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THE TONGARIRO CROSSING

5:28, 5:29, 5:30am.  Good morning Friday.  It’s still dark outside but the house is light and awake.  I feel sleepy.  The cool air at the pickup bus makes everyone more aware of what’s around us.

The rocky mountains are coming into sight.  The sun has just come up over the high peaks is warming everyone up.  The day has now properly begun. On the path now, the sound of trickling water keeps me going.  It’s refreshing and gentle.

The boardwalk criss-crosses over the flowing stream.  Mount Doom comes into sight and I can see the ask from the latest eruption.  Steam is coming out of the great mountain towering above us.  The waterfalls of Soda Springs are ahead; the 4km point is behind.  Onwards and upwards – literally.

We are climbing the Devil’s Staircase, our first major ascent.  It isn’t green growth anymore.  Instead, crumpled rock and dirt.  The stairs seem to go on forever…

A few kilometres later we have reached the Red Crater.  This iron crater is just before the Emerald Lakes.  It’s a sand and ask sliding path down to the Emerald Lakes.  These lakes are sacred so you are not allowed to disturb the water.  We have a lunch stop on the jagged rocks near the steam coming out of the ground.

We are now going on our last major descent.  The path keeps crisscrossing down the mountain making the walk more tiring and longer than it had to be.  The crossing starts to end in a lush green forest with a rushing river, a very different setting to the rest of our walk.

Then at last I come out of the forest and into the carpark.  I’ve finished.  My legs feel like they won’t be able to walk for a week.  I’m so tired and so pleased.  20km done and dusted.  35,000 steps weren’t that hard.

saying goodbye

When you meet someone who becomes a really good friend they can become family.  A family is usually a group of people that you love and they take care of you.  You would usually say goodbye to them in the morning and hello in the afternoon.  But when you say goodbye and you don't know when you will say hello again, it is really sad.

Living on a boat means you move around and get different neighbours,  Cruising neighbours move as well, just not always to the same place.  During a season of cruising you meet friends in one place then you meet them in another.  But at the end of a season everyone splits up to different countries.

Our cruising season has ended and I have had to say a lot of goodbyes.  I've said bye to friends that became part of our family.  I feel so sad that I cry.  It shows how much a friend can mean.

Highlights of the Ambrym festival, vanuatu

This festival wasn't the Festival of Sydney and it was different to every other island festival I had gone to.  The festival wasn't for tourists, it was for the villagers, it was the custom dance festival for the Chief.

The men were wearing a thick black strip of material around their waist with leaves at the back and a tube at the front covering part of their boy bits.  The women wore dried grass skirts around their waist.  During the breaks between dances I caught butterflies with the local kids in my hands. I offered the other cruisers $5 for a photo of a dead butterfly on their head or $10 for a photo with a live butterfly; I didn't make any money.  My favourite two dances were the coconut dance and the Rom dance.  The coconut dance was where the Chief and two other people stood on a platform above the ground wile all the other dances danced in a circle and threw coconuts at the chief and the other villagers on the platform.  Everyone laughed.  If the Chief gets hit by lots of coconuts it means the villagers don't like their chief, but luckily the Chief didn't get hit at all so his village really likes him.  The Rom dance was the main part of the festival.  The dancers had to design their own masks to go with the costumes.  They looked like a really colourful monster from Where the Wild Things Are.

As they danced the villagers sang and made music with the tam tams (traditional drums).  The singing wasn't like opera singing or music you would download from iTunes, it was traditional. As they sang and danced the ground shook from the stomps of their feet.

When lunch time came each day two food stalls sold traditional food for lunch.  It was all very yummy.  They sold nuts, sweet bread with creamy custard inside which they call doughnuts, traditional pancakes, cooked pumpkin, coconut and a few more things.

On the first two days and half of the second day we walked to and from the festival.  One time when all the other cruisers were walking back one of the locals showed us a huge tree with lots of vines you can use as a rope swing; it was lots of fun.  On the last walk back we caught the bumpiest truck ride ever.  There was only one seat in the front so most people had to sit in the back.  Every now and then we would have to duck because there were overhanging tree branches over the road. Part of the road was funded by the Australian Government which I found really cool.  This was the only bit that wasn't dirt.

The festival was great.  I would recommend going to days two and three.

Tana volcano, vanuatu

The anticipation has been building in me for day, weeks. But now we are actually doing it. We are going to see an active volcano.

We hopped in the ute. I was in the back with Squidy, Bosun, Sea Bird (our Brazilian crew member) and Varekai's crew with Captain and the driver in the front. The road went bump, bump, bump all the way to the foot of the volcano.  We passed some amazing trees on the way; they were magical like the Faraway Tree.  The trees filled me with happiness. I imagined they would be much smaller and definitely not as spectacular. 

At the foot of the volcano we were led to a flat area with lots of logs as seats.  Everyone was put into country groups then the people from the local village did two dances for us.  When the second dance happened one of the girls around my age took my hand for me to join the villagers doing their dance.  It made me feel special as I was the only one.  At the end two girls put their faces against mine putting face paint prints on my face.  Now it was time for another bumpy ute trip, this time up the volcano.

It was very squishy in the ute then at last we are at the volcano.  I could see the smoke towering above the volcano hundreds of metres into the sky.  I could hear the boom of the lava being shot out of the ground.  The sound waves of the explosion pushed my clothes back and popped my ears.  At the foot of the volcano I could see dried lava from the many eruptions before.  I felt excited and cold.  There are no kind of railings around the rim of the volcano.  The hole in the middle looks like a gigantic meteor crater with three holes that have smoke, lava and ash coming out.  At first I felt scared and where we stood was only 2m wide with a drop on each side but when it got dark I just felt amazed.  The chunks of lava were the size of a bus and git flung out so high.  It was a spectacular, amazing, dazzling, terrific sight - I just couldn't leave.

