sun contains 99.86% of the mass/size in the Solar System. The mass/size of the Sun is approximately 330,000 times greater than that of Earth. It is almost three quarters Hydrogen, whilst most of the remaining mass is Helium. The temperature inside the Sun can reach 15 million degrees Celsius. At the Sun’s core, energy is generated by nuclear fusion, as Hydrogen converts to Helium. Because hot objects generally expand, the Sun would explode like a giant bomb if it weren’t for its enormous gravitational force. The temperature on the surface of the Sun is closer to 5,600 degrees Celsius.  

How did I create these videos?
These videos I have created by having my iPAD on a stand while videoing, I used a videoing/photo option on Camera called time~lapse! I decided to base my videoing on sunrise/sunset because it plays a huge part in our everyday living and in the solar~system.

Auroa school cross~country

On the 12th of September 2016 we held our annual cross~country day at Auroa Primary School. It was a perfect sunny day in Auroa to hold our cross country day. It started at 11:00am and was finished at lunch time 1:00pm, we started with the little kids ages 5-12/13. Mr Chittenden (Our school principal) started the races with a clap of two pieces of plywood connected together with a hinge. 

Our race was one of the last, nerves filled my body as we lined up on the painted white line. The clappers whistled echoing in my ears as we were off, running into the wind as fast as I could my heart racing as I huffed and puffed, one lap down, one to go halfway through our 3 kilometer run I was steaming into second not far behind my friend Charlotte as she overtook me in the last minutes of our challenging race I finished up in third, then came my favourite bit of the race the end receiving an icy cold ice block (YUM)! 

Also there was a sausage sizzle and drinks sale which our school PTA (parent,teacher,association) was running. They sold everything! I enjoyed the day and everyone ran exceptionally well. Also from ages nine and up go and compete in the competition on Friday 16th at Mania on the golf course and if you get even further you go to Taranaki where you face all the rural schools around Taranaki. I can't wait till next year!

My farming video

Jorjas farming video from Jorja Symes on Vimeo.

Dairy cows may be found either in herds or dairy farms where dairy farmers own, manage, care for, and collect milk from them, or on commercial farms.The United States has 9 million cows in 75,000 dairy herds, with an average herd size of 120 cows.Domestic cows can live to 20 years however, those raised for dairy rarely live that long, as the average cow is removed from the dairy herd around age four and marketed for beef. In 2014, approximately 9.5% of the cattle slaughtered in the U.S. were culled dairy cows, cows that can no longer be seen as a great/useful asset to the dairy farm. These animals may be sold due to reproductive problems or common diseases of milk cows such as mastitis and lameness. This year as we are farmers you might know that it is calving season here, which is very busy and hard! The weather hasn't helped at all, it has been raining here for at least one week on and off and we have even had thunderstorms and hail. As we have had some sick calfs. Do you do farming? comment below!!

King country~Boys VS Taranaki girls

As we drove up to New Plymouth for our Taranaki hockey game, Taranaki under 13 girls VS under 13 boys team king country. As we began to drive up to New Plymouth every second we got closer and closer. The sun was swept away fog began to fill the air it was a miserable day, as puddles of rain everywhere you look the sound of rain echoing in your ears, How could this day get any worse I said?  As we arrived in New Plymouth nothing was seen in sight only the fluro yellow painted lines on the road. We arrived at our destination to find……..

The New Plymouth Hockey turf filled with water, over flooding water from the turf began to pour out the concreted sides where the path led. As our coach arrived we all began to abandon our cars and head to the dugouts for shelter. 30~minutes until the game or for me hoping 30 minutes for a chance to call the game off! As we began to practice out in the horrific weather in the first two seconds our socks we drenched our our uniform was soaked and we were very happy(NOT).

Five minutes till our game starts!! Our coach shouted out loud for the whole world to hear! She gave us our positions and we began, the game whistle blew we were off! Surrounded in a million drops of rain! Our shoes were like buckets before the halftime whistle blew. No goals were scored in the first half but in the second half that's when the hard work came in! Screech the first goal of the game had been scored to king country. Unfortunately that's all the goals that had been scored we had at least 5 chances but their goalie was awesome! 

