Tag archives for Boats
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Something very special happened on Monday, it was my birthday! It was an amazing week of fun and celebration in Montenegro. We stayed in Perast, an old stone fishing village. After my chocolate covered birthday croissant we visited the little island in the bay. It is a manmade island built on top of hundreds of ocean ships and rocks. We toured the beautiful church and museum in honor of the Blessed Mary. Later in the day we went on a magical sunset boat ride through the bay and into Porto Montenegro. The water was so still it’s almost like a lake, but it is FREEZING!
On Monday we climbed up the old walls to the top of Kotor, a nearby town and looked down upon the stunning city. We visited Sveti Stefan which is the quintessential picture of Montenegro. It was once a little fishing village but is now a five star resort where we had a wonderful lunch on the cliffs gazing at the sparkling ocean. Later we had an awesome swim in the Adriatic.
A few days later we saw six incredible bottle nose dolphins trained by the US Navy to search for sea mines and other explosives left over from the wars of Montenegro’s past. We were there for the last day of their mission and saw the dolphins put on a show. They did all kinds of tricks like playing catch, jumping through hoops, and sliding onto the boat.
In the next village we saw mosaics that dated back to 230 B.C. They were very detailed, one even had Hypnos the Greek God of dreams who watched over them while they slept and controlled their dreams.
During the week I became friends with a caramel colored stray kitten that I named Snuggles. On our last day there was another huge storm. The rain was pouring and when we were walking back home after dinner there was a gust of wind that I thought was going to blow us away. I felt like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz during the tornado. “Toto I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Montenegro and my birthday were amazing!
More Sea Turtles and Kayaking
Posted by Zane: Today, The HOEC team returned to the Cayman Turtle farm. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we boarded the buses and were off. After a short but scenic drive, we arrived at our destination. The entrance was bright and colorful. Before we entered, a few of us noticed a small green iguana in front of the door. After we had taken many pictures, the lizard darted away.
Inside the laboratory, we met up with Dr. Walter Mustin, Ph.D., one of the turtle researchers who works at the turtle farm. He gave us a presentation about the turtles, and showed us many interesting things, such as a small, five-day-old green sea turtle, and some leathery turtle eggs. He also explained a rather fascinating theory that he formulated to explain the health of the turtles when they hatched in relation to the amount of sand that was on top of them.
After this, we all moved back outside, where we witnessed a turtle feeding session in a large tank. We were ushered along by our tour guides, and eventually arrived at an aviary, which happened to be the largest open air aviary in the Caribbean. In small groups, we entered the structure through a system of doors that were designed to to keep the birds inside from escaping.
Submarine and Snorkeling
Diego: Today I plunged 95 feet into the ocean in the Atlantis submarine. This is where I saw and documented the marine wildlife of a coral reef through the crystal clear water. As the submarine went by the coral reef I could see dozens of fish swim by. As I dove deeper I could see why they call this submarine a technology marvel. I say this because it sustains perfect life conditions for humans. As the submarine surfaced I wished I could stay but I knew that I had to board the ship and head back to shore. Then I realized that more exciting adventures will come later in the week.
Posted by Last year, a Dutch court ruled that Laura Dekker was too young to sail around the world by herself. Laura is now 14, and she is on her way to Portugal on her yacht, Guppy. In September, Laura will begin her official attempt to break the record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe sailing solo. The current record holder, Jessica Watson, broke the record in May at the age of 16.
Would you want to sail around the world alone?
Read more about Laura in the Associated Press article.
See a video of Laura on the the BBC.
Photograph by Bas Czerwinski, AP
Photograph by Bart Muhl/AP
Laura Dekker is a girl with a dream–to be the youngest person to circumnavigate (sail around) the world alone in her yacht, Guppy. Laura isn’t new to sailing. She was born on a boat in New Zealand, and was sailing solo on lakes when she was six years old. She sailed across the English Channel to England and back at her father’s insistence that she prove herself before tackling the open ocean. Laura is 13 years old.
A Dutch court has ruled that Laura is too young to make the trip alone, and has placed her under state supervision for two months to make sure she stays on dry land.
Do you think 13 is too young to sail solo around the world? How old do you think someone should be before sailing such a huge distance alone?
Read more about Laura Dekker on the BBC.
Read about a man’s attempt to circumnavigate the world on his own power on National Geographic Kids.
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.
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.
The 2008 Hands-On Explorer Trip
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
HOEC Kids’ Last Day in 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
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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
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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.
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.
