Fooey's Extended stay

The tone of The Final Storm

2009-02-28T02:25:00.001-08:00

The tone or feeling of what the author is trying to say is about Christianity. The story line sort of follows the story of Jesus. Like King Eliam, Jesus laid down his life to save everyone, and like King Eliam, Jesus rose from the dead. For heaven, when you die and if you believe in King Eliam you will go to the Sacred Realm beyond the Sun which is exactly like heaven. The followers of Paragor will go to the underworld if they die just like those who don’t believe in Jesus. The story line also follows what happens in the bible. In the end King Eliam defeats Paragor and rules over kindly and well. This is just like in the bible.

Overall I think that The Final Storm and the other books in the series are pretty good books. I recommend these books to young teenagers who like a bit of fantasy and adventure for that is what the whole book is about. The door within series was mainly good although it had a few boring bits it was worth reading.

The Final Storm Setting and Summary

2009-02-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

The Final Storm is set in a couple of places. It is firstly set in the real world with Aidan and his dad in a plane going to Maryland. It then goes to the Realm where you witness the adventures of Aidan’s friends and Antoinette who is in Paragor’s left hand man’s clutches.

Antoinette has been caught by Kearn who is Robby’s glimpse. She is trying to find a way out of the prison but can’t. Aidan is then invited back into the Realm by King Eliam and he goes to the great tree to receive the last part of the Scroll of Prophecy. This scroll contains the last bit of the prophecy that Paragor retrieved. He then listens in to some Paragor knights who come in and he hears about Antoinette being captured. He then sets off after the knights and disguises himself as one of them. He goes to Paragory and heads off to try and find her. He eventually does and also finds an old man named Zabediel who was once the scribe of King Eliam and helped him write the Scroll of Prophecy. Zabediel tells them about the prophecy and he then dies. They head out and attempt to cross the Grimwalk which is the fastest way back to Alleble on a stolen horse. Meanwhile Robby is invited to the Realm and he is sent on a mission to find the scribe Zabediel who is to help them discover what the Prophecy actually means. They couldn’t find him however but they find a group of people who join them and come back to Alleble to help them defend against Paragor’s assault. The risks in crossing the Grimwalk are great due to the Stilling. This is when you freeze from the inside out and fall to sleep and die. Their horse succumbs to the Stilling and dies. They then try and move on but get tired and stop. Stopping then makes you prone to the Stilling so they start to fall asleep. Falon the Mortiwraith comes to the rescue and saves them from the Stilling. Usually Mortiwraiths can’t go outside as their blood becomes poisonous to them if in sun or moonlight. But because of the Wyrm Lord’s cloud she can go outside unharmed. She them speedily takes them to Alleble where they help fight. After a lot of fighting Falon eventually kills the Wyrm Lord by sacrificing herself. Mortiwraith blood is poisonous to all but themselves so when the Wyrm Lord bit her, her blood went into the Wyrm Lord’s system and killed him. Aidan, Antoinette and Robby are them captured and then taken to Paragor to make the decision. I won’t tell the rest because I don’t want to wreck the ending.

The characters of The Final Storm

2009-02-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Aidan: One of the main characters who goes to The Realm in book 1. His family moved from Maryland to Colorado to take care of his wheelchair-bound grandfather Grampin. He discovers the Scrolls of Alleble which shows him the way to the Realm.

Antoinette: A friend of Aidan’s who comes into the story in book 2. She is a believer in King Eliam and a terrifying sword maiden.

Falon: The elder of all mortiwraiths, who are enormous, venomous, underground serpentine creatures.

Farix: One of the knights who joins Aidan and Antoinette in their missions. He wears no armour and has a no weapon. As Kaliam says, “Farix is a weapon.”

Kaliam: A glimpse warrior who was the pathfinder for Aidan’s and Antoinette’s mission. He became sentinel of King Eliam in book 2.

King Eliam: The noble and wise monarch of Alleble who invited Aidan, Antoinette and Robby to the Realm.

Lady Merewen: Wife of Kaliam. She once served Paragor but joined Alleble. She is a sword maiden.

Lord Rucifel: Paragor’s right hand man, whose twin on earth is Robby’s father.

Mallik: An enormous glimpse warrior who befriends Aidan and wields an enormous War hammer.

Naysmithe: The second Sentinel of Alleble who is a master blacksmith.

Nock: A highly skilled archer and warrior from Yewland. His twin brother, Bolt, died in book 1.

Paragor: Former Sentinel of Alleble, who betrayed King Eliam and now rules over the city of Paragory. He wants to defeat Alleble and crown himself King of the Realm.

Robby: Aidan’s best friend whose glimpse was the left hand man of Paragor. Robby is invited to the Realm by King Eliam in this book and he sets of on a mission to recover a lost person.

The Seven Sleepers: Seven powerful ancient enemies of King Eliam who King Eliam buried in the Blackwood forest.

Sir Oswyn: A warrior who is skilled with herbs, making potions, cures, salves and unusual battle potions.

Sir Rogan: Tall warrior from Mithegard. He carries a massive broad-bladed battleaxe.

Thrivenbard: Alleble’s best tracker and woodsman who finds Aidan’s glimpse Aelic.

