The Old Ghost Town, Waiuta.

The Old Ghost Town, Waiuta.

By Tess Morgan

Located just inland on the West Coast of New Zealand, lies the well known ghost town, Waiuta. Despite the broken down houses and the eerie sense, Waiuta once thrived amongst shops, mines and everyday town life.

Waiuta evolved over many great years of mining, throughout deathly health causes, and through the statistics of population.

Gold processing, Snowy Battery in Waiuta

How Waiuta Formed

Before the shops and sports teams, the town of Waiuta started when four adventurers discovered the Birthday Reef of gold on the upper sweep of the Blackwater Stream.

Closely after, they then sold the land rights to a businessman for $500 (approximately $30,000 in today’s money), more than enough for living comfortably throughout the years. After proving that the stream was more than it seemed, the first mineshaft named Blackwater Shaft opened in the year 1908, with a depth of 563m deep, finishing off with the Prohibition mineshaft years later.

Left lung with Silicosis, Right lung healthy. 


Early Deaths of Miners, Caused By Silicosis

With the many great outcomes in the mining industry, a sickness known as the deathly Silicosis caused stress among many workers each day.

The miners job is to extract the gold within mounds of quartz, by drilling a hole into the reef, then packing it with explosives to break it apart.

Although, the mining space was cramped and by working the rock apart, disastrous crystalline silica filled the air, causing the disease called Silicosis.

Silicosis, also known as Miners Phthisis is a form of lung disease transmitted by inhaling crystalline silica, a common dust found in mining environments. 

Once the crystalline silica is in the lungs, it takes the role of scar tissue, which then makes it hard for oxygen to reach this key organ.

Unfortunately, there is no found cure to Silicosis, and the disease only gets worse; leading to shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pains and even cancer. From all around the world, this disease has killed over 2000 people from 1999 to 2013. Silicosis also took a toll on the Waiuta.



Local Barbershop 

Population of Waiuta

From 1906 to the 1930’s, the population of Waiuta thrived through their shops, sports teams, and it’s sociable image. Easily accessible from SH 7 near Ikamatua, Waiuta attracted many’s attention, and the population reached the peak of 600.

Although, in the year 1951, the Blackwater Shaft collapsed from excessive extracting and could no longer be pumped for water and gas which was vital for the mining industry.

The company who owned the shaft decided it would be placing workers lives in danger to reopen, so they closed down the shaft and the town was left abandoned, as there was no more work for residents.


Just inland of the West Coast in the South Island, Waiuta still has some sturdy houses, however the bush is slowly reclaiming of what used to be the town.

The story of Waiuta is about harsh working environments, miners deaths, the popular sports teams, and the shops in what used to be a thriving community.
The Blackwater Shaft

Little Red Riding Hood Narrative

THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Once upon a dark, saddened time, there came a girl named Genevieve who loved caring for her old crippled Granny who lived in a nearby village. One glistening day, her mother called her into the kitchenette to break the news about Granny’s health.
“Genevieve! Poor Granny’s under the weather again and I insist that you leave her this apple-crumb cake that’s baking in the oven now. Do you remember what path to take to arrive at the cottage?” Asked mother.
“Indeed I do.” Genevieve said cheerily. 

With that being said, Genevieve skipped up the worn out wooden stairs that lead her to the bedroom where she placed the basket ready for the morning.

She awoke the next day with a pit of nerves deep in her stomach. Walking across the room, she buttoned up her red coat and slumped to breakfast cradling her packaged goods. Shortly after saying a brief goodbye to mother, she then headed out into the bitter cold weather in search for her Granny’s cottage.

After 30 minutes of shivering her way along the dirt road, there came a fork in the path. One way curved to the right, the other went a jagged left. At this point, Genevieve had to think persistently about what path to take.
“Must I go to the left, or the right?” pondered Genevieve.
“Do you need some help young lady?” A gravelly voice spoke behind her. Genevieve turned to see a dark grey wolf-like animal somewhat smiling at her.
“Granny is unwell, so I have come to give her some home baking. The problem is, I can’t remember which way to turn!” As Genevieve said this, her voice started to crack as if she would burst into tears.
“Well, why don’t you take the left path! It’s very quick..” The wolf sniggered.
“That sounds great, thanks for helping me!” said Genevieve relieved, taking off down the dusty path.