At the end of the game we shook their hands while we did we said good game of water~polo out there! At the end of the game we were totally we drenched nothing at all was dry! Unfortunately we had to travel another hour before we got home(fun!) We had a couple of great games against King country and thanks to them for travelling up here 4~hours to play a couple games of hockey, I hope you guys enjoyed the games as much as we did! 

Have you ever played hockey?Are you learning how to play? I recommend it as it is a fast fun game and you'll have a blast!

Hockey prize~giving

On the 27th of August all the hockey players of our club Te Kiri gathered in the Te kiri hall to be apart of our prizegiving and our breakup. We all brought food and there was plenty of yummy food! 

There were also two trophies for each team that had you name engraved in it and the reason why you got it, the prizegiving started at the year 1-2 team and then  year 3-4, 5-6 and finally best for last!! Our team. We all received certificates that were kindly made by Claire Kalin, a big thanks to you. On the certificate it said Well done for a great season and also had our name in bold on it.

After the prizegiving for the teams were all done we all dug into the food, it was so GOOD!! I’m sure by looks of it everybody enjoyed the prizegiving and well done to all the players that received a trophy, Well done! I can’t wait to next year!!

Advertising a product

This week in class we have been working on advertising and I chose randomly to make a Water-Sky-geiser which can travel to space, our class room2 has created many of things such as eletrical machines, talking objects the list is endless. 

Our task:

Our task was to create a catchy add to advertise our product we were making, first we had to plan and   draw our object/machine we were inventing in our planning-book and write key points and words that we were going to use for our add. Secondly we had to write up our keypoints and words into sentences and make them catchy. Then once all those tasks were complete we typed our final result up on the app that you can get on all mobile devices called pic-collage!! This is what my finished result looked like!! Have you ever done advertising? Do you need some more explanation on how to do it? Comment down below let me know!!

The Moa

The Moa

The Moa were a large group of flightless birds that lived in New Zealand until 500 years ago. They are 6.3m in height as tall as a two story building and weighs 230 kg. There are nine species of Moas.

Dominating

The moa were the most significant alternative to mammals in New Zealand, taking the role of the largest dominant herbivores, the same role as large animals such as a deer or an elephant.

Hunted

The moa were hunted by māori who found them easy targets as they were so big. Their flesh was eaten and their skin and feathers were made into many sorts of clothing.

Located

The moa lived in the mainland, the great barrier and also Stewart island. Different species of moa preferred different habitats. When moa bones were first discovered by the Europeans in New Zealand in the 1830’s. The bird was declared a significant marvel.

Our country

A number of species some very large and some very small once roamed our country and maybe even these very grounds!!

Much about the Moa remains a mystery. For years people have hunted for more clues or a glimpse of this mysterious beast.

Hockey uniforms

Today in the afternoon we had to get in from feeding the calves early as my mum had to travel up to New Plymouth to take to part in a Taranaki Hockey Federation meeting she is the manager of our team so she has the job of sorting out every fine detail. That night she came home there was a knock on the door “who is it” I said knowing it was mum, then I slowly opened the rusty old door where is she? I thought to myself as she blended in with the dark night sky with the black Taranaki bags until she finally slouched her way into the door that's when we saw in her hand was over sixteen hockey bags with all our uniforms in them, well a few handfuls. The big black and yellow bag contained a selection of things including two pairs of socks, a playing skirt, two playing skirts incase there is blood on the other one, a jacket, a practice shirt, also a sweatshirt (That's a lot!).As we rummaged through all the bags we finally found ours sitting at the bottom of the pile. I zipped open my bag to find my clothes neatly and tidily folded up until……. I wrecked it all!! We tried every little piece of uniform on thirty minutes later finishing the last piece of clothing and packing it very nicely, NOT!! Now that we have received our uniform we have to wear our practice shirt in and a black pair of canterbury shorts (It compulsary). Also coming up i will be posting about our tournament in Hawke's bay…. so keep updated!! Comment down below your questions!