Trnna Swiftfoot: A glimpse from Yewland who was held in Slavery in Baen-Edge and was rescued by Antoinette. She is a skilled warrior who joins Alleble and eventually befriends Robby.

The Wyrm Lord: The first born dragon of the entire Realm. He rules over the dragons. Once friend of King Eliam he betrayed him and King Eliam locked him under a volcano.

Zabediel: The scrip for King Eliam when the World was young. Robby’s mission was to search for him but Antoinette eventually found him.

The Final Storm by Wayne Thomas Batson Introduction 2

2009-02-26T19:50:00.001-08:00

Once Aidan reads this in the First book of the series, he believes in the story. Then a poem appears inside the scroll. This poem is a riddle that tells Aidan how to get to the Realm. Aidan’s Grandpa then helps him solve the riddle and Aidan enters the Realm. He makes his way to the kingdom of Alleble where he is trained to be a knight. He learns that once the Realm and the earth were one but then they split up so there are Glimpses and people. They are twins only that Glimpses skin colour is white. If a Glimpse believes in King Eliam his eyes will flash blue. For those who can’t decide between King Eliam and Paragor their eyes flash green and for those who serve Paragor their eyes flash red. He passes the test and is the twelfth knight on a squad that is sent to the city of Mithegard to rebuild the alliance of old. At the end Aidan sees a vision of his best friend’s glimpse and his eyes flashed red.

Once the mission is complete he returns to earth where he meets another believer called Antoinette. Aidan helps her to get to the Realm and also asks her to save his friend Robby whose glimpse is on Paragor’s side. She agrees and goes to the Realm. She didn’t need to be trained due to the fact that her dad gave her training. She was tested but she passed all the tests and was to be the twelfth knight on a mission going to Yewland. Yewland is a forest city that is full of archers. Paragor sent a false ambassador to Yewland saying that Alleble wanted tributes of gold. When the queen of Yewland heard this she made Yewland an independent province. Antoinette and her team went to Yewland to recreate the alliance between Yewland and Alleble. During her time there they find that an army of Paragor knights are going through Yewland and she finds out that Robby’s Glimpse, Kearn, is Paragor’s left hand man. She saves him from death even though he was the enemy and chases after him. She ends up being captured and taken back to Paragory the city of Paragor. Paragor then awakens the Wyrm Lord, the first born dragon, and the Seven Sleepers who are the firstborn Wolvins and he tries to conquer Yewland. Yewland just manage to survive with the help of Alleble sending reinforcements. The ending of book two is when Aidan’s glimpse, Aelic, is wounded and lying down in one of the Wolvin’s den.

Surfing

2009-02-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

The Last week of the Extended Stay was all about Surfing. On Monday afternoon we headed off to berry bay south where we would be having our first surf lesson. The water was a beautiful clear blue and looked nice and refreshing. The waves were around 0.5-1.5 feet and were perfect for beginners like me. At first I wasn’t that confident in surfing but after I caught a few waves and learnt how to stand up I started to enjoy it more and had more confidence in myself. By the end of the day I was very confident in my abilities to catch the smaller waves. In the last 20 minutes of surfing some bigger waves came and I was able to catch a few of these and stand up on the surf board. Overall this was a great start to the week of surfing.

The next day we went to Corny Point again but this time we went to a beautiful beach called baby lizards. The waves were a lot bigger than yesterday as they were around 4.5 feet. You could also see the rips that were forming. There were also some dolphins riding the waves as we watched from above. Mark told us that the dolphins loved to surf to. It was a long walk down to the beach and I had to stop a few times for some rest. In the end we got there and we put on our wet suits and got going. Since the waves were so big I only took the ones near the front. These waves were also fairly big, around the same height as they were in the last 20 minutes at berry bay south. We had a lunch break and then back to it. At this stage everyone got really tired quickly. Lots of people were getting cramps including myself. I had two cramps on my left hamstring, one of my right hamstring and one of the lower right side of my back. But the surf was still nice and once I had recovered, I came back for more. While we were surfing a group of around 15 dolphins came and surfed with us. They were up the back though so I couldn’t get to them. But the people up the back were so close that they could almost touch them. It also looked so cool when the rode a wave with you. This day of surfing was probably the best apart from the cramps as the waves at the back were for the advanced people and the waves at the front were for people like me.

On Wednesday morning we went to berry bay north where there were pretty good waves. The waves were around 1-3 feet. I was doing alright but I got dumped at least 20 times. We attempted 3 times to do a party wave but we failed and ended up having only 5 people riding the wave. At the end a 10 foot great white shark was around 100 metres away so they blew the horn and we all came out. Luckily no one was injured.

The highs of surfing were catching nice waves, having a good cool down and seeing the dolphins.
The lows of surfing were getting cramps and getting smashed by the waves.

Surfing was a great experience that I want to try again one day. Although it was tiring it brought the best out of me through persistence and hard work. The extended stay program was the same and I have come out a better person because of it. I’d like to thank the organisers of the program and the carers who include Dale, Moff and Bairdy.