Although the wolf said that the path she had taken was a quick short route, Genevieve couldn’t help but think that he had tricked her into something disastrous. She had been walking along the dirt road for what had seemed like hours now, and every bit further she got, she became a little bit more worried.

Whilst Genevieve was on the verge of tears, the wolf was processing a cunning plan to eat the grandmother, then pretend to be her when Genevieve knocked on the door; so then he could gobble her up too! He raced along the opposite path that Genevieve took and in no time he was at the doorstep knocking on the door, innocently pretending to be Genevieve.
“Granny? Are you there? I have some freshly baked cake for you to have a munch on!” The wolf said slyly.
“Oh Genny! I have been hoping you that you will show soon! Did mother send you? Granny said wondering.
The wolf didn’t know what to say, Genevieve had never said anything about mother.
“Ah, that doesn’t matter!” the wolf said nervously. “How do I come in?”
“Pop the latch and lift the handle.” Granny spoke softly; not knowing what a mess she was getting herself into. The wolf let himself in and came threw the door. He jumped on Granny, careful not to tear the clothing that he would wear shortly after, and enjoyed his late lunch of an old lady. Licking his lips, he jumped into her slightly bloody clothes, walked over to her bed and made himself comfortable while he waited for Genevieve.

In the meantime while all of this was happening, Genevieve had calmed herself and continued walking, and noticed that the wolf hadn’t lied about the path as it did indeed lead her to Granny's house. She came to the porch and knock-knock-knocked on the door.
“Granny? Mother has sent me some delicious home baking for you!” Genevieve said proudly.
“Oh Genny! I was hoping that you would show soon! Did mother send you?” The wolf said imitating Granny perfectly.
“Oh yes she did! Granny, how do I come in?” Genevieve asked.
“Pop the latch and lift the handle dear.” said the wolf, licking his lips.
Genevieve entered Granny’s little cottage and headed to the bedroom area.
“My, What big ears you have!” said Genevieve, intrigued.
“The better to hear you with, darling” Said the wolf sweetly.
“But Granny, what big eyes you have!” Said the granddaughter, a tad spooked now.
“The better to see you with, sweetness” The wolf said, a little agitated about all of the questions.
“Must I say, what big teeth you have!” Said Genevieve backing away.
“THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH, DELICIOUS LITTLE GIRL!” Yelled the wolf, jumping out of bed and chasing the frightened girl around the bedroom.

After many minutes of the chase game, Genevieve, only just a little girl became tired and started to slow down. To the wolf, this was the perfect opportunity to eat her up. With his mouth open wide, she wolf pounced on the little girl and gobbled her up. The wolf, now the size of a full scale motorbike, layed down onto the bed and fell contently asleep; dreaming about more yummy humans to eat next time.


The End

Show, Not Tell.

Instead of writing a short paragragh, today we had to change the sentence 'I was happy' into something much better, below is my new sentence.

The feeling of pure contentment overcame her body at an instant as she stood in the doorway,
cherishing the admiration these lovely people had for her.

Quick Write

The night was a cold one, clouds covered the darkened sky making it hard for the moon to shine. Sven and I sat on the couch in the centre of the action packed lavatory, silently watching for the beacon to activate. I could hear Sven praying underneath his breath; I knew how much this scientific breakthrough meant to him. Closing my eyes, I drifting into my thoughts when a heard a faint, puff. Sven erupted in a fit of screams as I jumped with glee of our achievement that no one had ever thought of pursuing.

“The cats out of the bag now!” Sven cried happily as the the beacon fizzed and whirred.

