communicate-with-us

It's been a while!

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:50:08 +0100

Hi class!

Long time, no talk! We've been out of Australia now for two months, and are now going on to our 7th country of the trip! We've visited Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, and are now heading to Cambodia! If you go to the 'Where Are We Going?' page, you can learn about these countries. We still are working on the websites that have the information about our visits!

Also, if you didn't notice, it's official: all geocaches are out in the wild! We placed the last one yesterday in Laos, so check out the Geocaching page and see where they all are!

We hope you are enjoying the spring time in Washington! It's been hot here, but we've been spending a lot of time in the water. Hopefully you all are being great students for Ms. Kern and Mr. Taylor!

Talk to you soon!

Andrew and Casey

P.S. If you have any questions at all, please let us know!

Australia Questions Answered!

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:01:21 +0100

Thank you for the great questions! We got a few minutes to relax and answer them, and wanted to share it with you! Enjoy!

What kind of animals did you see most in Australia?

We saw lots of birds:

White tailed macaw

Roselles

Lorikeets of several varieties

Sulpher crested cockatoo

Kangaroos seemed to be everywhere also. We saw them in every location we were in.

Did you see any poisonous animals?

We came across poisonous Redback spiders on the farm quite often. They live under rocks mostly or near trees. Since much of our farm work involved collecting rocks and painting trees, we saw them a lot.

Did you see a Black Mamba?

No, we didn’t see any Black Mambas, thank goodness! We did see some pythons and much friendlier snakes.

Are you having a great time?

Yes! We are having an excellent time.

Is the flooding increasing?

Flood waters have receded, but sadly it is now cyclone season here. Cyclones are what we call hurricanes. The flooded areas were starting to get cleaned up when Cyclone Yasi struck. Yasi was the size of Italy and increased the receded water significantly and wiped out even more houses. Now, the same region that was under water from the floods are recovering from the cyclone too.

When will the floods go away?

Farmers are speculating that they will have bad floods for the next two or three years. The government is trying to develop a better system of using dams to keep rivers at a constant flow and at a safe level. However, they won’t be able to predict the rain, so the floods might happen again.

Did you rescue any animals?

Andrew and I were unable to help in any of the animal rescues. So many people were without homes and there was no way to get from one place to another as cars were swept away by the rushing waters. Andrew and I decided to stay safe and watch the floods on the news. So, we didn’t get a chance to be around the animals in need of help.

How many different species of animals have died in the floods?

They are still assessing the damage from the floods. They speculate that the turtle populations will be reduced significantly since it is nesting season. Kangaroos and wallabies are expected to be found dead in the next two months in high numbers because of the large number of parasite infestations that occurred after the floods. Wombats, which burrow below the ground, will have drowned, so they think only a few remain…those lucky enough to run away in time. Birds will likely bounce back from the devastation, but the flying foxes (bats) will likely decrease as babies were abandoned by mothers to escape. They won’t be able to tell how badly the population of smaller creatures were affected until scientific research is conducted….and that could take months.

We hope that you are doing well and that you are safe.

We are having a wonderful time exploring Bali. We will inform you of our adventures and journeys soon!

Thanks for all the wonderful questions!

Learn about our Australia visit! (And see what's coming up in Indonesia!)

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 10:16:36 +0100

Hi class!

Well, it has been an amazing visit, but on Monday, February 28th, we are leaving Australia. We've been here since December, and have learned about and experienced so many amazing things! We're ready to share all of our pictures with you, and you can see them now on our 'Where Have We Been - Australia' page. We hope you enjoy it!

But don't worry, we are going to another amazing country now! We are visiting Indonesia next, and we wanted to make sure you got to know what this country is all about as well! So Casey put together an amazing page for you to learn about it. You can see it now on the 'Where Are We Going - Indonesia' page. We hope you have lots of great questions for us! You can have Ms. Kern or Mr. Taylor post them in the comments section to this blog!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Casey and Andrew

Farming in Western Australia

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 12:37:25 +0100

Hi class!

We just wanted to say hello and let you know we are still in Australia, surviving! We've been safe since the floods, but there is still a lot of damage and clean up has been difficult.

The only risk we've run into in western Australia is the redback spider! They are very dangerous and can cause a lot of pain. We are volunteering on a Macadamia nut farm in the western part of the country at the moment. That is the reason that we are seeing the redbacks. We've also seen a harmless Huntsman spider the size of Andrew's hand with hundreds of little babies!

We will hopefully have ALL of our photos posted for you in a few days and have information on our next big adventure...