Parent Weekend

2009-02-26T16:09:00.001-08:00

On Friday the 20th of February was the 11km run. All the fitness training we had done had led us to this moment. We were excited and scared at the same time wondering if we would be as good as the classes before us. We took the bus and it drove us to Hardwicke Bay. We then started our run which was along the beach and straight to Wambana. Unfortunately the tide was in so we had to run a longer way round the beach than some of the classes before us. It was a long time and I was aiming for under 1hour and 30 minutes. In the end I got 1hour and 18 minutes which was an alright time. The person with the fastest time was Mitch Wicks with 56 minutes. We then had breakfast and started packing up for the parent weekend. Once packed we got ready to invite the people from leisure options to our Wardli’s. We were going to have a sausage sizzle with them again.

We toured them around the campus and in our Wardli’s. Then we played cards or got them a cup of coffee and talked with them. Lunch was soon ready and we made our way to the Barbeque area. The sausages were good but we didn’t have enough of them. We also didn’t have enough patties and bread. We then played some card games and then they had to go back. Once they had left we packed the barbeque area and headed the oval. The lucky people’s parents arrived early and they got to head off. After around 20 minutes of waiting we were told to go to the classroom and work on our blogs. My parents came around 10 minutes later and picked me up. I was happy that they had finally came and was eager to catch up with them. We stayed at one of the cabins at the Point Turton Caravan Park. We then talked about all the things that I had done and the highs and lows of the extended stay. We then started cooking Lasagne which is my favourite meal. It tasted good although the pasta that we used wasn’t that great. It was a new one that we were trying. We then watched some TV and I showed them some of the pictures that I had taken on the Extended Stay. Then I headed off to bed.

The next day I was going to show them all the things that I had done at the Innes National Park. It was good showing them around at all the beautiful sites. I also told some of Moff’s stories. The bad things was that we couldn’t get to the hidden cove because it was too rough and the tide was in. We ate chips and gravy at the rhino tavern which was near Stenhouse Bay. We looked at the Inneston Township and all of the history sites that I visited. We also went to the beaches that I went on for the cycle tour and researching the Hooded Plover. We then headed back and watched Sister Act on TV. I had one of the longest showers I ever had because at Wambana there is a timer that only allows three minute showers. Then I had one of the best sleeps due to tiredness.

On Sunday we headed of towards Edithburg. We went through Yorketown and unfortunately all of the shops were closed. When we reached Edithburg we went to the jetty to see what the fishermen had caught. As we watched a lady caught a massive squid. That would have made some excellent calamari. We had lunch at the tavern which was really good. We then headed off on the scenic route to Sturt Bay where we passed the Troubridge Lighthouse. This was also one of the routes we had taken on the cycle tour and I showed them where we had ridden.

After this we headed towards Corny Point where we looked at all the cool beaches. After this we went back to Wambana and dropped me off with my luggage. I was sad to see them go but I knew that I’d be seeing them again in another 4 days.

The highs of the weekend were seeing my parents again, showing them how I’ve changed and showing them the fantastic sites and sharing with them what I have done.
The lows were having to leave, and not having enough time with them.

History Tour 1

2009-02-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

For History tour 1 we went to the classroom at 8:45am and Moff told us what was happening. Half of us then boarded the bus while the other half stayed behind and did leisure options. Moff took the history tour group and we set off. We first stopped and looked at a certain pine tree. This pine tree was called the Norfolk Pine Tree as it came from Norfolk Island. This tree was very useful as it had an almost perfectly straight trunk. These were used in the olden days for masts for ships. We then headed off towards Innes National Park. We then stopped off at areas before we reached the Park. Moff told us about the types of trees such as the Mallee gum tree which has its trunk in the ground. So if a fire comes then all the branches are harmed but the trunks remain. We then stopped at an area which had heaps of small aboriginal wells. We also stopped to look at old houses which the settlers used to live in. They were really small and some of them, according to Moff, weren’t suited to the Australian environment.

We finally got to Innes National Park where we headed towards Cape Spencer light house. We ate lunch here and then went to the Inneston Township. This was a mining town where the settlers used to live. There was a huge lake there and Moff told us to drink the water. Not trusting Moff I dipped my finger in and licked it. The water was very salty. Some people got huge handfuls of water and drank it. They then spat or vomited it out. At the Town we saw the old bakery, stable and other things that a society needed.

We then moved on to the Ethel wreck. This was a place where a ship was washed up. You can now see the skeleton of the Ethel on the beach. Next to it was a tug boat called the ferret which attempted to help the Ethel but knew it couldn’t so turned around. It washed up on the beach 17 years later ironically next to the Ethel. The wreck was on a bay and there was a headland. Since it was really calm and the tide was fully out we could walk around the headland. Moff was really surprised as he had never passed the headland before. The landscape was beautiful and you could see where the see had eroded the rock in such beautiful forms. The sand was soft and very fine and it was just magnificent. Some of the people went exploring and found an old car which had driven off the cliff. It was very rusty and Moff said it would have been there for around 2 years. We then headed back to Wambana filled with knowledge of the history of Innes National Park.

The Highs of the day were going to the Ethel wreck and finding the hidden cove, seeing emus and finding out about the interesting things about the Inneston township.
The lows of the day were it was a bit boring and that it took a long time to get to the park.