Great win!

Today the 13th of August 2016 we had a game of hockey, our game was being played in Stratford, Taranaki and we were playing off for first and second (The finals) Our team Te kiri were facing St Joseph's Stratford. Our game was at 11:50am. First we got to the turf and we practiced, we done some stretches and some practice hits and we were good to go!!

The whistle blew and we were off, I was playing centre-ford and in the first five minutes we had scored!! An awesome goal from one of my team mates Tom. The rest of the game was tight and we were trying to hold St Josephs off till half-time. The halftime whistle blew and we were off to have a team talk and a drink as we were so thirsty from all our hard work. Score at half-time 1-0 to our team!!

The second half horn bellowed and we were back on! In the second half no goals were scored and it was very close until the full time whistle blew. Officially announced now the winners of the saturday hockey competition Te Kiri, I jumped up for joy and so did the whole team! We done our cheers and shook St Joseph's hands then the final presentation Kobie hey one of my teammates went up and received the trophies. After that we had a team photo and this is how it turned out!!

Devastating disaster!!

As I maneuvered my way slowly through the cracks in the pavement towards the red zone,laid before me sharp shards of stone scattered among the dull lifeless streets if Christchurch.

I stared in disbelief at the at the desolate area.

"What happened to this city"? Madaline said curiously.

"A 6.3 magnitude earthquake"! I murmured.

"It's devastating"mum mumbled a tear dripped down her pale face. As I lumbered my was down the alleyway, I took a sharp right and thats when...

I saw it the CTV building once three story but now nothing only piles of cracked rubble. 

"Its a mess!!" Madaline proclaimed

"I can't imagine what it would have been like for the people in the building at the time of the earthquake" I said.

115 souls extinguished in a heartbeat almost as long as it took me to write this story.

My photography porfolio

This photography portfolio I made was from the photos I took from all the holidays and also some school photos, all these photos have been taken on my iPad and some may contain effects to make the photo stand out a bit more. All these photos were captured all around New Zealand, from the South island, at home, in Hamilton there are many photos on hereto take a look at and get some inspiration, I hope u enjoy!!

Germs

What are germs?How do they make us sick? And what can we do to stop the spread of germs?Germs are tiny organisms as small as a microchip they are living things.

That when they spread they make us very sick. Germs spread through your airways and can be passed on by breath as well!! There are many different types of germs but the two most common are bacteria and viruses.

Bacteria live and feed off the environment. for example the bacteria in your mouth feeds off the sugar from the food that you have been eating (isn't that yuck). Viruses on the other hand are the smallest known life 10-100 times smaller than bacteria. Viruses are different to bacteria because viruses need a living host like a plant or animal to grow and reproduce, while most bacteria can living on a non-living surface.

But when you get sick how can you tell if it is a virus infection or a bacterial infection? Usually the common cold or cough is viral and after the viral infection, bacterial infections occur including ear infections and sore throats.

These infections are caused by bacteria getting into your body. Bacteria can get into your body because your face can absorb sickness and it can get into your body if you shake someone's hand that has a cold and you touch your mouth. So next time you are sick go to the doctor!

Our family holiday

Day 1: On Monday the 11th of July our family were travelling to Dunedin for a family holiday first we traveled to New Plymouth to catch a plane to Auckland at 10:30 am once we got to the airport we had to check in and put our bags on the cart to load the plane up with our bags, it was only my second experience on a plane and it was a really cool one to. We flew over the ocean and we got some magnificent views from the air, I also managed to take a few astonishing pictures as well!! We even saw a rainbow with the sun behind it and the colours reflected on the ocean water, it was very visible. Once we got to Auckland airport we had lunch as we had a fair wait until we caught our next plane we had an one hour and thirty minutes to waste. The plane from Auckland to Dunedin was much bigger double the size of our first plane we flew on. The bigger plane was much faster and we had an awesome take off!! In the plane from Auckland to Dunedin we flew over the pacific ocean and we saw amazing views from up 35.000 feet high that was just over double we went up in the first flight, in the first flight we only reached the height of 16.000 feet high. In our second flight we also got to see the southern alps, they were covered in snow and we very noticeable from the sky. Once we got to Dunedin we picked up our bags off the plane and we were off to get the rental car we booked for our holiday as we would be doing lots of driving. After we picked up our rental car we got the gps our to get us to our motel, it took us ten minutes to get from the airport to our motel and once we got to the motel we took all our bags/luggage out of the car and we sat down for twenty minutes before we traveled to get some dinner, we got a hot chicken and a salad, it was delicious!!

