Amsterdam

Hi Amy and friends!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I've been hanging out in Amsterdam with Renée's friend Samson (who is know as 'Tikitu' by most people over here - that's officially his middle name though). This is Samson:

Samson/Tikitu is originally from Golden Bay in New Zealand, and went to Otago University in Dunedin, NZ with Renée. He's now in Amsterdam, still studying but working at the same time. He did try to explain what he studies - it's something to do with logic - but it made my poor owl brain hurt so I had to stop listening.

Anyway, Samson had lost his camera on a trip home to NZ, so we had to wait for it to arrive before we could get any photos. I had a great time hanging out on the Houseboat where Samson lives, but we finally got the photos done, so I'm on my way back to London. I'm hoping to get in a quick trip to Sweden before I have to head back to Horsell, but I'll have to see how much time I have left. (Amy, maybe your mum could email Renée and let her know?)

1. Something the Dutch do well is bicycles. This is a 'bakfiets' ('fiets' = bycicle).

Samson used one to move house, shuffling all his boxes of books and clothing and what-have-you in three trips across Amsterdam. It's recommended!
There are lots of canals in the Netherlands and many people choose to live on houseboats. Here are some we saw on our tour!
That's a bridge. If a boat comes through that's too big to fit underneath, it has to lift up to let it past. That's what all the magnificent ironwork is for.

This is Samson and me with his mandocello, called Marama. It's a type of musical instrument which is apparently a bigger type of mandolin, but tuned like a cello. That didn't mean much to me, but I like the music, and Marama and I got on fine!
This palce is called Brouwerij't IJ. It's a brewery and beer-tasting pub, built in the bottom of a windmill. Their logo (just about visible, the red sign on the side) is an ostrich. Personally I think an owl would have been better... It's another boat. On a canal. Not going anywhere fast, by the looks of that rust.
These, despite appearences, are also boats. People live in them. In fact Samson lives in something quite like this!

So that's my trip to the Netherlands. I'll look forward to seeing you all soon!

Love,

Sophie (the owl)

Back in the UK

Hi Amy and friends,

I'm back in the UK and a bit chilly after my time in Western Australia. I'm going to hang out with Renee and Simon for a couple of days (although Si is not much fun at the moment as he's ill!) and then should hopefully be heading off to Amsterdam.

I've got a few bits and pieces to post to you (decided to post them from the UK as it's cheaper!) and I have some new decorations which Renée will post some photos of soon!

Hope you're having a nice time at school and that all the owls are having as much fun as I am!

Love, Sophie the Owl

Perth

Hi Amy and friends!

I've had a lovely time in Perth. The weather has been warm, but a bit overcast so not too hot (Rochelle has been very pleased). Here's a picture of me with Benji the dog and Oswald the owl - one of Rochelle's favourites from her collection. Benji likes to jump on the lilo whenever anyone is in the swimming pool - even if they are already on it!
We went to the zoo, where I got to meet a real live kangaroo! As you can see, I got pretty close - it was a little bit scary, but they were actually quite friendly in the end. Kangaroos are marsupials, which means after their babies are born the mummy carries them in a special pouch for around 9 months. Kangaroos are the only mammals to travel by hopping, and they balance themselves using their large tails. There's more information about kangaroos here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo
I also had a photo with a cassowary, a large flightless bird. I didn't' get too close to this animal as they can be fierce! (although usually only if they feel frightened or threatened). Cassowaries grow to about the same height as an adult person, and they defend themselves with their sharp three-toed claws. More about cassowaries here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary
Stephen (Renée's cousin), took more photos, but he's not sure what happened to them. They are going to have another look on Jean's camera when she gets back to Perth on Monday. Meantime, I'm heading back to the UK with some goodies, which Renée will send on.

I think I'm going to Amsterdam next!

Some Australian Owls...

Renée did a bit of research on Australian owls for me. Apparently there are 10 native Australian owls, some of which are similar to British owls. Here are some pictures and information about some of my favourites...

The Australian Barn Owl

Famous for its ghostly beauty and silent flight, the Australian Barn Owl, which is smaller in stature than its northern hemisphere cousins, is a hunter of small terrestrial mammals up to the size of rats, and will take birds up to its own size under cover of darkness. Its calls vary from a breathy hiss to an unearthly shriek.

The Masked Owl Living in forest and bushland, the Masked Owl preys upon animals up to the size of possums and rabbits, and birds up to the size of magpies and kookaburras. Masked Owls are almost never found more than 300km inland. They are territorial, will mate for life and the female will usually lay two to three eggs in a tree hollow.

The Lesser Sooty Owl Considered by many to be one of the prettiest owls, the Lesser Sooty Owl inhabits the tropical mountain rainforests of north eastern Queensland.

