Education – Page 13 – roaming.kiwi

Russia

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We were very excited, as we went on a cruise ship to Russia!! The ship was called Princess Anastasia. We had our own cabin with 4 beds. We had a buffet dinner with lots and lots of food and we played exploding kittens. Genevieve won the first game.

In the morning we were in St. Petersburg. We had to go through passport control and got a stamp in our passports. Then we did a bus tour with a guide called Yuta. We had lots of stops to take photos. We saw a sphinx and Daddy bought a russian hat. It is very warm.

We saw the Flying Dutchman on the river Neva. And we saw the old port, and the cruiser Aurora. It was used in the Russian Revolution.

We saw the Church of the Spilled Blood, but only the outside.

We saw the Field of Mars and the eternal flame.

We saw St. Isaac’s Church. It had massive doors.

Then we went to the Winter Palace. This is where the Tsars used to live, and is now a museum. There was so much to see. Famous artworks and even the rooms had beautiful painted walls, floors and ceilings. It was amazing. My favourite was the peacock clock. Daddy liked the ceilings, Genevieve liked lunch. Mummy liked the lapis lazuli table, it was blue.

We bought a matryoshka doll with 7 dolls in it, and a smaller one with 3 dolls in it for Genevieve and I to paint ourselves! Then we went back to the boat and that night we went back to Helsinki.

October 8, 2018 2

Helsinki

We stayed in Helsinki at a campground with a playground. We saw a red squirrel!

We had a day in Helsinki going to the shops. Then we went to a science museum, called Heureka, which had rainbow colours at the entrance. There were lots of fun things to do. Like make a car and race it down a track. There was a virtual world called Jukola and you could do different activities. We powered a train by using a rowing machine.

***Edit***

There were lots of great science experiments that the girls enjoyed running round and playing with, but without being really interested in the results. Such as Foucault’s pendulum, to show the world rotated. Genevieve grabbed this as soon as it started swinging because she couldn’t help herself! Still a great way to spend the morning.

October 8, 2018 0

Crossing the Arctic Circle

Yesterday we drove to Finland. We wanted to go to the Sami museum, but it was closed. Then we drove to the campsite, and me and Vivi made a den out of sticks while Dadddy and Mummy made a fire. After that we went with Mummy to find big sticks to use as horses while Daddy made dinner. It was a big fire and we made smores!

bonfire

Today we went to see real SANTA at the Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi. He has a fluffy beard and he is not scary at all. He also has big feet. He told us that on the west of Finland there are trees, trees and lakes, and on the east of Finland there are lakes, lakes and trees. We also saw his time regulator, that slows the earths rotation so he can visit all the children in the world on Christmas eve. We gave Santa a letter that told him how to find us when we are travelling. We have a picture as a signal that we will make out of twigs or stones next to the car. It is a smiley face with a santa hat.

santa3

We crossed the Arctic circle again, and this time we are going south.

Daddy also bought me my very own knife!

Then we went to the Arktikum museum. There were lots of things to do and we learnt about all the animals and people who live in the Arctic. I tried on wooden goggles used by Sami people, to stop snow blindness. There was a section on pollution and you had to try and get an oil ‘ball’ from the source to the town, by creating a pipeline. It was really hard. I learnt about people catching stockfish and cutting them open and hanging them to dry. We saw lots of hanging frames for the fish in Norway, but they were empty. We also watched a Northern Lights display. They are very green. Some people believed that they are caused by a fire fox running across the sky. Other people believed it was their ancestors playing football with a walrus skull. The northern lights are really to do with the solar wind that comes from the sun.

October 1, 2018 4

Nordkapp

Today we went to the North Cape. This is the most northerly point in Europe. Latitude 71 degrees, 10 minutes. We were very lucky with the weather as there was lots of snow on the road.

We took our New Zealand flag and took lots of photos by the globe.

There were some statues created by children that were there in 1988 for World Peace. Children came from all over the world. like Japan and Brasil.

We found trolls!

It was a fun day. Now we are driving south.

September 28, 2018 3

Alta and Hammerfest

***Delayed publishing 27/09/18***

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Last night we camped just outside Alta in some pine trees. We had sparklers and toasted marshmellows.

Today we went to the Alta Rock carvings. They are from 6000 years ago. We could see fish, reindeer, people and boats. Some were hard to work out what they were. They were carved using one rock to tap the shape into another rock. It must have been hard work.

Then we went to Hammerfest. This is the northern most town. There were lots of stuffed animals. My favourite was the Polar bear. Daddy joined the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society. He got a certificate and a polar bear pin.