Day 2: On Tuesday the 12th of July (My birthday) we had breakfast then we traveled out to the Otago Peninsula to do a guided tour of the albatross sanctuary and see the albatross right before our eyes, the tour involved...... See albatross real up in person, also discovering more information about the majestic birds!! After the trip out to the peninsula we traveled to Larnach Castle located upon a huge hill, Larnach Castle is the only castle ever located in New Zealand, as we walked up the rocky path way, the trees created a walkway until we reached the castle. The castle was amazing and every little bit of the castle was detailed to perfection. Also next to the castle was a huge beatiful garden that was well kept and looked amazing!! At Larnach Castle we went inside and we gave our tickets to the lady and we were free to go in. Myself (Jorja) and my sister (Madaline) got a treasure hunt activity to look for different things and objects around Larnach Castle. After we finished our tour around the castle we went and had lunch at Larnach Castle, lunch was nice. After visiting Larnach castle we went and visited the steepest street in the world, Baldwin street. It was awesome to see. 

Day 3: On Wednesday the 13th of July we got up early in the morning and made our way down to the Dunedin chocolate factory we were booked in for a guide tour round the Dunedin Chocolate Cadbury Factory, along the way we had to walk up 150 steps and we had some awesome views on the top peak of the cadbury building, we had some amazing views on top of the building!! At the start of the tour we put all our belonging's in the locker's and our tour guide was the only one with the key (They were kept nice and safe), along the tour we visited different parts if the building and different rooms, in one of the rooms it showed you how the chocolate was processed and packaged, we even got a demonstration of how they got the chocolate to the pacific temperature to be made, in that room we even got to try all the flavors and sprinkles that the Cadbury factory made. We received a plastic-bag from our tour guide and she filled it up to the brim with chocolate by the time we were finished, in the cadbury factory where the chocolate was made there was a machine that dropped up to 3000 liters of chocolate the magic words the kids had to say to make that drop was, I WANT CHOCOLATE!! The chocolate squirted everywhere it was AWESOME!! After that we were finished the tour guide. After the Cadbury Chocolate factory we went to the worlds 2nd most photographed building, The ...... Dunedin Train Station. It was amazing inside of the building was an art gallery where artist from all around Dunedin even a amazing artist that has lost her feeling in her hand and her fingers were all crippled and curved over yet she still managed to paint the most beautiful painting I've ever seen. After visiting the the train station we went to the cafe and got a fresh mixed-berry ice cream that was delicious, then we traveled back to our Hotel.

Day 4: On Thursday the 14th of July we traveled to Christchurch a four hour drive, we were going to see my brother (Harley) who moved away as he got appointed a new job!! We had not had breakfast yet so we ducked into MC Donald's for a breakfast meal, we were in and out of there in 30 minutes so we traveled on our trip 3:30 hours to go!! We passed through over twenty townships before we even reached Christchurch. Once we arrived in Christchurch we traveled round to my brother (Harleys) house to visit him. We had to use a GPS to find his house as he was out of town. We got to Harleys house and once we got there we had a toilet stop and we were off again we were travelling up the Christchurch gondolas, (They go up so high) we arrived at the gondolas and we paid at the desk (Kids were free,YAY!!) So it was a cheap day. Before we hopped into the gondola we got some family photos, then we hopped in!! We were off up the hill we were on a big slope with the cart shaking with the wind as we were getting closer to the top the wind was howling and we were up above the ground over 500 meters (Thats high) We reached the top safely. There was a cafe up the top and we were hungry as it was lunch time we had a quick stop and re-hydrated our self's and we went back down. The wind wasn't as strong so the cart didn't sway that much. Even though I am afraid of heights. It was awesome and well worth visiting. Later that day we stayed at home and at tea time we went out with Harley to Lone-Star. The food their is delicious. 