Leisure options

2009-02-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Leisure Options is a group of volunteers which help people who are mentally or physically disabled. Since the country is so isolated, people with these disabilities can’t just get jobs like they can in the city. Leisure Options helps these people by giving them someone to talk to and by organising activities for these people to do. When we went there we were paired up with a buddy and we started talking with them. My buddy’s nickname was Em and she didn’t talk to me much. She just hanged around with her friends from leisure options and talked to them instead of me. We were organising a Barbeque and so we went down to the Minlaton IGA and bought the required things. We were also making salads to go with the sausage sizzle. It took a long time to prepare the food because there were so many people, so we had to make a lot of salad. At first I wasn’t doing much, just helping with the dishes, but then the person doing the onions needed replacing for his eyes burned. So I had to replace him. It burned a lot and my eyes felt like they were on fire but there was only 1 onion left to cut so I didnt cry

Once everything had been done we waited for the sausages and the onions to be cooked. Some of my class members helped but most of us hanged around and tried to talk with our buddies. I tried and failed as my buddy was too interested in talking with other people. I spoke to one of the volunteers from leisure options and he told me about some of the things that they do. Lunch was then ready and everyone was hungry. I was so hungry that I had stomach pains. The sausages were great and so were the salads that we had created. For desert we had peaches and ice cream. This went down really well after the sausage sizzle. We then had a long talk with an older woman who had down syndrome. This was very interesting as she talked about her life. We asked many questions and she tried to answer them as best she could using both English and sign language to help us understand. We asked her things like which football team did she barrack for and of course she said the Adelaide Crows.
After around an hour it was time to go. We said our goodbyes and headed off.

The highs of the day were getting to know a little about my buddy, the great lunch and knowing that I’m helping these people to enjoy life more.
The lows of the day were that my buddy didn’t talk to me that much and having a stomach ache.

Hardwicke Bay community work and Snorkelling

2009-02-26T14:26:00.001-08:00

On Monday the 9th of February we went on a our first 5.5km run. This run was basically from Wambana to the Jetty and back. This was tough because we didn’t know what pace we should keep up. Although I was very tired I didn’t stop running and made it in 30 minutes and 30 seconds. After this we had to do 80 push-ups and 80 sit-ups. Once the time reached 7:45am we were allowed to leave even if we hadn’t finished the exercises. We then headed off to eat our breakfast. The normal breakfast that I had were 4-6 Weet-bix and 2 pieces of toast. Once we had cleaned up all the mess made by eating breakfast we headed off to the classroom.

At the classroom we learnt that we were heading off to Hardwicke Bay to do community work and snorkelling. I wasn’t really that happy that we were going snorkelling because I had been snorkelling before and I didn’t do very well. Fortunately my group was going second for snorkelling which was later in the day. My group was the first to go to the Hardwicke Bay community centre. We were going to pull out the introduced plants from the dunes and water all the native ones. The introduced plants were taking over and were choking up the natives. It took a while for us to some of them out as some were very big. We did this for around 2 hours and we then headed back to the community centre. The people there had provided us lunch which was very kind. We had some small pizzas made of puff pastry, ham and cheese. There were also sandwiches which included egg sandwiches. For dessert we had fruit salad and ice cream.

The two groups then swapped so it was our turn to go snorkelling. Once we had put on our wet suits, found our snorkels and flippers we headed down to the beach. The water was very cold and I only lasted around 20 minutes until my lips turned blue. I was then allowed to return to the shore. In about 5-10 minutes around 6 others joined me due to the cold. We waited on the rocks until the others came out and headed back. It felt fantastic to put warm clothes back on. We then met up with the other group who were doing the community work. We thanked the people for the nice lunch and for teaching us about the native plants and introduced plants. After this we said our goodbyes and headed back to Wambana.

The highs of the day were knowing that I was helping the environment, seeing some fish while snorkelling and the beautiful lunch that they provided us with.
The lows of the day were getting cold in snorkelling, pulling out weeds was a bit boring and not breaking the 30 minute mark in the 5.5km run.

Cooking with Moff

2009-02-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

Over the Extended stay at Wambana there were several sessions where we did cooking with Moff. Most people looked forward to these sessions while others found it boring. I liked it though as we got to eat the produce at the end. The things that we cooked were usually very nice. There were two sessions. In the first session we made Anzac Biscuits. I am in Wardli four and so we went to Wardli five for the demonstration. Moff brought the ingredients so that we had everything we needed. Most of the people in my Wardli weren’t very happy because we wanted the demo to be in our Wardli so that we wouldn’t have to do any of the cooking. But some of us including myself wanted the experience, but either way we weren’t fussed. After the 20 minute demo Moff gave us the ingredients and we headed back to our Wardli and started cooking. It took us around 15 minutes to get the ingredients mixed together and then we rolled up the squishy mixture and put it on the tray. This ended up taking around 20 minutes to cook. The Anzac Biscuits ended up being Anzac Slice as it was all joined together. It looked more like a cake than cookies. We cut the slice up evenly and gave everyone in the Wardli a piece. It tasted miraculous especially since we had cooked it ourselves, mostly without Moff’s help.

