Winiata’s Blog

On the 8th of April, rooms 3 & 7 arrived at school with all their bags packed and ready to depart. We were going to Ohope for this year’s camp. Ohope is a nice little town right next to the beach. Once the bell rang to start school, we all assembled outside the classroom, but we had to wait for another hour because one of the drivers had not yet arrived. Just before we left, the teacher put us into the groups that we were travelling in. I had the best car because our driver gave us chocolate bars to eat. 

On our way to Ohope we took a detour and stopped at Lake Okataina, and boy was it windy! We went onto the lakeshore and immediately noticed two waka that were beached, half on the shore and half in the water. We played touch on the sand and I got hurt. I was running fast and I fell forward and grazed my knee badly. 

After eating lunch we took a walk along a track into the bush. I was misbehaving and tossing sticks onto the track. Eventually the track led to an even windier clearing by the lake. The force of the wind was so strong that when I tossed a stick straight up into the air it landed 5 metres behind me. After a while we returned back to where the cars were parked. 

On the way back we drove through some very winding roads, and our car came very close to scraping against the steep cliffs on the left hand side. After that, the rest of the trip was ordinary, until we arrived in Whakatane and got lost for a while.

When we finally arrived at Ohope we discovered we were the first car to get there. We couldn’t unpack because the cabins were still locked so we played cricket while we waited for everyone else to get there. My friend accidentally hit the ball across the road and we weren’t allowed to cross over to get it so that ball was history until later on in the day when we recovered it from a bush. Once the others got there, we all grabbed our bags and put everything in the cabins. 

Later that afternoon we went to the beach to play a game of touch. My knee was still hurting and I tripped over again and got sand in it so that didn’t help. So I abandoned the touch game and decided that throwing handfuls of wet sand at the girls would be more entertaining. That night we had meatballs and spaghetti for dinner. I stuffed myself full.  Then I went to bed and slept like a log. That’s the first day done.  

I have been thinking about what sort of house I would own when I grow older. What kind of entertainment system should I buy? What will my bedroom look like? How many rooms would I have, and who would live in them? Who could I hire to be my house staff?For my dream house I think I would build a flash new home with three storeys above ground and a basement below ground. It would have to be an enormous section on top of a hill with a view overlooking the entire city. I could have a full size basketball court and a bike track on the lawn. I would also need to have a heated outdoor pool and a spa pool.Inside it would have a plasma TV on every floor, each one loaded with every channel, a sky box, a play station, and an X-box. Surround sound speakers mounted in the ceiling of every room in the house.  I’d have an intercom system throughout the house, so I can communicate with other occupants.In the master bedroom I would have a huge silky waterbed, my plasma TV and an expensive entertainment centre. I’d need a whole room for all my designer clothes. The master bathroom would be the latest style, with a Jacuzzi and dozens of soft towels. I would have the coolest kitchen with all the latest gadgets and every possible delicious kind of food stocked in the fridge and the cupboards.  I would hire a cook to prepare anything I want, any time of the day or night. I would host a party from time to time for my friends and workmates.The house would have everything I need, including staff to run it. I could hire Ryan to be the cook, Taleta to be the housekeeper, Sam to be the butler, Francis to be the chauffeur and Sarah to be the gardener.Finally, I would buy a sports model car, a boat, a jet ski and a motorbike, and put them all in the garage.