Hope to see you soon!

-Casey & Andrew

Welcome to 2011!

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:28:41 +0100

Helloooooo from Sydney, Australia! Casey and I celebrated Christmas and New Years here, and have been busy trying to gather as much information as we can so you can learn about this country! So, as a New Years treat, Casey just posted the Australia page for the 'Where Are We Going?' section! It will help you learn about the places, animals, and other neat facts about where we are, so go check it out as soon as you can!

Also, we've been doing a lot of Geocaching lately! If you check out the Geocaching page, you can look at the slideshow on the top of the page to see us in action. Also, I made note of what travel bugs are on the move, so take a look! One of them has already made it to Europe! Some geocachers have also been nice enough to take pictures of them with the travel bug!

We hope you guys are enjoying this as much as we are! Good luck with the second half of your school year!

Andrew

G'day!

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:08:09 +0100

Hello everyone!

We arrived in Australia a few days ago and so far have been wandering the state of Queensland. We've been to the Great Barrier Reef where we saw Nemo and his Anemone. At the moment, we are on Magnetic Island relaxing before we journey further south towards the state of New South Wales.

All of our experiences from New Zealand were recently posted on the website as well as the corresponding videos. We will be updating you on the information about Australia shortly. We look forward to SKYPE-ing with you soon as well!

Talk to you soon!

-Casey and Andrew :)

Geocaches going live!

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:44:33 +0100

Hey guys! Andrew here. I just wanted to let you know that since our trip started, we've been able to start placing your Travel Bugs at geocaches in New Zealand! So far, five of them are out there, and should start moving fairly soon! Here are the lucky bugs that are out in the wild as of today! Enjoy!

New Zealand Questions Answered!

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:30:24 +0100

Kia Ora! Hello from Aotearoa (New Zealand!)

This blog is a long one, primarily because the questions you ask are so mature and require such detailed answers! We love them so keep it up! We will update you on our travels with photographs and videos in the upcoming week. Keep a look out for the postman too! There should be another postcard headed your way soon! :)

1. Foods: For the most part, food here is similar to home (chicken, steaks, broccoli, fish & chips (French fries), and potatoes. Something unique in New Zealand is a mince pie, which is like a chicken pot pie, but with meat and cheese. Desserts have been the best part: Pavlova, steamed pudding, and Hokey Pokey Ice cream, which has bits of honeycomb in it!

We did try possum pie the other day....neither of us enjoyed it very much!

2. Animals: So far we have seen cats, cows, deer, llamas, goats, sheep (lots of sheep!), dogs, possums (only dead ones), the Kiwi bird, a colourful rainbow lorikeet, chickens, emus, fur seals, and thars (similar to goats).

3. Mountains: There are approximately 88 mountains over 1000 feet in New Zealand. The highest mountain is Mount Cook at 12,316 ft, which is locally known as Aoraki. Because of New Zealand’s position on the earth, there are six volcanic zones that formed many of the mountains on the islands. Mount Ngauruhoe, for example, is a second volcanic cone/mountain of the Tongariro Mountain Zone. Lord of the Rings fans know Mount Ngauruhoe as Mt. Doom.

On the southern island, there is a mountain chain called the Southern Alps. Maoris believe that the Southern Alps (Te Tiritiri o Te Moana) were formed by Aoraki (Mt Cook) and his three brothers: Rakiora, Rakirua, and Rarakiroa. These brothers were the sons of the sky father (Rakanui) and Earth Mother (Papatuanuku). The four brothers decided to come down from the sky to visit their mother on a magical Waka (Canoe). After their visit, they tried to return home, but their Waka tipped over on its side. When the Waka hit the water, the brothers turned to stone! The Maoris believe that the south island is the tipped Waka and the Southern Alps are the brothers trapped in stone forever.

4. Age: People in New Zealand can live a pretty long time. Some grandparents here have lived to be over 100 years old! When they reach their 100th birthday, the Queen of England writes a personal letter to them and gives them a congratulations certificate! Otherwise, most people are expected to live to about 80 years old.

5. Clothes: People in New Zealand dress very similar to us in the USA. Girls wear blue jeans, skirts, and dresses. Boys mostly wear blue jeans or shorts. When in Auckland, where 1/3 of the population lives, we saw lots of men/women in business suits. They do use rubber boots (called Gum Boots) and rain slickers for the wet weather and the water. We’re not entirely sure yet, but it seems that all school children wear uniforms here.

