Hands-On Explorer Trip Blog - National Geographic Kids

Read about National Geographic Kids' 2008 Hands-On Explorer Challenge expedition team's amazing 12-day trip to Australia. Learn how you can enter the 2009 Hands-On Explorer Challenge!

Results tagged “Boats”

Thursday, August 21, 2008
chughes

An Entry from Grace

Hello to all of you who read our blog! Thank you so much for your comments and feedback. Thanks for all the comments on our amazing adventures.Your questions about our amazing adventure are welcomed... Here is more information on our trip.

We are going to keep adding to  the blog and add new pictures too. We did have a fantastic time in Oz! Australia's time difference from L.A. is about ten hours ahead-also, some of the kids were like me...they live on the eastern U.S., so add another 4 or 5 hours to that! And yes, the plane delays and layovers did make us VERY tired, but it also gave us time to get to know one another. The 13 hour flight was very long, but our flight attendants kept us supplied with food and meals, warm and comfy with pillows and blankets, and everybody had individual TV screens on the seat in front of them to keep entertained. We could watch TV shows, movies, or play games or listen to music. Thank goodness for that!

Videos
The videographers from Tourism Australia, Jeff and Chris, were very nice to all of us! Here is a  photo of me with them.

Photo: Grace and videographers

It was fun to be in the movies and to watch them! When we went to Taroona Primary they let us into their library, so we all crowded around the few computers to watch the movies!

Boomerangs
Throwing the boomerangs was very hard. It was sort of like throwing a baseball, except that you had to lean back, then hurl the boomerang forward, and we only got one try. My mom bought a boomerang while we were there, however, so I'm going to practice throwing it at my school's football field (before summer ends). I am determined to throw it hard enough to make it come back to me! When the Aboriginal guides did it, it was amazing hearing the *WHOOSH* of the boomerang as it circled you, then dropped. They actually do come back! One even nailed one of the guys filming us for a video. He tried to catch it, but it whacked his equipment instead. It's harder than it looks.

 


Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
 


Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
 
This is our last blog from Australia, so several of us wanted to write our thoughts about our amazing adventures so far. We still have a full day planned for tomorrow...but probably the next blog to appear here will be after we're all back home. Meanwhile...




Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
 
Sunday, July 20, 2008
chughes

Veronica and Zach


Hi, this is Veronica. This morning we got up and checked out of our hotel nice and early and headed for Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. We saw lots of different animals there, from crocs to cassowaries. We hopped in a boat, equipped with metal grid and glass windows for protection against the croc's massive jaws.  Every once in a while, Andrew, our guide, would hang a chicken head out the front of the boat and the crocs would jump and claw for it. Which made for great shots. The boat was a frenzy of camera clicks and kids running from one side of the boat to the other trying to get a killer shot. I think I got a couple good ones. After the (life-threatening) boat ride, we went on a walk around the park with a guide to see the rest of the animals. When we started our walk we were greeted by a little swamp wallaby...




Video courtesy Tourism Australia
 
Saturday, July 19, 2008
chughes

Benjamin and Elisabeth

Hi, I'm Benjamin. As soon as we all got up this morning, we boarded a bus to go to breakfast. We went to the Rainforest Habitat wildlife park, where we got to hold some pretty cool rain forest animals, like the carpet python, tree frog, parakeet, and crocodile. We learned a little bit about each of the animals too. For example we learned that the python could grow to be several feet long. The one I held was about four feet long.

Benjamin snake.jpg
Afterward we ate breakfast with the birds. The birds were flying around, swiping our food and drinking our juice, and sitting on our heads and shoulders. One even peed on my shoulder! It was all great--even the pee.


 

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