   Once upon a recent time, there lived a poor but handsome man named Twain. He lived with his older brother Derek, who was very wealthy and owned an inner city apartment. Twain was forced to do all the chores. He wore very plain clothes because he couldn’t afford labeled clothing.Every morning when Twain woke up he would check his text, and chat to his friends on Bebo about his hopes for the future. He would comment on his blog about all the dreams he wanted to one day come true.”Twain!” Derek called from the master bedroom, “Where’s my breakfast?”"I’m coming, just a minute.” said Twain, as he ran down the stairs to start his morning jobs. He knew he had only a bit of time to prepare the breakfast.Meanwhile, in the Penthouse Suite, King James was trying hard to control his temper.”My daughter Princess Hot Chic has been avoiding responsibility for long enough” he said. “It’s time she got married and settled down!”"Yes, Your Highness.” the Duke replied. “I have a solution. We’ll throw a rage and invite all the eligible men in the Metropolis. She will have to show an interest in ONE of them!”"As long as they‘re not boy racers.” said the King, “She should be a good catch for some rich man, and I have waited along time for an heir to my billion-dollar empire.”King James had always wanted a son but when the Queen only had a daughter, he had to wait until Princess Hot Chic found a rich nice kind person to marry.So that very day, the King instructed his messengers to email every household on the National Business Review Rich List. They called Harrods and ordered the best of food for the Royal Banquet. Designers from all over the world got busy making the best designer clothes they could.Derek’s email arrived while he was listening to his Ipod. He quickly opened it and was delighted to find that he had been invited to the rage. He saw this as a good opportunity to network with new clients. So he quickly emailed the RSVP.”Get Giorgio Armani on the phone!” Derek yelled to Twain, “I need a new suit today!”"What size?” asked Twain.”My usual! Doh!”When the suit arrived it was three sizes too small because Derek was a bit of a slob and had not been to the gym for ages. So Twain had to quickly get another suit made, and the first one was put into the back of the closet.This time it was the right fit, finally. As Derek started to the door to his high performance V-8, Twain didn’t dear to ask “What about me?” for he knew what the answer would be.”You?” said Derek “you are going to stay behind and hang out the washing, and wash the dishes. I might come home tired and sleepy, so I need you to make my bed also.Twain was very unhappy about this and he ran crying to his room. He waited until he heard the loud noise of his brother driving off.Suddenly the phone rang, and Twain answered. On the other end was the receptionist telling Twain that a famous businessman named Trumpo Donaldio wanted to meet him in his boardroom. Trumpo was Derek’s boss.Donaldio arrived and Twain told him everything about his mean brother. When Twain went home he got the suit out from the back of the closet. He put it on, and it was the right fit. Then with a wiggle of Trumpo’s finger (and few pushes on his mobile phone), a limo appeared outside the front door. He ordered some staff to do the housework which Twain was first assigned to.Twain was so happy and amazed. He jumped into the back of the limo and drove of in delight, as they headed for the big party.Twain arrived just in time to see the princess pass by. When Princess Hot Chic saw Twain dressed in his nice Armani suit, she fell in love immediately. So she asked Twain if he wanted to dance, and he accepted.The happy couple danced to the D.J.’s music under the funky disco ball lights, having the time of their lives. At midnight the party started to die down. People were leaving and Twain suddenly remembered that Derek didn’t know he was away from home. If Derek got home before him, then Twain would get in a lot of troubleSo Twain ran to the door and searched for his limo.  As he was running, his jacket slipped off, but he was in too much of a rush to get it. As Twain closed the car door, he saw Princess Hot Chic pick up his jacket.Luckily, Twain got home before Derek came in the door. Derek was tired and grumpy from trying to woo the Princess. He was even more unhappy when he found out from his emails that his boss Trumpo Donaldio was going to cut his pay.When the King found out what had happened he was furious. Princess Hot Chic was in tears because the handsome stranger had left the rage in such a rush. Then he found out about the jacket that the stranger had dropped on his way out. He ordered his messengers to find out who was the one who had ordered the Armani suit in that same size.The next day the King summand Derek to the Penthouse. When Derek got this email, he was determined to snatch the princess for himself. Twain got a hold of this message, and he was secretly overwhelmed with joy because he knew the Princess was searching for HIM not Derek.Derek quickly got dressed and zoomed off, leaving Twain in the dust. So Twain emailed Trumpo for some help, and the limo entered his driveway straight away. Twain changed in to his suit and off they went.Twain got there and saw everyone was trying on the jacket but it was too small for all of them. It was now Derek’s turn to try the jacket on. He pushed and he shoved, but no matter what he did he couldn’t get it on. The King wasn’t too happy about this.Twain busted open the door and came rushing right in. Derek was surprised to see him there, and he also noticed Trumpo. The King desperately wanted to know who Hot Chic’s future husband was. Twain asked to try on the jacket, so the King said yes. It was a perfect fit. The king was thrilled, but Derek looked rejected.The Princess entered and straight away recognized Twain dressed in his Armani suit. The Princess claimed him as her true love. Derek yelled at the Princess and told her NOT to marry Twain because he was poor and didn’t have a good job or a flash car and he wasn’t on the Rich List. Trumpo Donaldio was outraged with Derek’s behavior and ordered his bodyguards to take him away.Thee next day Derek had to meet Trumpo Donaldio in the boardroom. They sat down and started talking about all the things that Derek had done, and Derek realized that he was a bad project leader. Then Trumpo told Derek that his biggest problem was about how he was treating Twain and the other employees. Finally Trumpo Donaldio announced “YOU’RE FIRED!” and Derek had to pack his bag and leave in a taxi to live in the suburbs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              TheTheThe The King asked Princess Hot Chic if Twain is the man she wanted and she replied positively. So Twain married Princess Hot Chic ……..but only after first signing a lengthy pre-nuptial agreement.

  I waited patiently while the other people went ahead of me. It looked hard because it was high, and the sound of the waves crashing below was beginning to make me worry.An adult took a photo and then it was time to go down. My heart was pumping wildly as I took my first few steps. My partner was already a quarter of the way down and he looked like he was having fun. I looked down and I almost lost my footing. I couldn’t see the adults below, but I was too scared to lean out any further to try and see.I took a big breath and began to descent at a moderate speed. The man feeding out the rope had given me instructions but right now I was struggling to remember everything he had said. As I was going down I hit a ridge, a rock that was jutting out and I knew this was going to be a challenge to get around it. I wanted to slow down and think how I could manage this but the operator kept feeding out the rope. The more rope he fed out, the more pressure on my hand to try and slow myself down. The wind was strong and it kept making my shirt flap and that didn’t help the situation. My hand was getting very sore and tired. Finally I made it down under the big obstacle and caught up with the extra rope so my hand relaxed.The rest was easy now. Nearer the bottom I heard an adult giving encouragement so I took a few more steps. I looked down and saw my partner had touched the ground. I felt a bush brush against my foot. I let out a big sigh of relief as my feet finally touched firm ground.