6. Recent Active Volcano: The most recent volcanic eruption was in 2007. Mt.Ruapehu is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It has a major eruption about every 50 years with several minor ones in between. Scientists believe this volcano has been active for about 250,000 years.

Aside from Ruapehu, the world’s most dangerous volcano is located in New Zealand and is called Lake Taupo! According to weather records kept by the ancient Chinese and the Romans, Lake Taupo erupts about every 2000 years, with its last eruption in 186 AD. Scientists believe that the Lake Taupo eruption in 186 AD was 50 times greater than the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption!

We’ve also learned that the capital city of New Zealand (Wellington) will eventually sink to the bottom of the sea since the land it sits on is remnants from volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago.

7. When can we Skype: Andrew and I will speak with Ms. Beth this weekend and try to arrange a date and time sometime very soon. Have your questions ready!

Fiji - What We Learned

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:29:12 +0100

Fiji was a fascinating place for us to begin our trip. The people are very friendly and invite you into their homes as you pass them by. We were lucky enough to visit a school with children the same ages as you! We also went to a village and attended church. Everyone sat on the ground with their legs crossed and the kids sang beautiful songs.

There were a few things about Fiji that we were lucky enough to learn while we were there. Many of the people living on the main island are from the smaller islands. In fact, when the boys and girls reach the age of 14, they move to the main island to attend school! These boys and girls either live in dorms, with relatives, or in some cases, their parents go with them until they finish school.

The toilets were also somewhat different in Fiji. There are two buttons on the top that...well...are used depending on what you leave behind.

We also discovered that mosquito nets are very helpful in Fiji. At night, our beds were covered with a giant mosquito net to protect us from bites. It was a lot like camping, somewhat exciting to wake up in and we didn't get bit at all!

The food in Fiji was delicious! We had fresh fruit everyday which included Papaya, Paw Paw ( a local fruit), mangoes, and pineapple. Our lunches and dinners were usually meat in a cream sauce with lots of veggies, rice, coleslaw (they love their coleslaw!), and potatoes.

The favorite sports of Fiji, according to the fourth grade girls we spoke with, are Net Ball, Rugby, and Volleyball. Net ball, we were told, is a lot like basketball, but you don't bounce the ball and you can't run. You can only take one step and then pass it to another player. The object is to shoot the ball through the hoop for points.

Overall, we had a wonderful time in Fiji and were sad to leave. We met lots of new friends and had some great experiences. Now, we are in New Zealand on our next adventure around the world!

Bula Bula!

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:19:48 +0100

Bula everyone! (Hello!)

Andrew and I arrived in Fiji this morning via a massive airplane. There were 300 or more people and there was an upstairs! The flight took 14 hours. They served fruit and yogurt for breakfast and a turkey sandwich for dinner.

Fiji is very hot. We took a walk with the owner of our hostel and he told us all about his village on the island of Maqai. He said village life was very different than living in the city of Nadi because in a village, everyone helps. His name is Henry and he told us that in a village, it was his job to catch fish and to pick vegetables. He no longer lives on that island, but he visits his family often and owns another hostel for eco-tourism. Eco-tourism is for people who want to travel to Fiji, but also learn how to keep it a clean and perfect place to visit.

We won't be able to answer all of the questions yet since we just got here, but here are a few of the answers to the questions posted last week.

What kinds of transportation will you be taking?
We took an airplane to get here. Since we've been here, we've taken a taxi. I did see a man riding a horse on the beach though and there are a lot of little white buses. Tomorrow we will take a boat to a different island. The boat ride will take 5 hours.

We want to know more about the food you will be eating?
Henry told us that they eat a lot of fruit and fish. They are especially fond of fruit breads. Since a lot of people do not have refrigerators in their homes, fish has to be eaten on the same day that it is caught. Andrew and I have not tried any local dishes yet. We had a cheese pizza because we were hungry. Henry did show us a lovo grill. Fijians actually cook their food in the ground! They light coals on fire, put the food on them, then cover it with big palm leaves for 1 hour.

How many people live in one house?
In the city, people live much like we do in the United States. On the other islands, people live in villages. Henry told us that in a village a door is never locked and people come and go as they please into each others houses. Some houses may have 2 or 3 families! Henry's village consists of 3 little villages that joined together to make one big village.

Can you show us the clothes you will see there?

We will be sure to take pictures of the clothing. When we entered the airport this morning, the men were wearing long skirts and the women were wearing very colorful dresses.

We will hopefully have more information to report back sometime next week. Until then- Ni sa moce! (Goodbye)