I'd like to be a Lesser Sooty Owl I think, because I like their silvery colour and big eyes.

Sophie in Oz!

Well, Australia actually. I have landed in Perth, Western Australia where I am being looked after by a lovely lady called Rochelle, Renée's aunty. On Wednesday we are going for a walk in Kings Park with Stephen, Rochelle's eldest son, and her friend Jean who has a digital camera, so I should have some new photos to post then.

Western Australia is a pretty big place, and is the largest state in Australia (you can see it on the map above). It covers 2.5 million square kilometers (that's 10 times bigger than the UK!!) but a lot of it is desert. Only 2 million people live there (that's 30 times less than the UK!!) - so everyone could have a whole square kilometer of land each, and there'd still be room left over! They mostly live around the edges on the coastline, as there's not a lot of water for people, animals or plants to live in the middle bits.

It's pretty warm here too, about 30 degrees on average at the moment. Rochelle prefers the weather in the UK - she even likes Scotland in winter!

I'm looking forward to going for a walk in the park on Wednesday, and meeting some of Rochelle's collection of owls!

Final New Zealand photos... finally!

Hello! Renée's mum has emailed the final photos, so I can catch you up with the last weekend of my trip to New Zealand. We went to the Auckland museum (www.aucklandmuseum.com) with Renée's brother (Rob), his wife (Pen, short for Penelope) and Renée's nieces, Alice and Isla. They've just built a new conference/events centre and foyer in the Museum and it's pretty impressive. We went for a tour of the new bit, and Renee took this photo of Alice and me. That's the Sky Tower you can see in the background, which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. You can bungee jump off it, but I didn't try that!

This is Renée, Alice and me in front of a traditional Maori storage building, called a pataka. They were built on stilts so no animals could get in and steal the food. The figure on the top with his tongue poking out is called a tiki, and he is a warrior. All the carvings on the building tell stories about the tribe of people who built it, their ancestors and their family history. The carvings are very intricate and beautiful.

This is me with a girl in traditional Maori costume. She is standing in front of a Maori building, or whare (the 'wh' is pronounced like a soft 'f'). This one would have been a communal sleeping and meeting house, on a marae. Agian, the carvings tell stories about the tangata whenua, the people who lived there.

Renée and Simon are moving flat this weekend, so I should be heading off to Australia this week. I'm quite glad - apparently Perth is very hot, so a bit different to our current snowy conditions

Hope you are all enjoying being back at school.

Love,

Sophie :o)

Just to let you know I'm still here!

I'm still here, just resting after the big trip. We are waiting for Renée's mum to email the last few photos to put on the blog, then I'm off to Western Australia.

I hope you all had good Chrismasses and New Years. I was in Devon for Christmas, but naughty Simon and Renee didn't take ANY photos!

Hopefully some more interesting news to blog soon...

Love,
Sophie the Owl xxx

The Glenbrae School Concert

On Thursday I went to see the Glenbrae School concert. Renee and I had front row seats as Renee was doing the videoing. The theme was Around the World in 80 Days which is what they have been studying this year, each class looking at a different country in detail.
This is Phillip and Jodene who played the captains of the aeroplane.

These are some of the Year 6 children who played the passengers on the aeroplane travelling all around the world.
These are the New Entrant children who were doing a New Zealand item. Maori people have a traditional type of song and dance called Kapa Haka. They did a song called Toro Mai. They were very cute!
The Year 1 children in Room 5 were studying China and did a lion dance.
This is the Y3 children from Room 1. They did a very cool dance called Chori Chori from India. Don't the saris look lovely?
The Y4 children in Room 8 did a Scottish folk dance called the Waves of Tory. When they studied Scotland, they all most wanted to see the Loch Ness Monster.
This is their teacher, Miss Paton, who supported her class by wearing her tartan pyjamas during the Scottish dance!
Room 2 studied France and did a dance to Frere Jacques. They all wore red, white and blue like the colours of the French flag and had little ribbons on their wrists.
Room 9 (Y5) studied Egypt. They did a very cool dance to Walk like an Egyptian which Renee helped to choreograph. These were my favourite costumes.

These children are in Y6 and Jay, Renee's mum is their teacher. They were studying Peru, where the people celebrate the New Year by worshipping the Sun God. The boy at the back, Sam, was playing the Sun God in his big yellow and orange costume. This item was to a song called Reach up for the Sunrise and Renee made up the whole dance and taught it to the class. She was very happy with how it looked.

This is another picture of Room 7, just because Renee thought they were great!
At the end of the concert, the children all sang a New Zealand version of Jingle Bells which has some very funny lyrics! Renee has a copy of the concert programme and the words to the song to send you.