Day 5: On Friday the 15th of July in the morning we went for a walk to see the RED-ZONE where the earthquakes happened and all the buildings were damaged and destroyed we saw..... The Christchurch church, over half of this building was destroyed. Also after we went and saw the chairs of remembrance, these chairs are placed opposite the CTV building in Christchurch that killed over 185 people in the very fatal earthquake. There were many different chairs and prams there because the youngest person that died from the CTV building calapse was only three months old. After visiting all the earthquake damage we went and played at the new Margret Mahy playground opened in Christchurch, it was awesome!! Not only was it just a playground it was a water park as well there were over twenty different activities to do with water and placed in the middle of the water was a huge water fountain. It looked amazing!!

Day 6: On Saturday the 16th of July we woke a bright and early in the morning at 7:00am and we made sure we packed our bags and made sure we had collected everything up and cleaned the hotel. We left the hotel for the last time at 7:30 and we traveled out to Christchurch's International Airport to catch our plane back to New Plymouth but first we had to drop our rental car back at the place we got it off. After that we had twenty five minutes to spare so we got a quick bite to eat and by the time we were finished we were ready to board the plane. The man swiped our ticked and we were free to go in. I sat next to my dad (Leslie) he sat next to the window!! We got some awesome views on the way down we even went over the Tasman sea. As we got closer to New Plymouth we could even see a little town located at the bottom of the North island called Hawera. As we landed on the runway, it was great to be home. Once we got back into the Airport we payed for our parking as we left our car at the airport as we were on holiday, we grabbed our bags off the cart and we were off. I had an amazing holiday and enjoyed every bit of it. Can't wait till next years holiday!! Comment below if you have been to the South island or have been on an awesome holiday.

At Magret Mahys playground in Christchurch

Standing next to happy feet!!

Seeing the little blue penguins at the Antartic centre in Christchurch

The amazing veiws from the airplane flight from Auckland to Dunedin

The morning sunset at the Christchurch hotel we stayed in

Baldwin street, the steepest street in the world located in Dunedin

Getting in!!

That night, Thursday the 7th of July 2016 mum’s phone vibrated in my pocket, a buzzing sound echoed. As I reached into my pocket two…..

notifications popped up they both read…. CONGRATULATIONS!! As I clicked onto the email the screen suddenly got slippery, I was so nervous my hands very sweating, as I opened the email my arms shivered, my neck hairs stood on end.

It was the moment of truth!! I opened the email and written inside both said “Well done you have made it into the taranaki under 13 girls hockey team. I jumped up for joy,!!

Over 45 people triled for the team and 35 made it in among two teams. This story is about the day that we found out that we made it into the rep team. It is an astonishing achievement to get into this team and fortunately we were one of those people myself (Jorja) and my sister (Madaline). If you are interested in playing hockey the Taranaki Hockey Federation tells you all about it, Check it out on this link here-Taranaki Hockey Federation Or comment below, feel free to ask me anything about the game of hockey!!

Frost

A winter like day in the awtum New. In the morning I woke up and we had a big frost!! It was freezing, I was shivering it was a real cold day for Taranaki. As I walked on the frost covered all over the lawn. Frozen ice crunched and shattered under my feet, it made a huge noise. My fingers were numb they were so cold. My feet were frozen. We had a Jack frost. The lawn was white, all covered in ice!! As the sun began to shine on the freezing cold ice it began to melt and desolve into the grass, it watered the grass well!! Do you have frost's where you live? Do you have snow? Let me know in the comment's below. Down below are the pictures I took this morning of our huge frost on our lawn.