The memory will be one I will never forget.  It will stay in me forever.

Somolevu school, fiji

I always thought I knew what school was about until I went to the Somolevu school in the Yasawa Islands in Fiji for two days.

One day we went to visit the Somolevu school. We gave them some resources to help recover from Cyclone Winston.  One of their classrooms was knocked down by the cyclone so now they have a tent instead and it’s really cool.  At the end of the visit the headmaster asked Humbolt Squid and me if we would like to go to the school.  I said “yes” because I felt excited and everyone was so friendly. When we left everyone was shouting goodbye to us which made me feel welcome and even more exited. As soon as we got back to QuickStar I got my lunch, recess and books ready for the next day.

It’s come at last! I was even more exited then before. We had to get up at 6am to catch the school boat 7am because school started at 8am. The boat was just like a long, hard-bottom dingy. At the school I needed to find the head master because we had decided to give him our laptop we didn’t use because the school only had one other laptop. The day started off with a church service. I couldn’t understand much because most of it was in Fijian. Then I heard a bell. I got told it meant everyone has to pick up rubbish. Something amazing was that they had so little rubbish to pick up they had to pick up leaves and sticks instead!  It shows how much care they took of the school.  I think most schools should do this because it shows that the school takes a lot of care of their property.

Before school started on the second day I went into the year 8 class.  I taught the teacher how to make an origami crane because she asked me to show her some art that she could teach the class.  I also thought of an idea for their rock display.  They had some bamboo which I made into a tepee and used the leftover bamboo for a sign pole that went across the top.  They were learning about countries so I sang the Australian National Anthem to them.

Class (year) 4 and 3 were combined because there were not many people in the school. I also learnt a new sort of maths division. I find it very useful and fun. Then recess came. We played tip at recess. They like to call it touch.

When lunch came we played tip again.  I also learnt a new game called “cat”.  It’s when somebody is in the middle crouched down (the cat) and the rest of the people hold hands around them except for one who stands outside the circle.  This person has to touch the cat’s ear and the people in the circle have to hold the cat down while the other person runs away like a game of tip.  Then we started chasing Squiddy and his friends around the playground.

Our last lesson for the day was a language lesson.  In this language lesson I stood up in front of the class and said words from the blackboard in English and they had to say it back to me.  The one the Fijian kids had most trouble with was “a crowd of spectators”.  Then they taught me some Fijian.  I learnt “yandra” which means good morning.

After school while I was waiting for the school boat I played soccer with the ball that we had given to the school.

Here are some of the differences at the school: were that they didn’t have to wear shoes so I joined in with that difference on the second day (because my shoes broke, but it was really cool).  In their classroom they don’t have any shelves with resources or computer corner or smartboards or iPads, there are only desks and a blackboard. Still they are happy with not much compared to my school.

Overall, I loved my experience and I wish I could have gone for a lot longer.  Thank you Mr Christopher and the Somolevu School.  I’ll always remember my time at the school and whenever we go past I’ll try to go

A few Days at Paradise Bay

Today was one of those days where two very different things happened.  First we had a normal start - cafe stop. Download some school work (again). Have a fluffy (baby cino). Bump into Carpe Diem crew. Chat with Carpe Diem. Go back to QuickStar.

After a while we headed off to explore the Islands.  This was my first sail in NZ. I felt good to be sailing with the wind in my hair again. Around the end of the trip the engine wouldn't turn back on, but luckily dad fixed it.

When we were anchored at Paradise Bay we hopped in the dinghy and went ashore.  I found a rope swing hanging in a tree near the water.  I love the feeling when I'm swinging on a rope swing near the water.

I enjoyed the bush walk apart from the itchy grass.  We were playing camouflage in a patch of long grass we found. I would have won if the grass wasn't in my face. It felt much better when I got back into the sea.

At QuickStar I got all cossy in my P.J.s. Now were going to watch the hobbit. I enjoyed today. I hope I'll enjoy tomorrow as much!

BYE BYE CAPTAIN AUBREY (DAD) 13/4/16

On Saturday (9th of April) our journey began. Dad left the shore and set sail to NZ with 3 other crew members. I was so sad to see him go. So was my mum and brother. Dad probably was too but he wasn't showing it. I didn't want him to leave but I knew he had to. I remember the last glimpse of QuickStar and dad before they disappeared. After that our journey had really begun.  Every day I look on the website to see where he is. I can't wait to see him again in NZ. But now I know it is all real. There's no turning back now.

Jervis Bay

Hi everyone!

On Sunday the 17th of Jan, we sailed to Jervis Bay from Bundeena. Captain Aubrey and Boson Albatross got up at 1am to start the passage with some night sailing. They did that for a while then I and Humboldt Squid got up. It took about 14 hours to get to Jervis Bay so it was a very long day. When we got there our friends came over for dinner and a swim. We were all very tired, but it was very nice to see them. After that, I and Squidy went to our friend's house for the night.

In the morning, they went to Chinaman's beach for a while. I caught a few waves on the surf board while Humboldt Squid caught a few waves on the boogie board. Then everyone met up and when snorkeling.

The next day, we motored (used the motor) to Honeymoon Bay. In the morning we when to the beach to have breakfast. I had fruit salad. Later on, we got into the dingy and went to the really Honeymoon Bay. It was GREAT!! Great snorkeling, great beach great rocks, great everything!! 

MY PHOTOGRAPHY