The second time that we cooked with Moff we started off by making shapes. We got pitta bread and buttered both sides. We then added what kind of topping we liked. The topping that Tien and I chose was cinnamon sugar. We then put the “shapes” into the oven to cook. After around nine minutes we took the “shapes” out. We split the “shapes” in half and ate them. They were delicious. Other people had lemon pepper and other kinds of toppings, which also tasted really good. We then started to create toffee apples. Before we started though Moff got us to taste the different forms of sugars that we were putting into the saucepan and mix together and create toffee apple. We started off by tasting glucose syrup. We then moved onto golden syrup. Honey was next and then raw sugar which tasted very good. We the started to create the toffee. We mixed all the sugar products together and let it rest on the stove for a while. We then put skewers in the apples and dipped the lovely red apples into the bubbly liquid. The toffee apples had been created! We now had to wait for the toffee to set on the apple. During this time there was some toffee remaining and we decided to make honeycomb out of it. Moff added the Bi-Carb soda and then he poured the frothing liquid onto a tray and then put the tray in the freezer. During this time we waited for another 15 minutes and we then got the toffee apples and started eating and licking them. The main taste of the toffee apple was the golden syrup. When we got the honeycomb out of the freezer it was very chewy and sticky. The main taste of the honeycomb was most certainly the honey.

Cooking with Moff was a very enjoyable experience, not just learning how to cook but also eating the food that we had created.

The highs in cooking with Moff were that we were able to eat nice food and the feeling of accomplishment when cooking a nice treat by ourselves.
The lows in cooking with Moff were that Moff usually made a big mess and having to clean it up, and also it got a bit boring at times.

The Final Storm by Wayne Thomas Batson Introduction 1

2009-02-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

The Final storm by Wayne Thomas Batson is the third book in the Door Within Trilogy. The Door Within Trilogy is a christian series and relates a lot to the story of Jesus and the choices that we have, whether to believe or not to believe. The first book, The Door Within, starts off with a boy named Aidan having a dream. This dream shows him as a knight and he is facing another warrior who wields two swords. He ends up running away but gets caught and is then knocked out. In his dream he wakes up and there is another person (Paragor) in front of him. This person's eyes flash red as he gives Aidan a choice. This choice was to deny King Eliam who was Aidans leader and follow Paragor or to be executed. Aidan responds by saying, "I will never deny my king!" and he is then killed. This dream is very significant as it comes true in The Final Storm. Aidan then wakes up to find that he was dreaming. He is very sad because he has moved away from Maryland and has gone to Colorado. The reason why he moved was because his Grandpa named Grampin is very old and needs taking care of.

One day Aidan explores the basement and finds the Scrolls of Alleble. These scrolls tell the tale of how King Eliam a just leader chose a young warrior to be his sentinel. This meant that he was allowed to go through to the sacred library and read the scrolls that reside in there. This was an honor that only the King himself was allowed to have. There was only one scroll that Paragal couldn't read and this was the first scroll which had the past, present and future written in it and this was the scroll that the King wrote in. Paragal was strong and wise but the king was stronger and wiser and most people went to the King for advice instead of Paragal. Paragal then became jealous of the King and made a plot to kill him. He rounded up the few followers he had and captured the Elder Guard who were the King’s best knights and their families and put them in one of the seven fountains. He poured oil in the fountain and then sent for the king. With the flaming torch in his hand he tells the King to fight him and let the Elder Guard burn or to let Paragal kill him. The King chose to lay down his life but before he died he told Paragal that if he did this his name would be changed to Paragor which means darkness. Paragal killed him and sealed his fate. He then threw the torch into the oil and the Elder Guard Burned. Paragal then entered the Library and went to the first scroll. But instead of writing what he wanted he couldn’t control his hand and wrote, I will never be King. The King then came back from the dead and banished Paragor out of the Kingdom of Alleble. This then created an enemy that seeks to be king of Alleble. Paragor now gathers his power so that he can launch an assault on the Kingdon of Alleble.

Settling into the Wardli’s

2009-02-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

On the morning of Saturday the 7th of February we woke up at around 6:50am. We headed off to the shed where we were going to set off for the 3.4km run at 7:00am. The run was hard but because of my mum taking me on walks before I went to extended stay and because of the bike tour I was fit enough. My goal was to keep running and not stop for the whole run. I did it! My time was pretty good with 18 minutes and 21 seconds.

We then went back and ate our last breakfast outside of the Wardli. We headed out to the bus and Moff took us to the Minlaton IGA. This was where we were going to do our first shop. We had already made a list of what we wanted to eat so we just had to buy the groceries. We also decided to buy things like ice cream and Milo. We had to keep to our budget which was 10 dollars per person a day which equals to 490 dollars a week and we were buying stuff for the whole week. Shopping took around 2 hours to do. After everyone had finished shopping Moff and Dale allowed us to get a few things for ourselves. Many people bought Farmers Union Iced Coffee. We then set off back to Wambana.