I

5 Minute Quick Write!

The park was silent, as the full moon shone on the swings; the misty night air chilling everything in it's path. The night was light by stars, not a man kind contraption in sight. Taking a deep breath, I can feel the blow of the wind, breathing down my neck like a living animal, and the damp grass enclosing my feet in bitter frost. I struggle to back away from the park, but I am immobile, like my body is frozen in awe of the beauty of the night. Have I been here before? Am I in a dream? I ponder to myself. I yell out in search for anyone who was around, I open my mouth to talk, but the words won't fall into place.

Quick Write

This is my Quick Write of today. My goal was to write a backstory on an imaginary character.

My Weekly Reflection

I think that this week I achieved much more than I did the week before. I achieved what I needed to finsih, like my scratch game of The Three Little Pigs, and my story, which I will be posting on my blog soon. Here are the pros and cons of what I did and achieved this week.

Pros:

I had finished my story on scratch (Which I will be posting soon)

My story of the three little pigs, (Which I will be posting soon)

I have also started on my watercolour portfolio, and I can't wait to continue it to see how much progress I have made.

Cons:

I think I need to spend more time working on my paperclip challenge (which I haven't even started yet!)

Also I need to work on my personal project, that I need to finish by the end of this term. (Which again, I haven't even started yet either.)

Facts About J.K Rowling

5 Minute Quick Write

DISCLOSURE:

Before you read this piece of writing, I only had 5 minutes to write, edit and re-read my writing so if I have made mistakes, I am very sorry.

Ever since she was a little girl, she always wanted to be two things. A paperback writer, and a huge inspiration to children as well as adults. ‘Supa Surlay’ (real name Shurlay Spirks) unfortunately passed at age 168, but achieved the pinnacle of so many awards that many had never thought of attaining. Surlay didn’t believe in anyone but herself; meaning she had all the time in the world to commit to her everyday book goals. What is this you may ask? Everyday Supa Surlay drove herself to write a 200 page book about anything in the whole entire world.

On this day: 30th July..

On this day in history..

On the 30th July 2008, my sister Tara was born. This may not be very significant to the whole wide world, but it is for my family. Throughout our 10 years of fighting, having fun and being ordinary annoying sisters, I’m very grateful that I’m related to her. We aren't really ‘perfect’ sisters, we fight about the silliest things heaps of times, then we somehow make it up in a matter of minutes. Overall, I’m not sure what our memorable moment is together, I guess I kind of forgot! Although, I’m sure we will make more and more memories together throughout our whole lifetime.

This Day In History 26.7.18

Flood kill 25 miners in Central Otago 1863

Facts By Emily Tess and Tara

Why do we need to know this, and why is this so important?

Because it’s how we made money in the olden days to survive. Without the miners, New Zealand wouldn’t have a networth like today, we wouldn’t have the things we do now, if we didn’t mine. We can also relate to this because we have the Pike River mine near where we live, and it was devastating when it exploded; killing many. Many miners lost their lives in the mines, it is a dangerous place and we are fine with the fact that we are sending people down to the mines with the risk of them dying.


The flash floods that killed the miners were in north east in Queenstown.


Link to website - LINK

Quick Write

This is my quick write from today. It is a storyboard of the story about the Three little pigs, I hope you enjoy!

This Day In History

On this day, the 25th July 1832 was the first railroad accident recorded in the U.S. Four people were thrown off empty car on the Granite Railway near Quincy, Massachusetts (which is a state in America). The victims of the  accident had been invited to watch the process of transporting large, heavy stones. A cable had snapped on a vacant car on the trip back. The cart fell off a 34-foot cliff (10m), killing one man and the others were seriously injured.

5 Minute Quick Write

Everyday our teacher gives us a topic to write about, but there is a catch. We can only write about it for 5 minutes. This is my quick write from today.


Also, this piece of writing isn't real.