Taranaki reps Hockey under-13

Myself (Jorja) and my sister Madaline triled for the Under-13 Taranaki reps hockey girls team on the 26th of June 2016 and we triled from 9:30-10:30, the first trial was all about skill so we had to jink over cones and dribble round opositions. I had great fun at the first trial!! As the first trial ended the lady running the trial Jo announced that the people that will be coming back for the sencond trial will be put up on the Taranaki Hockey Federation website on Wednesday 28th of June.

So that night on Wednesday mums phone beeped and there was a text from Jo, the text wrote: The teams for the second trial are up on the website. I have never seen my fingers move so fast. There were 42 names written down and two of those people were myself (Jorja) and Madaline my sister, we were so wrapped we have made it to the second trial. So the next Sunday after that the 3rd of July we had the second trial. (Which was today) But what happened in this trial?

In this trial all we played was games, Jo split us up into 4 teams and we played ten minute for each team. Each team had at least two games. After the two games the selectors Glenn,Jude,and Boydy split us up into four even teams and at the end of the day we all said a thanks to Jo and all we can do now is hope. We find out on Thurday the 7th of July if we made it in. Can't wait!! Check out the Taranaki Hockey Federation website if you are interested in playing hockey, it tells you all about it and if your interested in coming to Hockey trials in Stradford it tells you the date and times so check it out in this link-Taranaki Hockey Federation

The Huia

In room2 this week we have been working on information reports and myself (Jorja) and my friend Caro decided to do the Huia, The Huia is a very unique bird where the female and the male have different physical forms, Caro and I used the site Piktochart to create a collage of the Huia and explained some information about it.

Wacky wig day!!

On Wednesday the 23rd of June Auroa Primary School had a wacky wig and hair day!! All the wigs and hair were outstanding and completed to an awesome level!! The whole school gathered on our main school courts and we done a parade.

We all lined up in our class lines and set up in the middle of the courts were three tables set up so we could walk around them and have a guided circle. We started from room-8 the little kids, year 1 and finished with room-1 the seniors, my class was second to last because we are a class lower than room-1. I wore: A rainbow Afro, a big spotted headband, and some disco glasses that were yellow. It was a mufti day at Auroa Primary School.

There were sausages given out to those who paid and a selection of drinks. I got a sausage and drink!! It was delicious, I loved every bite and at the end of the day a assembly was held to congratulate the winners for best wacky wig or hair in each class. Even the teachers participated and wore a wig or even done their hair up!! Ebony got best girl in our class (room-2) and Harry got it for the boys. The winners got.....

An Auroa drink bottle and a packet of lollies, the teachers that got awarded for the best wacky hair or wig were, Mr Spice (Room-2's teacher,our teacher) and the other teacher awarded was Mrs Cathie, her costume were amazing!! The video down below that was made by Mr Bloor of video maker at our school made an amazing Wacky-Wig-Day video so I would like to just appreciate him for making that. Remember comment bellow and let me know what you think of the video or if you have any questions.

The newspaper

Traveling down our driveway ready to get the newspaper for the morning but.....

It wasn't there my heart shriveled up in pain. I said this is my daily routine get the newspaper , make breakfast. Could it be late I murmured to Madaline quietly Madeline shouted back i'm not sure I don't get the newspaper then......

That evening on May the 1st 2003 we got a notice placed in our letter box the note said.

Sorry the newspaper is now being delivered at lunchtime with your mail included 

Kind regards Claire. I shook my head NO THIS CAN'T BE. That was the day when everything changed forever. NO NO NO!!! I marched into the post office where the letter had been sent from.

Where is this person you call as Clair. She stood up a wonderful smile covered her face and she politely said what would you like today gentlemen I replied you call yourself Claire well you tell me Claire 

Hamiltion

We went up to Hamilton for a family holiday and we were visiting family friends down below are the things that we did on the days and the order that we did them in.

Day 1:We arrived at Hamilton and Went round to nana and grandad's house, when we rang the bell on his door and he opened it........ his breath was taken away because grandad thought we were coming on Sunday. We finally managed to get some words out of grandad's mouth, welcoming us and inviting us in. We were glad to see them, Myself (Jorja), my dad, my mum, and my sister went up to Hamilton (The whole family) by the time we arrived up there it was tea time so we went down to their local shop and we got Chinese for tea, it was delicious. 