We then unloaded the bus and brought the food to our Wardli’s. There were 4 Wardli’s. Two Wardli’s had seven people and two had six people. I was in a seven person Wardli. We unpacked the food and put it in the fridge and pantry. We then started making our lunch. I had a nice fritz sandwich. We then went to the classroom and discussed more things about how to live in the Wardli. After this we had free time. Most of us went to the deli while a few, including me, stayed at Wambana and didn’t really do anything. We then cooked our first meal in the Wardli. We were cooking roast beef. We accompanied the roast beef with roast potatoes and peas, carrots and corn which came in a frozen packet. This took us a while to cook but with Moff’s help we prevailed and had a lovely cooked roast on the table. The beef was a bit overcooked and dry but it was good enough for the first meal. We then went to the classroom and received our first letters from family and friends. We then got time to write a letter back and headed back to the Wardli and brushed our teeth. My Wardli was a bit slow though and we still had our lights on after lights out. Moff came in and told us that we were going to be sleeping in tents the next night.

The highs of the day were not stopping on the run, having a relaxing day, receiving a letter from mum and getting a good sleep.
The lows of the day were getting in trouble with Moff and the food shopping was pretty boring.

I Will Put in the Box (poem)

2009-02-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

I will put in the box

The feeling of getting up a massive hill on a bike
The feeling of finishing the days ride

I will put in the box

The encouragement that people gave me
Looking at the fantastic view at Innes National Park

I will put in the box

The Scroggin that provided me with energy to go on
The transition from tents to the Wardli’s

I will put in the box

A good night’s sleep after a hard day’s work
The feeling of finally learning how to snorkel

I will put in the box

The funny feeling after listening to one of Moff’s stories
The sense of achievement when finishing a run and beating your best time

I will put in the box

The friendships made on the trip
The nice cup of milo mixed to perfection

I will put in the box

The refreshing feeling when you capsize your kayak on a hot summer day
The feeling of achievement when finishing the 11km run under your goal time

I will put in the box

The feeling that you know you are helping people through volunteering
Seeing parents again after 3 weeks without them.

The Final Days of the Cycle Tour

2009-02-22T14:52:00.001-08:00

The rest of the bike ride was a challenge that we will all remember. On Thursday the 5th of February we started at Sturt Bay and were heading towards Edithburg. For most of the way we had a headwind and this made riding hard to do and very tiring. We took the scenic root and we passed the Troubridge hill light house. By this time I had a bad tummy ache and had to lie down. We then went all the way to Edithburg and then on the way we attempted to go the fastest we could. We ended up going at 25 km/h. This was pretty fun. After this we went to the Edithburg Swimming Pool which very refreshing. We were then driven home by the bus. The Journey was around 43 km. Everyone was worn out and after a hurried dinner we got our wanted sleep.

The highs of the day were having a swim, and the wonderful view from the Troubridge Lighthouse.
The lows of the day were getting a stomach ache, sore bum and legs and not getting a very good sleep.

On Friday the 6th of February we woke up knowing that we only had half a day’s ride ahead of us. We were taking the long way to Hardwicke Bay. We headed the normal direction but then headed inland and headed the long way to Hardwicke Bay. It was pretty hard because we were on dirt roads. But we knew we could try a bit harder because we only had half a day. After around three hours of riding we reached Hardwicke Bay. We then walked down to the water’s edge and put on our boardies and started swimming. The water was blue and clear and very refreshing. We then ate lunch and boarded the bus. The bus took us home where we then relaxed on the verandas of some of the Wardli’s. We were very excited because after four days of hard riding we had finally finished the bike ride. After 20 minutes of relaxation we headed towards the classroom where we were to discuss the Wardli rules. It took us around two and a half hours to discuss the rules. The rules included keeping our beds tidy, cleaning the toilets if you made skid marks and so on. Dale also explained that we started with 10 points. He rewards us points if the Wardli is very clean and takes away points if the Wardli is dirty. If he finds things that are bad he takes points away and tells us what went wrong. We can then earn back the points if we correct the mistakes made. If the Wardli was so bad that he takes all 10 points away then we would have to set up tents and sleep in them. We were also told who we were sharing the Wardli with and decided who we were going to share rooms with.

We then headed off and started cooking our last dinner on the tranjia. For dinner I had the Heinz big and chunky beef stockpot. It was very tasty and had a lot of chunky beef pieces, potatoes and carrots. We then went to a deep sleep all of us happy about the day’s events in finishing the bike tour.

The highs of the day were the relaxing swim at Hardwicke Bay, finishing the Bike Tour once and for all and the nice warm chunky beef stockpot.
The lows were still having a sore bum and legs, feeling a bit homesick and not getting a very good sleep.

Recipe for Beef Pasta Sauce

2009-02-22T02:10:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1. 1.5kg of Beef Mince.
2. 2 jars of Dolmio pasta sauce with Red Wine
3. 400g can of crushed or diced tomatoes.
4. 3 cloves of garlic
5. 2 carrots
6. 1 zucchini
7. 3 tablespoons of oil

Method:
1. Finely chop garlic.
2. Grate carrots and zucchini.
3. Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
4. Add chopped garlic and stir fry until garlic turns golden.
5. Add minced beef and keep stirring, breaking up the lumps of meat until the meat is no longer pink in colour.
6. Add carrots and zucchini and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes.
7. Add pasta sauce and canned tomatoes.
8. Stir and mix all ingredients well and bring mixture to boil.
9. Cover saucepan with lid, turn heat to low and cook, stirring every 15 minutes for about 45 minutes.
10. Turn off heat.