My cousin is a superhero and I am the assistant, we help people throughout the day whilst having HEAPS of fun doing it. We don’t always have to be superheros though, we could be animals, or we could just be ourselves. Although one day, everything changed. We went a place called SeaLifeShark**, and we got to swim with sharks! We suited up in our wetsuits and took the plunge into the water. We didn’t have a cage or anything to keep us save, and the worst thing just happened; A shark started to circle us. We were scared out of our minds, my cousin said that everything would be alright but it wasn’t. I knew it wasn’t. The shark circled my cousin numerous times, until it sank its teeth into his leg, and didn’t let go. That day my cousin nearly died, as well as I got the biggest scare of my life.




** this isn't a real thing

My Holiday Recount

My holidays were jam-packed, fun and exciting. I had a great time learning at a horse clinic in Christchurch, I went around to a friends house and saw a movie, as well as many more fun things. Overall my favourite event of the whole holidays would have to be the horse event I did on last Saturday. I have built lots of confidence between my pony and I, and I feel now that I am enjoying my events that I do with Skippy, having a great time. The event was my second 80cm, and I felt like I did much better than my first. The dressage wasn't the best, I think because Skippy wanted to get on with the jumping phases! Although, I got a clear on my showjumping, and just one stop in my cross country. Even though I did get one stop, the course was really challenging and it made me think about my decisions going into the jumps. Overall I had heaps of fun and I can't wait to do more with my pony!

Quick Write About My Pony

If I could excogitate something, I would make an identical version of my pony, Skippy. I would somehow put all of her thoughts and emotions into the new version, making it impossible to tell her different from the real thing. The only part of her I would change, is her size. I would make her into either a full size pony, or a hack (horse). I would do this so then I could continue riding her, even if I get to big, I’d simply move onto the even bigger Skippy! I’d love to make this because I’d really like to continue to ride her, even when I do grow out of her. This would also help not looking for another horse, costing lots of money. With this idea, you can save money, and continue riding your horse that you never want to grow out of!

Excogitate means to plan something.

My Venn Diagram about Prebiotics and Probiotics

This is my Prebiotics and Probiotics Venn diagram. The reason why I did this is because this terms topic is about food as my Venn diagram helped me a lot with my explanation writing. Prebiotics and Probiotics both help grow healthy gut bacteria. 

How To Prevent Obesity: Explanation Writing.

How to prevent obesity 

By Tess Morgan.

New Zealand is a little green bean on the world map, yet we are capable of so many brilliant things, like our rugby, equestrian, and many more of our achievements. Although there is one thing that around 30% of New Zealanders do struggle with, a particular part is obesity, and eating healthy. A study of obesity scales showed that New Zealand is currently third in the world ranking, and rapidly moving up this chart to the brink of becoming second. Do we really want this for our nation? Do we want to be known for our obesity and eating problems for such a small country compared to the US whom which is in first place? If we go all the way back to what we genuinely eat and embed into our blood and bodies, this is how the problem of obesity and numerous types of diabetes has all started. Thankfully, It’s not too late to change our concrete ways, to have a greater wellbeing, to eat nutrient-filled foods for the sake of ourselves, as well as the benefit of our country. 

Figuring out about the many ways a healthier diet can decrease the chance of disease, incorporating fruit and vegetables into meals, how overindulgence of unhealthy foods can affect your immune system and eating enough probiotics and prebiotics is the first step to living a advantageous, beneficial life.

Decreasing Diseases with natural fruits and Vegetables

To begin, Fruit and vegetables decrease the chance of many diseases, like heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers. Cancer is like a severe battleground and without acting fast, cancer can be deadly. With so many categories of this horrible sickness we have to make sure we have the right balance in the foods we eat. Without the nutrition in fruit and vegetables, blood pressure can rise and the risk of cancers will ultimately have a much higher chance to overcome your body. Although, if you’re eating a variety of different colours of vegetables and fruits full of many different vitamins; your health can change dramatically. Instead of feeling tired and grumpy, you will have much more energy to do things you’d love to do; as well as feeling much better with yourself and your immune system. There are many fabulous ways to involve vegetables into a meal.

