Wandiligong

By Harry C 4AV

Wandiligong is an important place for me because I have lots of old memories of visiting there. We used to go every year and we always had fun.

When we go to Wandiligong it’s a really long drive. It takes nearly 4 hours! So we have to get up early. We pack the car the night before. We make sure to take our soft toys, clothes, pyjamas, hats, and swimming gear. We normally take treats to snack on in the car like lollipops and gummies. On the drive we usually stop for petrol and get out to stretch our legs. We also get drive-through KFC to eat. We have our iPads in the car so that we don’t get bored.

The house is very modern on the outside but old fashioned in the inside. There are 3 big bedrooms and one bathroom. There is a pool outside and a massive lawn that goes down a hill with NO trees. My favourite room is my room because it has bunk beds so I can make a cubby house. There is no TV! But that’s ok because we go for lots of walks.

When we arrive I want to hop into the pool so badly. My mum says “no”. We have to unpack first and have a nap. I wake up and then I jump in the pool and make a giant splash so big that my brother can hear it and wakes up. We have our lunch and go for a walk. There are lots of animals, and trees and flowers to see. We stay out of the town, in a house surrounded by nature. The town is very small but it has some shops and bakeries. Mum and I like to get a pie and Charlie gets a sausage roll at the bakery.

One morning me and Charlie were near the pool before breakfast and Charlie pushed me in. So I kept swimming and we played in the pool for a while and then we went exploring. Charlie found a bull-ant nest and poked it with a stick and got bull ants all over him. He jumped into the pool and made a giant splash and it got all over me. We rolled down the hill and got really dizzy. And we got itchy spots from the grass. We were having so much fun that we didn’t have breakfast until 10:00!

One day we went on a huge bike ride, for about 5 hours. We came across paragliders and parachuters and we watched them for about 15 minutes. I thought it was really cool. Then we went past a cemetery and there were a lot of kangaroos there. We went past the river and saw some ducks and then we went home and played around and everyone hopped into the pool except Charlie because Charlie doesn’t really like the pool that much.

We went for a big walk around the neighbourhood and we found bunnies eating fruit under a fruit tree. We went back home and Pop started cooking dinner and Charlie and I played until dinner was ready. Pop always cooks dinner in Wandiligong. He makes meals with lots of meat, like spaghetti bolognese and chicken schnitzels. Pop is a really good cook.

The day before we leave I wish we could stay longer. But we have to pack and get ready to go home. I pack my pyjamas, swimming clothes, floaty toys, food and everything and then we zooooom off. The drive home is just like the drive there. We make it home and I cuddle up with my cat Silky. I love going on holidays but it’s good to get home and sleep in my own bed.

The Healing Stone 2

by Luca 4BM

Darkness ….can’t breathe!

They must have blacked out, when they opened their eyes it was like the weight on their lungs had been lifted. As they greedily suck in the air they open their eyes to see a weird world, it felt like they were under water but they could breathe, it didn't make sense.

As they moved there was a weird feeling that bubbled over their bodies, they felt like they were floating, where were they? . They took a step forward and immediately jumped back, they were in water and it glowed when they moved. What was happening?

As they try to orientate themselves they see what looks like a bunch of boulders in the distance they start moving towards them when from nowhere there is a beam of light, the ruby and diamond encrusted swords shoot down from above and embed themselves in a rock. As they grab them they turn into tridents, with a long handle and three enormous spikes, the middle one is longer than the rest and they all have a shinny, sharp brass tip on each end.

There is a deafening sound which echos around them. Lucia screams “The Kraken!”. Suddenly tentacles emerge, a giant squid comes out from behind the Ruins revealing a symbol that looks like a trident. Now we know they are in the ruins of Atlantis.

They all hurl their Trident’s at the beast. One lands in its neck another it’s left eye and the third directly into its heart, pinning it to the ground. The squid is dying, as it falls to the water around them turns black and red and they are sucked up and land on a desert island. They can not believe they have survived. As they get up they see a portal just beyond the sand of the beach. They make their way towards it. As they get closer they feel a weird tingling sensation that crawls all over our bodies……..they look at each other and say “here we go again!

Letter by Soloma 4SG

Inquiry into the problem of feral and domestic cats in Australia Committee Secretariat

PO Box 6021

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Committee,

My name is Solomon. I am nine years old.

I love birds. I have a pet cockatiel named Moby.

I feel strongly about the protection of Australian wildlife. Sometimes I find a dead bird or baby possum on my lawn and it makes me very sad.

A lot of cats in my neighbourhood are not wearing bells.

Some research shows putting bells on cats reduces the amount of native wildlife being caught by 53 per cent.

