Thursday 13th of November, students from the University of Otago and Professor Dave came to teach my class how to make indigo coloured dye. 

The team introduced themselves; 

The professor’s name was Dave, and the other people’s names were Sam, Samantha, Liam, Josh and Jake. 

After that, we got into groups of four and three, put on safety glasses and gloves and got into it. My group came over to a table and it had a beacon, a cup of water, a weigher and an empty cup. We had to weigh this yellow stuff (that I think was the starter for the dye) and make it weigh 0.01g. 

After we did that, we added some water and another cup of some strange smelling chemical to the dye starter and mixed it. Then Sam said to bring the cup over to this cooker thing and we cooked it until it was shiny and turned black. 

We moved the cup over to a drainer and drained it. We did that until it turned from a liquid to a powder. We scraped the powder off the paper and it was a very dark blue. We repeated the procedure again, boiled it and waited some more. 

Sam said that the liquid should turn yellow once it boiled, but the weigher that we used wasn’t good, so when we dipped our fabric in, it was a pale grey. When the rest of my group unwrapped the fabric, it flopped. Mine looked grey at first, but then after it had some oxygen, it was blue.

I found it really fun when the yellow liquid turned blue but the smell was horrid. Here is the final result.

W.A.L.T:

Write poetically about our Turangawaewae. A Turangawaewae is a place where you feel like you can relax and be humble.

Where do I come from, you ask?

I come from a place where the whistles blow, screeching loudly and whipping the team into formation. Where the tremendous fan instantly reduces the sticky, humid heat, replacing it with refreshing, cold blasts of icy wind. Where you get put outside of your comfort zone, to try and learn new and exciting things. 

I come from a place where I can be my whole self. Not pretending to be anything or anyone else. 

I feel on top of the world, fluid running down my forehead like a gushing waterfall at Rainbow Fall, my grin impossibly wide while I duck and roll, jab and hook. 

A place where I can be comfortable and strong simultaneously.

My Turangawaewae: The gym

During the holiday’s, I got a haircut.

Because I have curly hair, I had to get layers to make to look better. Before I had my haircut, I would always tie it up so my curls weren’t as pronounced. But once the hairdresser told me what to do and how to look after it, it was curlier than I have ever seen it before.

I put product and spray in it and the results were crazy.

I compared it with my sister’s hair and the difference was astonishing.

21st of September, I was staying with Molly and it was the day after we’d seen the puppies. It was a sunny morning so we thought we should see the puppies again.

We got changed into our clothes and walked over to their house. When we were walking there, we couldn’t see the puppies on the yard, so we kept walking because we didn’t want to waltze right in there and demand for puppies.

We walked more around the corner to see if the puppies were there, but they weren’t so we decided we would go for a walk. When we got near the end of the road, a dog came from another house. She ran up to us and Molly said that the dog’s name was Goose.

We walked back thinking that Goose would go home, but she followed us all the way back to the house. When she wouldn’t go back, Hannah said that we would drive her back. Goose eagerly got in the boot of the car and we dropped her off.

On Saturday the 20th of September, I went over to stay at my friends house (Molly) for the weekend.

I had to go over to her house because my parents were having a party with their friends and no kids were allowed to stay. So that morning I had to pack my bags and leave.🥲

On the way to Molly’s house, we had to stop at her neighbour’s house to drop something off. When we stopped, her neighbour said that there were puppies on the yard and that we could see them if we wanted. So of course, we said yes. The puppies were four weeks old and they were SOOO TINY!!

For Pet Day, we had to paint flowers and decorate them. I took a long time on this because I started late. I was very happy with my results though and I came 2nd place.

On Wednesday 17th of Septemeber, it was Pet Day.

On Pet Day, everyone can bring in their pets from home, dress them up and show them off to everyone. For Pet Day, all classes have to make art and on the day the art gets judged by a random pick of people. Then the winners get first place, second place, third place and highly commended. All classes go around school and look at everyone else’s art. Then the calves, puppies, lambs, goats, pigs, horses and occasional pigeon go on the bottom field and compete for the prizes. I like Pet Day because I like getting prizes for my art and seeing all the animals and getting to pet them.

My comic

On Tuesday 16th our class had to make comics.

We had to three choices on what to make them about; It was superheroes, a myth or a funny memory.

I made mine about a funny memory so click the link if you want to see it.

Naomi raced down the track, puffing and panting, her chest burning with every movement. Her feet were throbbing and red from running so fast, and wind whipped her face. The trees were hunched over, covering everything in sight, as if they were protecting their deepest secrets from the outside world. Her torch batteries had run out of juice a while ago, so she had to be extra cautious about where she stepped. 

The track suddenly stopped abruptly.

Naomi skidded to a stop and took her first breath since the chase began. There was a light that had been tapping against the window, which had woken her up from her dreams. She opened the window, and it nudged her shoulder, urging her to come. She grabbed her knapsack, grabbed a torch and some pepper spray for extra protection, and climbed out of the window. The light had started flying away rapidly before she reached the ground, so she had to chase after it. 

Then she ended up here, in the middle of who knows where, standing underneath the largest and strangest tree she had ever seen. The vines hung down like poisonous green snakes, and then she saw it–

It wasn’t a floating light at all—it was a single leaf, floating over and reattaching itself to the tree, shimmering faintly in the dark. The whole tree seemed to be radiating a peculiar warmth. The tree swayed gently with the breeze, creating a calming atmosphere. Although she couldn’t remember if she had seen this place before, she felt she knew it better than the back of her hand and she knew it was familiar. Naomi came up to the leaf and observed it carefully, flipping it onto its side and back while tracing the lines with her finger. 

She placed the leaf back carefully and grabbed a photo of her and her mother. Now it made sense. 

“I finally found it,” Naomi whispered to herself, finally feeling whole.