Involving vegetables into everyday meals

Secondly, a great way to incorporate vegetables into your diet is to merge it into different meals to add hints of flavour. In addition to a great taste from the delicious colours in your meal, there is many healthy outcomes in vegetables like fibre for a nourished gut biome, many vitamins like L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and potassium to help lower blood pressure, to sustain a full, healthy lifestyle. Vitamin C is found in various amounts of fruits like mandarins and oranges, as it is great to heal inflamed tissue in numerous parts of the body and; to provide help to fight bugs. With all of this goodness involved in your once unhealthy dinner, your meal has now changed to be an enriched supper with wholesome goodness to help your immune system. 

In turn, if you are eating the wrong foods it affects our bodies immune system dramatically. Our immune system is like an individual living person, if we give it the wrong food, then it effects how our immune system works. If you continue to feed your immune system unnatural meals and snacks, the immune system will getting weaker; making you feel weaker. The more someone eats unnatural sugar and fat, this unhealthy menace adds itself into the blood providing you with an energy rush or a sugar ‘high’. Once this energy rush has finished, it will leave you feeling bloated, tired and craving for more sugar to have that sugar ‘high’ again. If you let this go on and on, short term may be fine, but this lifestyle will affect your long term life and influence the future ahead; leaving you to high blood pressure, the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Another way to dodge these destructive illnesses is to regularly involve your diet with prebiotics and probiotics. 

How prebiotics and probiotics can help

To conclude, Prebiotics and probiotics are soldiers, fighting back against bad bacteria. These two are commonly mistaken for a spelling error although they are two different things altogether. Prebiotics are found in plenty of vegetables and fruits; they also provide help and feed the good bacteria called probiotics. These are found in many dairy products as well as fruit and vegetables. These two bacterias play a huge part in gut health, and absorbing nutrients from foods you eat. If you aren't eating enough of these bacterias, your body won’t have a balanced diet and your colon, skin and gut will be full of substandard bacteria.

In the end

Overall, 30% of our nation is obese and suffering the consequences including children, males and females, this makes us third, in the world obesity rate. We have so many options to choose fruit over deep fried chips, vegetables over a chocolate chip biscuit and providing our gut with natural and healthy bacteria. Do we really want to represent our ‘proud’ country as obese, unhealthy humans? I wouldn’t.

On This Day Of NZ History, May 7th 1864

• Devastating landslide at Lake Taupō -

By Emily and Tess

About it-

On May 7th 1846 a devastating landslide hit Lake Taupō. Sixty people were killed by the landslide, including the then paramount Chief. This landslide has held the record ever since May 7th 1846  for the highest death toll from a landslide. The horrific landslide was caused by a smaller landslide that shut off a river causing the water flow to build up. After 3 days later the water pressure became to immence for the land to take. What was holding the water crumbled apart, causing the unblocked force of the water swept up trees, rocks, and earth causing an avalanche. The avalanche swept into the lake, bringing people down with it, with only a few lucky survivors.

In 1910, yet another landslide took another life near the old site of Te Rapa. After the 2 devastating landslides the village was abandoned, hoping to prevent deaths.

So what?-

We think that this is important to know because it killed a lot of people at our biggest lake in New Zealand. It also shows what has happened in our history in our country. As well as taking the lives of 61 people, the landslide also killed a maori chief, Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II.

My Holidays!

My Holidays

In the holidays I went to the movie cinema with friends, went cross country training on my pony, Skippy,  and saw my sisters house for the first time, and many more fun things. I went to the movies to see A Wrinkle In Time with my friend, Ruby. I loved the movie and I'd definitely watch it again, and it was heaps of fun watching it with a friend! I went out riding lots, but unfortunately I went to go and get Skippy in for a ride, and she had a cut on her leg and it was very swollen so I couldn't ride her for a while. I went to my sisters house for the day and we rode her horses which was heaps of fun. We went to go and see a movie called Peter Rabbit and it was very funny, it was great to spend some time with my sister. One of my friends EJ, came over and we went to the swimming pools, and watched a movie called Sherlock Gnomes and had a great time there. Since I am part of a hockey team, my coach set up some training days which was really worthwhile and lots of fun. Overall, I had a great holiday with my friends and family!