I would like to recommend three things. First, I think that all domestic cats should be made to wear bells. Second, I think more should be done to cull feral cats. Third, I think there should be a curfew for cats from 7am-6pm because they kill more birds in the morning and at night.

I hope this inquiry makes the Government do more to stop domestic and feral cats killing native wildlife, particularly birds.

Thank you for accepting my submission,

Solomon

Marvellous Maggie!

Avery 4AV

We have finally arrived at Magnetic Island, after a long flight to Townsville, followed by a ferry trip. We arrived at our beach house in a taxi, feeling very excited about the next couple of weeks.

Our beach house is on stilts with an open storage below the house. Two visits ago there was a Curlew nest, and through the weeks we were there we saw an egg! The next time we went there, we found a baby Curlew with its parents! It was VERY exciting.

When we are at Maggie we go to the beach every day. There are huge rocks that we climb. We find shells and other things like cuttlefish. One day we all go snorkelling with turtles and fish. Another time in the water, we see a huge sea slug swimming at the surface of the water.

Friends of ours from Melbourne go to Maggie too. One family has a beach house there, and another family rents a house each year. My friend Otto and I play in the warm sand every day. We get really messy but hate having to have a shower later on!

Maggie has the BEST ice cream! They have cotton candy flavour and it’s a two minute walk from our house to the cafe and arcade. There is one game in the arcade that is free. There is also a pool next to the arcade.

But now after a couple of extremely scorching, exciting and amazing weeks, it is time to go home. We catch a taxi, and then a ferry, and then a plane.

Tired, happy and excited to see my dogs, but desperately looking forward to our next trip north.

The search for the Kraken

Evan 4BM

The stories of the sunken ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle were long thought to be the work of the Kraken. The Kraken is a sea monster that lurks in the dark depths of the ocean and is thought to eat ships, planes and whole schools of fish. Many believe that the Kraken is protecting a treasure.

The Kraken intrigued some Chinese explorers. They set sail with their Captain, Chong Lin on December 8th at 12:00 am hoping to catch and slay the Kraken. The crew were at sea for many weeks until one night the radar started beeping. It showed a big object rushing at them. The supervisor of the radar was in deep sleep so no one on the boat knew the Kraken was waiting to strike.

The Kraken thrust its tentacle forward, slicing the ship in half causing it to sink like the Titanic. Water gushes in and people begin leaping out of their beds like jumping spiders and they all look at the Kraken. A chaos erupts. They all feel like they are ants to a human now. They begin grabbing their harpoons and begin to throw them, it has no effect and they all drowned.[1]

The sinking of Captain Chong Lin’s boat causes curiosity [2] around the world and particularly the U.S. The U.S. sent out their best 8 hunters to slay the Kraken. The hunters went out on a black submarine and they were out only for 1 hour when they saw a sunken city full of gold. They all put their diving suits on and rushed out and tried to take the gold but little did they know they were being watched by the Kraken.

The Kraken rapidly fired [3] its arms forward at the hunters and ate them. “Hey Joe come look at this.”, says Gary the hunter. There was no answer. “Joe stop trying to scare me.” Gary turns around and sees the Kraken. He screams and swims away with the gold he found but the Kraken doesn’t follow the hunter, it fades into the distance.[4]

The hunter looks away from the sunken city and hops in his submarine, but he doesn’t know that the Kraken is beneath him. He quickly turns the power on for the submarine to boost away, but the Kraken is faster than the sea machine. The Kraken jolts towards the submarine and for some reason destroys it but doesn’t eat anything!

The world continued many times to try and slay the Kraken, but the Kraken is too smart for us humans. Every explorer who ever hunted the Kraken had never come back.[5]

Salem Witch Trials

By Lucien 4SG

300 years ago,

A witch hunt was held,

Something really smelled.

Well it all began,

When three young women had hysteria,

Nothing like wisteria.

Thou mayest they could,

But they blamed it on the good,

The trials took place in Salem.

Three civilians were blamed,

And their lives were maimed.

Bridget bishop was hanged,

When the mallet banged.

That’s when the hunt started,

And plenty were slaughtered.

Witch fever had spread,

People ended up dead.

These trials were vile,

Evil and Bile.

It may have been bread,

Fungus that spread.

Who knows what came,

To maim maim maim maim.

People were dumped in the water,

Which was part of the slaughter.

People didn’t care,

That the trials were unfair.

They finally stopped,

When the reverend's wife was shocked.

There was calm in the village,

As too many lives were pillaged.

20 were killed,

Like wheat in a mill.

So this is the story of the witches of Salem,

Wish there was some way we could save them.

No-one knows the exact history,

Of this ancient mystery.

This modern world of zero tolerance,

Must not repeat this needless sufferance.

Accept others points of view,

Then there’d be a lot less blue.

STEM