When we cooked this meal we had Spaghetti and cheese with it. This was tasted very nice and it filled everyone up a lot .

Settling in and starting the Bike Tour

2009-02-22T01:42:00.001-08:00

The days leading up to Monday the 2nd of February were filled with packing the 5 bags we needed throughout the long extended stay. These bags included: the day pack which we were meant to take to most places and contained our lunch, journal, camera and other such things. The Residential bag which had some of our clothes which we needed when we got back from the cycle tour and went to our Wardli’s or cabins. The food tub, which had our food which should last us for the cycle tour. The expedition bag which had our clothes sandals and things which we needed while camping out during the cycle tour, and our fishing gear. Packing these things was very hard because I was also watching the Wimbledon final while doing so.

On Monday the 2nd of February the we, the Year 9 class of Mr Steer from PAC, got ready to board the bus which was due to go to Wambana in Point Turton. After saying our goodbyes to our families we boarded the bus. We were off. This trip was to last around three and a half hours. I was very sad that I was to leave my home, my mum, my brother and my dad for four weeks. My brother on the other hand was quite happy because he didn’t have to be annoyed for the next four weeks. My mum was kind of sad and so was my dad. I could tell though that I was going to be missing everyone for the next four weeks.

After this long journey filled of looking at the view, eating, sleeping, and talking we reached Wambana in Point Turton. Some of us were excited to be here while others like me weren’t as much as the 160-180 km bike ride loomed before us. But today was just an orientation day and was to help us familiarise ourselves with the facilities at Wambana. We weren’t allowed inside the Wardli’s or cabins that we were going to reside in after the bicycle tour yet, because it was an expedition and we were sleeping outside in tents and sleeping bags. Dinner was a rushed nachos with corn chips over the tranjia.

Tuesday came and we were told that this was only a trial ride so we would still be camping back at Wambana that night. As it turned out we spent every night at Wambana for the whole cycle tour. The people helping us out with the cycle tour were a company called “Bike About” which did mountain biking. They told us the normal safety rules of riding a bike such as keep to the left, wear a helmet and all that. If we failed to keep these rules we would have to lift up our bikes and walk a couple hundred metres. We set off and were to do a loop and return to Wambana for lunch. This was full of riding on Dirt roads which were tough to ride on. At one stage we had to carry our bikes because 2 of the people rode no handed for a bit. Apart from that all went well and we finally came back for lunch. The afternoon ride was also challenging especially the last bit which was very bumpy but we got through it and I didn’t even stop to walk up a hill. By the end of the day everyone had a sore bum and was tired from the day’s events.

The highs of the two days were the feeling of accomplishment after finishing the first bike ride and the Nachos that we had on Monday night.The lows of the day were that I had a sore bum and legs.

Hooded Plover Report

2009-02-19T01:15:00.001-08:00

Hooded Plover Research Report
By Daniel Foo
15/2/2009

Synopsis
Hooded plovers, otherwise known as Thinornis rubricollis, are a vulnerable species of bird which live on the beach. Their natural habitat is between the high tide line and the fore dune. They are a vulnerable species because their numbers are continuingly dropping due to the low success rate of their breeding. Humans are also one of the main causes of the destruction as many of us accidentally step on nests with eggs on them playing activities such as cricket. This also helps to contribute to the plight of the Hooded Plover. Some solutions may be to make people aware that the beach is a Hooded Plover beach and that you need to be careful.

Aim and Introduction:
The aim of the Hooded Plover project is to create a systematic long-term monitoring program which regularly checks on how the Hooded Plover is going. This includes distribution, breeding activities and threats at normal Hooded Plover sites based in the Yorke Peninsula which is mainly the Inness National Park. The results will then be used to create plans to increase the Hooded Plover numbers by helping their breeding success. We also were looking for threats so that we could act against what is threatening them.

Method:
Started looking for Hooded Plovers at boat ramp at Pondalowie Bay and headed left. Looked for Hooded Plover from the water line and looked towards the sand dunes. Saw two adult Hooded Plovers in the sand dunes. They went to the rocks next to the sand dunes and were moving back and forth through there. Went around them and went up the beach. Turned back and walked on the rocks. Went back to where they were and the Hooded Plovers started running away. They called their Fledglings and they came running out of their hiding places. There were two of them. Took a couple of photos of the Hooded Plovers. Checked to see if there were any signs of nesting. Couldn’t find any sign of nesting so moved on down the beach. Kept walking until we reached West Bay. Went back and wrote down information about what we saw including potential threats and weather.

