Archive for ‘Eleanor’

Blog posts by Eleanor

Butterflies for Africa, and KZN Museum

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Today we went to a butterfly house. We had a guide who showed us eggs hidden under a leaf. Then he showed us some big caterpillars. They were camaflouged green and brown against the plant they were eating.  They were really big. Then he showed us the cocoons. Most were dry and empty and some were green coloured. They had caterpillars changing into butterflies in them. There were lots of butterflies. My favourite butterfly was the blue one but I was a bit scared that they would land on me.

There was a game where you had to match the caterpillar to the butterfly. It was hard because the caterpillar looks nothing like the butterfly. I also learnt that butterflies lay their eggs on a particular plant as the caterpillars only eat one type.  But moths eat most plants.

In the butterfly house there were also hedgehogs and guinea pigs. They were very smelly. The hedgehogs were albino, that means they were all white coloured instead of brown. There were turtles and stick insects. The stick insects looked like sticks so were hard to see.

After the butterfly house we went to the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum. It was really good. There were lots and lots of displays of stuffed birds and animals. I liked the bird section because there was my favourite bird – the flamingo! We also saw lots of bird eggs. Did you know that the kiwi has the biggest egg compared to its body. And the ostrich has the smallest egg compared to its body. There was a model of a moa from New Zealand and we even saw a dodo! These are birds that are extinct.  Vivi found a wolf, that was next to a massive moose. There was even a polar bear which impressed Daddy. But there were all types of African animals too.

Upstairs in the museum there was a cave showing how people used to live. I liked the rock art. There were stegasauras and triceratop skeletons and a container to dig out your own fossils. There were lots of displays. I liked the bead work and there were some musical instruments to play.  Daddy liked the spears. It was fun. There was also a big map of Africa to put together.

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Umgeni Bird Park

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Yesterday we went to a bird park. But it wasn’t just birds there.

First we went to a bird show. I had two favourites and both were owls. They were funny. The first owl kept on flying off the stage and the second owl didn’t want to go home at the end. The birds even flew over our heads! Vivi liked the pelican best. It was really big and the keeper fed it chicken.

I liked the toucan, it was very colourful. There were spoonbills and scarlet ibis in one cage. The spoonbills bills really looked like spoons! But they did pee alot. My favourite was the flamingos. I learnt that the yolk in a flamingo egg is dark pink, and the chicks get pink milk from their parents when they feed.

There was also lots of parrots and macaws. I liked the blue and gold macaw. One of the parrots said hello to us when we walked past! They were very colourful and noisy.

When we were walking round Vivi spotted a black millipede on the ground. It was 20 cm long and very fat. We also saw a golden orb spider. It was big and had red and black striped legs. But the best thing was that it was sitting on a gold coloured web!

I drew a picture of my favourite things: A flamingo, a spider, a blue and gold macaw and a golden pheasant.

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New Zealand

It was a 29 hour flight to get to New Zealand. We stopped in Singapore and saw butterflies in the butterfly garden. Then we had a quick stop in Brisbane. Finally we landed in Christchurch. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up. We were really tired.

In Christchurch we went to a cool cafe where the food came from the kitchen to your table through pipes on the ceiling. When it was close a bell would ding. Then you opened the pipe and took out a cylinder, and in the cylinder was your food.  I had mini hotdogs and chips – but the chips were curly! Your food had your name on it, so you knew it was yours!

We also saw our cousins, Clementine and Molly. We had a BBQ at their house, and played with lots of lego. We also went swimming at Corsair Bay. Clementine jumped off a jetty into the water. It was awesome, but I would be too scared. Molly collected lots of shells and crabs and sea snails. Clementine and I made a little bath tub on the beach and the sun warmed up the water.

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We stayed two nights with our friend Nigel.  We got to collect the chicken eggs. He lives on a deer farm.

We left Christchurch and drove to St. Arnaud along the Rainbow Road.  It was very dusty and bumpy.  Daddy went fishing in Lake Tennyson. Vivi and I played in the water.

One day we all tramped around Lake Rotoiti and stayed the night at a place called Coldwater Hut. We saw lots of birds, such as fantails, tui and bellbirds.  We also saw a bush robin. There were eels under the jetty. The walk was nice but Vivi got stung by a bumblebee on her ankle. Then I got stung on my shoulder by a wasp. It hurt a lot. We had yummy nachos for dinner. The next day we walked out the other side of the lake.

In St. Arnaud, Aunty Cat came to visit. It was so hot we went swimming in the lake. We found some rocks which were painted. They were painted white and had a coulour written on them in English and in Maori. Aunty Cat had some special pens so we got some new rocks and painted them too.  Then we hid them on a little track.

Grandma and Grandpa took us to a beach near Nelson. The beach was beautiful. It had completely yellow sand and the sea was turquoise. There were lots of shells and Grandpa helped me make a collection.  Some of the shells were curled like unicorn horns, and some were blue mussel shells. We even found live crabs. We went swimming and I hung on everyone like a limpet.

Daddy took me fishing at a salmon pond, and I caught a fish. It was delicious!

We went back to Christchurch and stayed with lots of different people. We stayed with our friend, Karla. She had a really nice massaging chair that squished your feet and a bump that went up and down your back.

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Then we drove to Invercargill to stay with Granny. We went swimming at Splash Palace. We saw tuatara’s, that are like lizards. We found some more painted rocks in Queen’s Park. We also painted more rocks and hid them.

Our other cousins, Arleigha and Caylee came to visit and we played with the Sylvanian Families. It was a lot of fun. My favourite Sylvanian house is the windmill. Aunty Cat and Uncle Stephen were there too. Aunty Cat did park run with me and Vivi. It was very wet.

New Zealand was amazing, it is really pretty.  The best bit was playing with all our cousins.  Our next adventure will be when we are in Africa!

 

 

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Belgium

*** Delayed posting 10-12/1/19 ***

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We spent a night in Luxembourg and it was a bit cold. But we walked around the centre and had McDonalds for dinner!

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Then we went to Belgium. First we went to a World War 1 and World War 2 museum in Mons. We saw lots of interesting things from the wars.  We saw lots of uniforms and there were some trench boots. We also saw a victoria cross, which is the highest military award for bravery. Daddy liked the jeep!

After that we went to Waterloo. This was a battle fought between the English and the French. The English were led by Duke of Wellington, and wore red. The French were led by Napoleon, and wore blue.  The museum was really good. There was a 4D movie where we were part of the battle. The ground shook when the horses were running towards us! It was a bit scary. Then we climbed up a hill that had a statue of a lion at the top. We could see where the whole battle was.  There was even a skeleton that was found on the battlefield and you could see the bullet that shot him!

After that we went to Jim’s house. We had fun playing with his boys, and I read them stories. Mummy, Daddy and Jim went to the Stella brewery. Mummy said it was amazing!! Then we drove back to the Eurotunnel and England.

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