Day 2:We visited the botanical gardens round the corner from nana and grandad's house. The gardens were awesome!! We took one hour and a halve go round most of the gardens (but it was worth it) They were astonishing and gave us some good ideas for our own big garden at home. We then went home and a hour later we traveled out to the base to get grandad some new clothes.

Day 3: then at 3:30pm in the afternoon we traveled to Johnny and Anne our friends that lived just out of Hamilton, they lived in Te Awamutu a little town the locals call (TA). Then when we got there we unpacked our bags and play pool on their pool table.

Day 4: We had crumpets and eggs on bread for breakfast and then we played tennis with their whole family and our family. We had a tie!! Then we traveled home. 

My story: The gardens

We entered the huge gates, as stone pebbles crunched beneath my feet ,the echoing sound of birds filled the air. Blossoming tropical flowers laid before me leading the way.

We fluently strolled across a concreted path which led the way into the tropical garden. The wet leaves dripped icy cold water down my neck, a sharp shot of ice fled through my body, my spine shivered. 

Led before us a waterfall surrounded by a pink tinged magnolia, SMASH!!, water crashed against a tiled clay wall. As we entered the Italian gardens my eyes lit open. It was an astonishing sight. Everywhere you looked it was perfect, nicely cut edges, perfectly cut hedges, and laid on the middle of the garden a magnificent lion sculpture. It was awesome!!

Late Rotakare

On Monday the 6th of June we went to Lake Rotakare for a nice day out, to go for a work and get some exercise but if I had of known how far we were actually going I would have turned back at the start of it!!

We were going round the whole fenced area and to get round we used wooden old cracked steps with stone pebels inside of them and then the plane old dirty track. Alongside me my dad (Leslie), my sister (Madaline) and myself (Jorja) as you guys all know!! We took nothing but our old plain rugged jackets to keep us warm if it suddenly got cold. No drink!! and No snacks!! as we strolled down the dirty crumbling track we soon regretted not having....

Water as it soon became a huge factor we all were dehydrated but we pushed on our stomachs grumbling as we strolled into the dense bushy terrain. There were some astonishing veiws, we could see.... Mount Taranaki/Mount Egmont and also as we got further into the walk we could even see Mount Ruapehu. I managed to get a few snapshots of the spectacular veiws from above the reflective lake below us. Down below are the photos I took.

The track in total was 4-6km long (Isnt that far!!) and it was estimated to take 2-3 hours long but the speed we were going we were easily done in 1 hour and 45 minutes. We were speedy. Have you ever been on a walk out or gone out for some exercise comment below and tell me all about it, I love hearing from you!!

Watch out!!

We shot round the corner, I was swept off my feet. Air rushed passed me, my neck hairs stood on end as I watched the logging truck topple in front of me.

Crack the wood snapped in two, the truck buckled into the road, metal scattered all over the road into twisted shards with sharp pointed edges digging out big gouges of tarseal. The crate snapped off its hinges laying on the dented road two metres in front of me.

OMG!! I shouted, my mouth dropped.

Mum replied “How did that just happen” her face was puzzled from the confusion.

The driver of the truck hopped out of the truck slowly trying to avoid even the slightest move that could cause more damage.

He said “Man that was a close one” his face pale as if all the blood had been drained out of his body. “For both of us” mum chattered her face frozen from shock.

“I'm not coming up this road again” was the last words that came out of my mouth as we slowly drove down the road.

All about me

Hi my name is Jorja Symes I am 10 years old and I am a year 6, I have two brothers Taylor and Harley also one sister Madaline and my mum and dad. My hobbies are sports including hockey, tennis, rugby, and netball one of my favourite hobbies are drawing and I love calligraphy/handwriting. I am in a year 6/7 class this year at Auroa Primary School with my teacher as Mr Spice, you may know already that I have had a blog running for over at least 2-years now and it is my school one if you don't know here is a link http://jorjasauroa.blogspot.co.nz/ check it out and comment on some of my post I would love to hear from you.