ARTHUR'S PASS CAMP!!!

Arthur's pass camp!

YAHOO! School camp! This year we went to Arthur’s pass. Everyone was excitedly chatting  in the classroom waiting to go on the bus. When we finally got on the bus I sat next to Pippa right at the front. Once we got there we met Logan our guide. We settled in and got told what bunk rooms we were in. I was in a room with Sahara, Indy, Rhea, Bridget, Dayna and Karolyn.

Our first activity was orientering which is when you get a map and some clues to help you find the answers for a quiz, and in this case they were little white posts with metal plates on them. My group was with Matthew, Boyd, Declyn, Brock, Julie, Caitlin and Indy (Group 2). We raced out the door as soon as Logan said go. First we had to go and find number 9 which was up by the old school. We found all the others around Arthur’s pass in a jiffy. Group 2 was the first group back to the lodge. Orientering was really fun.

After that we had a little break we went to the devil's punchbowl. Logan showed us some orange algae on the rocks. He said that was what the oompa loompas used as their face paint most of us then put it on our face, but mine showed the best and people said I looked like a traffic light. The walk to devil's punchbowl was a long walk with lots of stairs in it but finally we reached the top. And it was worth it! The roar of the waterfall was so loud it sounded like an earthquake. On the way back Logan taught  us a game called the running screamer and it was so awesome. We had to run down a trail sprinting screaming at the top of our lungs, trying to go as far as we can without taking a breathe, Pippa was first running into the distance with a high pitched scream that could crack windows, then it was my go. I ran as far as I could,I just got past Pippa . I got quite far but Boyd Matthews dad got the farthest.  

Once we got back into the lodge my group started cooking tea. We had nachos and chocolate pudding and the were yummy. After tea we played soccer… In the DARK. I got kicked in the shins a few times and probably kicked a few people as well. But then before we knew it it was time for bed but we did get 50 minutes to hang in our bunk rooms. Sahara told an epic scary story involving drip drop and a creepy puppet. Then finally it was lights out!

The next day when we all woke up most of the kids, including me, played spotlight. It was 5.30 am so it was still dark. Finally it was time for breakfast but as we walked out there was a crowd around the window. Then I realised why they were there. IT WAS SNOWING! I had never seen snow before. It looked like everything was painted white overnight. It looked so amazing and after breakfast we got to play in it. At first we had a snowball fight but then it turned into a war between girls vs boys (the girls were much better though). After the fight we had a snowman competition. I was with Brock, Declyn, Matthew, Indy and some of the Parents. We made a snowman and the judges said it looked like a penguin. But we still won.

Later that day it was time for dinner and then the camp concert. For the camp concert I was doing a ridiculous dance with Pippa and Caitlin to the song “Can’t stop the felling” Me and Mia was doing the same song just a different dance. After all the acts the were finished the judges ( Nat- Caitlin's Mum and Dayna- Rhea’s Mum) announced the winners “ In 3rd place” announced Nat “ are Rhea and Indy doing their play!” “And in 2nd place doing a dance” Said Dayna “ Is Mia” “And in 1st place is Sammi, Pippa and Caitlin” Said Nat. We were all shocked that we won we were only expecting even 3rd place, definitely not 1st.

School camp was awesome and I hope that it's that fun next year!

BTB POINT AUCTION!

Today was the day we had been waiting for all term... THE BTB POINT AUCTION( which is on every term)! This term I got and 4 purple pencils, 2 long purple rubbers and 2 purple bands donated by Matthew and all for 25 BTB points. BTB points are Points you get for being on task or working really well and I had 25 better than all the other terms. The auction was really fun and I'm definitely looking ford to it next term!

Hunting is good!

Hunting.

Most people think hunting is bad but it gets you meat and if hunters are trained and do it in a good way it won't hurt the environment.  Most people don’t like the idea of killing animals but still eat meat although if hunting was banned then wouldn’t have that meat.    

Back before we could buy meat people had to hunt to survive. If they didn’t people would die because they didn’t have many other food sources. Years after years people still hunted to survive but then people also started selling meat so hunting wasn’t just for survival also for money. Now days people can make thousands of dollars selling meat. So hunting was for survival and money and it was the way of life.

Hunting encourages people to get there own meat. Some supermarkets get their meat from big companies that kill there meat in horrible ways. As a result of the animals being killed like that they release stress hormones ,which are bad for you, however if the animal doesn’t see you they have a slightly less chance of releases those hormones.  People think hunting is bad but the meat you buy from the supermarket has been killed much more painfully than hunters do.

Hunting keeps the populations of lots of animals down.  Lots of pest animals breed very quickly and they cause loss to our natural environment this will affect our native wildlife and their habitats. Some of NZ's most endangered species like Kiwi are hunted by possums and stoats. Stoats also eat lots of birds eggs and our national birds food. Goats are also pests,  although you may not think that they are but they can stomp on native plants and also eat them too this is a problem because NZ might lose the plants. So hunters aren’t as bad as you might think because they keep the population down of pests.                                                           

Hunting for meat may be good and helpful trophy hunting is bad. An example of trophy hunting is when the White Rhino was almost hunted to extinction and now only three left which are all too old to breed. Also lots of inexperienced hunters shoot animals mistaken for other animals for example  in New Zealand is when a hunter shot a Takahe, which are endangered being mistaken for a pukeko that are very large in population. Hunting for meat may be good and helpful trophy hunting is bad.

So hunting isn’t actually as bad as you may think it can help keep populations down, allows you to get healthier food and still much more things. So if you didn’t like hunting then hopefully this article changed your mind.

READERS THEATERE Oakley Creek

The boy in the striped pajamas!