Explorers War Dances

In PE we are EXPLORING dances from different parts of the world. Last week we learned the fearsome Maori Haka from New Zealand, and this week we had a go creating our own war dances for our Houses.

Here are the results:

Oakie in New Zealand!

Hello! This is my very first blog post and it's from New Zealand!

I'm on the other side of the world after 24 hours on several aeroplanes. (That's a long time for a bear!) You can see me looking at the aeroplane map when we were over the Indian Ocean.

I've been to lots of places already, but my favourite is Hanmer Springs, where you can have a hot thermal bath and a hot chocolate!



Here's my journey! Have a zoom into New Zealand to see where I've been!

Sand and Snow and September!

Guess what?

New Zealand is one of those countries where you could be on the sand and in the snow on the same day if you wanted!




I had a great time with the Worleys on the other side of the world, but now it's time to start looking for those tidy classrooms again!

Don't forget, you don't have to come back to school until Tuesday 4 September. (Only me and the staff will be in on Monday!)

See you soon!

Slippery Customers!

I had a meeting with a few slippery customers at Farewell Spit!



(A spit is a very long thin piece of land which stretches out into the sea - have a look on the map to see where I was and what I mean...)

I look a bit worried here because I don't want to fall in, and the eels were hungry - I think they would have had me for breakfast!



It's OK though - here they are, and they did get fed!



There are other creatures loose on Farewell Spit too. Look at their website and see if you can find the answer to this question... Which creatures have been checking under the bridges? And what were they looking for? There's a New Zealand prize for the first pupil who leaves a comment with the answer!

A Maori Evening

I had a very interesting evening at a Māori village and learned how to do the haka.

I thought the haka was a war dance done by the New Zealand Rugby team, but the Māori also do hakas for entertainment and recreation - and women do them as well!



Here I am sitting by a Māori sculpture. The Māori are the people who came to live here from many islands in the Pacific Ocean - they were they first settlers in New Zealand.



Lots of names and places in New Zealand have Māori origins - in fact, New Zealand itself has a Māori name! I will give a prize to the first pupil who can tell me what it is and what it means! Get commenting!

Kia Ora from New Zealand!

Well, my adventures continue, and here I am in Auckland, New Zealand. (If you want to see where that is, you can look on this map. You can even zoom in and look at aerial photos!)

We went up to the very top of the Sky Tower and I'm not sure I like heights! Bears only usually climb trees...



Is it safe???



I wasn't brave enough to sit on the glass floor, but can you guess whose foot this might be...?



It was great fun, and you could see for miles! (I thought I could see Southampton, but I might have been wrong...)

(Do any Oakwood pupils know what Kia Ora means, and which language it is from? Leave me a comment and there might be a prize in September for the first one!)