Results
I think that what is happening to the Hooded Plover is a serious situation and should be stopped if possible. What I saw in February 14th was that the Hooded Plover and its Fledglings were living in the Sand Dune. This is surprising because their usual habitat is between the High tide line and the fore dune. I think that this is a good improvement because in the sand dune there is less of a chance that they will be trodden on by people playing games such as cricket and they won’t be run over by people who drive Four Wheel Drives.
One of the main reasons why the Hooded Plovers are slowly dying is because people are unknowingly destroying their nests and eggs. If more people knew about the Hooded Plovers then they would know not to drive their Four Wheel Drives around the whole beach when they could just walk. Also people playing cricket should play where around where the hard sand is which is usually near the water. This is because the Hooded Plovers are around the soft sand near the fore dune. Also when you think about it, playing cricket is a lot better when the ball bounces and it bounces more on the hard sand rather than on the soft.
When we were at Pondalowie Bay and at West Bay we saw a few potential threats. These include:
Human Foot Prints
10+
Walkers/Joggers
10
Sunbaking/Sitting
1
Fishers
7
Quad bike or 4WD tracks
3
Ravens
2
Silver Gulls
12
Kelp or Pacific Gulls
1
Litter
3
Other-Sooty oyster catches
1

Discussion
The Hooded Plovers being in the sand dunes means that they might have slowly adapted to what is happening to them and they are putting themselves out of danger by being in the sand dunes. If this is the case then they will survive a lot better because they won’t be in the place where people like to play cricket. They also won’t be in the way of Four Wheel Drives and cars that are diving past. If the Hooded Plovers are finally moving into the sand dunes, which is highly unlikely, it will be for the good. But this has taken so long that their numbers have been reduced severely and they will have trouble surviving. If they haven’t moved into the sand dunes then we as humans should intervene and help them rebuild in numbers.

Conclusion
The Hooded Plover is vulnerable because of the low success rate of their breeding. With humans who are unaware of the vulnerability of the Hooded Plovers the success rate of the breeding gets lower due to the fact that we break their eggs and nests while playing cricket or driving along the beach in our Four Wheel Drives. One of the things that we can do is to make people aware that Hooded Plovers are around when they are on a Hooded Plover beach. This should then make people play cricket in the hard sand where Hooded Plovers aren’t usually inhabiting and only drive Four Wheel Drives when they have to. Also our pets are treading on nests and sometimes eating the Hooded Plovers. This can be easily stopped by keeping pets on leashes.

Biking About with friends

2009-02-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday the 4th of February. Everyone found it hard to wake up that morning with sore legs, bum who couldn’t complain. Everyone’s hearts lightened up as they told us that we were riding on bitumen in the Innes National Park. We were also happy because we were told we were camping at Wambana again and that we wouldn’t have to pack our tents up and pitch them somewhere else. After an hours drive we got there and it looked as though it was going to be very undulated. Once we set up we then set off to try and reach brown beach which the sign said was 24km away.

After passing Stenhouse Bay, which was originally a mining settlement, we reached the peak of a massive hill. After a conversation of telling people not to overtake due to the danger we set down. We went lightning fast and I was terrified of loosing control and crashing but we the descent was quick and the feeling didn’t last long. I knew that it would be a pain riding back up the hill but that would have to wait till then for I had another 22km of riding till brown beach. We kept going at a fast pace and this could easily be sustained due to the fact that we were on bitumen. We got to the turn off to Ethel wreck and this was a worry because we were meant to turn off on the road a one km before.

So we set back and we reached the place that we were going to turn off to. It was a no entry road so that was probably the reason why we missed it. So we went forward again. When we reached the top of a fairly big hill Fitzy’s front tyre burst and we had to replace it. This took a while so we took a break and took in the wonderful view. After the tyre was fixed we headed out. We then got to a bit where there were a lot of up hills. We were going to go to the West Cape lighthouse. We got there and ate our lunch. There was also a fantastic view. When you looked left you could see where you had come from and when you looked right you could see a few islands which can be seen in the picture.

After lunch we set out again. The start was very nice as it was down hill and easy. After this we went and made a decision to go to Dolphin Bay which was a little closer than Brown Beach. About 7 km before Dolphin Bay we reached a dirt track. There were many bumps in the track and we all new that those bumps meant 2 things. A hard ride and a sore bum. We continued on this track for around half an hour. It felt a lot longer though as it was hard to ride and painful. We finally got the turn off to Dolphin Bay and we knew it wasn’t far away. When we got there everyone was looking forward to the lovely break that we were going to have. It had been a hot day and most people were dripping with sweat. We walked down and when we got to Dolphin Bay we were very surprised because in front of us was one of the best beaches that I have ever seen. There was lovely golden sand and nice, blue and clear water. I and a few other boys were content to sit on the beach and relax while most of the boys ran straight into the water.

The time came when we had to leave and many of us were disappointed. Who wouldn’t if they had to face the dirt road with lots of bumps again? We set out and it seemed a lot harder because it was mainly up hill. Finally we reached the bitumen and everyone except George was glad. George wasn’t that happy because he liked the bumps and thought they were fun. Riding was a lot easier now and before long we reached the massive hill. Everyone was dreading it and the people who had Asthma were suffering but many of us kept our legs ticking over one after the other. After lots of pain and suffering I finally made it to the top and I was surprised I did so because I was so tired at the end that I almost fell of my bike.

We reached the end before long and packed up the bikes. Everyone had a great sense of achievement of what they had done for the day and we set off back to Wambana. After a hurried lunch and a long story from Moff everyone thankfully headed off to bed.

The Highs of the day were going down the mountain at the start, the swim at Dolphin Bay, the beautiful scenery and the sense of achievement when I reached the top of the massive hill.
The Lows of the day were having to ride on the dirt road and the pain in going up the massive hill.