The windmill farmer

It was early in the countryside and I had risen out of bed as a farmer does. I was ready to plant my windmills on the first day of Autumn. I slipped on my gumboots and wandered outside singing a happy tune.  The outside wind was blunt and the dirt had turned to mush from last nights rain. I got my tools out and started to dig little holes in the ground ready for my windmills. I took a few seeds out my pocket and walked backwards. As I went I dropped a little seed in each hole. I was trying to concentrate hard, but I was getting more tired as I went.

When everything was according to plan, I made my way back to my shabby house feeling exhausted but faithful at the same time. Once I reached the door, I turned to get a glimpse of the sunny sky and the high mountains. The sight was breathtaking, I looked at my Windmill seeds and then at my denim overalls. I still had one windmill seed left but instead of planting it I simply put it in the palm of my hand and blew on the propeller.

I arose out of bed the next morning, and to my disbelief the windmills had grown to a tremendous size. I was so gleeful and proud, I stretched out of bed and tiptoed outside in my socks. I felt excited, thankful even determined to keep working. The happiness inside me was growing bigger and bigger like my windmills were.

I ended the day by watering the windmills. Then I skipped inside with a smile on my face. I slipped my gumboots off when I reached my bedroom door then I fluffed up my pillow and jumped in bed. I nodded off not long after but I kept thinking something disastrous was going to happen.

About an hour later I was awoken by thunder noises and heavy rain. I peered through my window and gasped. The stalks of my windmills were starting to split.  I rushed outside, I was too late. My windmills had blown away, all that was left behind was a third of the stalk in the ground. I wept and wept but it didn’t make a difference. I was so heart broken  almost like I had been rejected. Without my windmills I was a miserable old man.

Suddenly my hat blew off my head. I caught it in time but I decided it wasn’t safe being outside in this storm. I turned back to my door and struggled to get inside with the heavy wind. Once I was inside, I felt the emotions coming on again. I sat on my bed sulking hoping tomorrow would turn out better than today.

I was wrong sadly. Seeing my windmills gone in the daylight had made me feel desperate. Instead of spending my day unhappy I decided to change my attitude and got out the one windmill seed in my pocket. I blew on it slightly. My world felt like it had changed, the storm had never come and my windmills felt like they were still there. My happiness grew inside, I felt joyful and ecstatic. I was jumping around my farm like it was a trampoline. I was going to plant my one windmill but this time it was going to exceed.

The catch

I snuck through the vines of the jungle, avoiding any bush or movement. I was hoping that nothing life-threatening was lurking in the jungle. SWACK!!!. I heard a large noise behind me and something started to tighten around my ankle. I peered around franticly and saw a rope pulling on my leg, I whimpered cowardly, hoping that the noise had continued through the jungle spreading my misery. I closed my eyes for a minute, I tried to think, nothing happened. I laid down timidly, something struggled through the bush, coming at me with a spear furiously. I stood up and tried to growl at him, warning him that this was my territory. He just kept coming closer so I yelped loudly like he had cut me but to my disbelief he had set me free.

I took this as a chance to get back at him. So I leaped on my front paws, clutching the grass and hoping this will frighten him. He stumbled back and shut his eyes with fear. I had the chance to pounce onto him but for some reason my nose took over and I wandered into the bush following a fresh smell of fish. I reached a basket with leafs and..... and.... and..... a tiny fish? This was so pathetic. I was so disappointed, I feel sorry for him. Without thinking I snatched the pitiful fish, leaped out the basket and ran through a clearing in the vines of the jungle.

He came after me moments later with a terrifying look on his face. I didn’t turn back, I kept running. I headed for a hill, it looked like it was near having a landslide.I took a leap of faith and landed straight on my paws. I kept running. After that I could smell the fish from the other lake. He was right behind me, following my every move, as planned. The lake was right around the corner.

I had led him to the lake to feed his people. He had such a grateful look on his face when he turned around the corner, just in time too. The biggest fish had just leaped over the lake blocking the sunlight from my eyes. His mouth dropped, his eyes were wide. I felt like I had achieved something amazing.  I passed him a broken stick and sat down, I think he knew what I meant because he took out a fishing line and a hook from his pocket and tied it all together.

It took a while but he was happy with what he had caught. We were walking back and he had two large fish lugged on his shoulder. He looked extremely pleased with me and threw the smallest fish to me with a smile. I caught it with my mouth gracefully and sat down but he kept on walking. I knew I had helped him enough so it was time for me to go. I turned into dust and faded away into the night sky. I still watch down on him now and then. He always manages to catch enough for the village and sometimes he even has some leftovers for the jungle animals.

Lake Waikareiti

Lake Waikareiti

In term 2, week 4, room 17 (our class) went to Camp Kaitawa. It was a long ride there but it was all worth it for the experience. I had so many thrilling adventures but my favourite part about camp took place on Tuesday the 28th of May. That was the day I went rowing on the clearest bluest lake with Miss Hill and my excited camp group.

Lake Waikareiti was amazing. It is said to be the clearest and coldest lake in the North Island. It was formed by a landslide 18,000 years ago and is still around now. Lake Waikareiti also contains a small island near the middle that has its own little lake. This island is called Rahui island. Another unusual fact about lake Waikareiti is that it has a rare plant growing near the lake called  blechnum discolour or a more common name for it would be crown fern.

 

The lake is located in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, North Island. It has the surface of 880m and normally the temperature of the lake doesn’t go higher than 20 degrees. On Tuesday the 4th of June the temperature was 14 degrees Celsius.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next time I would like to test the temperature of the water in summer and winter and see the difference. The reason would do this is because I would like to gather the numbers and turn it into a maths problem. Also I would enjoy learning how to row so I could venture out to Rahui Island whenever it suited.

The lake was freezing but it was still my favourite part of camp. I’m happy I had the chance to go to camp with all my friends and spend a lot of time with them and my camp group. My camp group worked well together, everyone included themselves in activities such as the amazing race, my kitchen rules, rowing and much more. The girls in the dorm room woke up with a lot say but they still managed to charm people in the morning with their neat hair and lovely smiles especially Mrs Roil. Camp Kaitawa was an experience of a lifetime and I’m glad I didn’t miss out.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia

When someone has hypothermia most people don’t know what the symptoms are and how to prevent it. Sometimes the symptoms can be pretty noticeable but if its your first time out in the bush or even out in the snow watch your party for signs.

When your cold, have no energy or even have an injury, it is hard to stop hypothermia. So before you go out into the coldness of the forest remember that the causes of hypothermia are mostly when you are cold, wet and there is a lot of wind. If you have all of these things you could end up with severe hypothermia and sometimes you might even die.

To notice that someone in your party has hypothermia check for signs like if they were to be severely shivering you should know that their temperature has dropped down to 35 degrees, then at 33 degrees they would have something called severe hypothermia, next at 32 degrees the shivering stops which is a horrible sign, at 28 degrees their heart will start to beat irregularly, finally at 20 degrees the heart will stop and they will definitely die. The hardest sign is when they stop shivering, it could be they are warming up or getting even colder. Usually when they stop after 30 minutes of shivering it means they will soon stop breathing and could die.

People think that to cure someone with hypothermia is to warm them up but you have to follow a few rules. Find shelter first then take off any damp clothing, unpack the sleeping bag and put them inside, wait a while and if they are still shivering fill the sleeping bag with bottles of hot water. They should slowly be warming up but make sure they don’t warm up to fast or it could cause heat rashes or something worse. When trying to treat them though make sure to  never give them alcohol, rub their chest, or take any of their warm gear off because hypothermia can last up to 2 whole days.   

To prevent hypothermia you need to wear gloves and a beanie, woollen clothes that trap heat, a waterproof jacket and definitely try to avoid cotton. You would need to wear this out hiking because hypothermia is mainly caused by environmental factors.

There is different types of hypothermia such as:

Feeling cold-numbness in arms and legs.

Mild hypothermia- shivering, clumsy, irrational, confused, may appear drunk, denies problems, and slurred speech.

Moderate hypothermia- muscle stiffness.

Severe hypothermia- shivering stops, collapses, semi conscious, starts removing clothes.

Critical hypothermia- unconscious, no response to pain, slow pulse breathing, grey, blue, or pink coloured skin.

Cardiac hypothermia- no pulse, stopped breathing, pupils have enlarged, possibly dead. These all sound horrible and they are, the only way to handle someone with severe hypothermia is to get that person on a helicopter gently and make sure its not too hot so they don’t warm up too fast. Also if it’s only mild hypo you can cure it with a simple hot chocolate and a nice warm bath.

Another way to prevent hypothermia is to eat the right food. The best food to eat is nourishing food such as, cheese, bread, peanut butter, and muesli bars. Before that you should've eaten a good healthy breakfast and sometimes when you on the move try eating something like chocolate or snack bars with lots of energy inside. As for drinks, a thermos of hot water will be fine and should last you awhile.   

Last of all, plan your trip. By planning your trip you'll need to check the weather, and make sure you know how many people are in your party incase someone does get hypothermia. If you have already left, make sure you allow breaks to get your energy back but to also put more clothing on.

Interveiw reflection

We made a slide to show our parents for our interviews. This shows what I thought of  this term so far.

The internet documentry

My life from 2002 to 2013

This shows what has happened in my life from 2002 to 2013.