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Hi. The island that I was staying on is called Hayman Island in Australia . I am going to tell you a little information about Hayman Island. Hayman Island is part of the Whitsunday Island Chain. There are 75 islands in the chain. I will be talking about flora and fauna. Flora and fauna refer to plant and wildlife. I will also be talking about the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest reef in the world.
It was so humid in Hayman Island there I could not believe it. It was also really hot and felt even more hot because of the humidity. Even though it was really, really hot it was a hotel with a huge pool (picture of pool at the top). That helped us keep cool.
First I am going to talk about plants. Another way to say plants is flora. The plants at this island were huge! You could build a house out of them! The leaves of some of the plants were as tall as my dad and he is really tall. If a plane crashed on this island the weird thing is that you would be able to eat most of the plants (I am pretending that the hotel is not there). You would be able to eat most except the bright colorful plants. Please look under my Hayman album for some pictures of the plants. The Grass Tree can get up to two meters tall. It is a tree with a large round trunk, and it has long linear leaves. The trunk usually is black because of fires. It has spikes that stick up all together, off of the spikes there are flowers that grow in the summer and attract very large insects and small birds. I picked the Grass Tree because it interested me. The spike in the middle looks like a tall stick. During my interview with the landscape manager he told me the Aboriginals used to use it as a spear because its nice and sharp. It was brown and it looked like it could kill someone really easily. Please look under Hayman Island pictures and there will be a picture there of a Grass Tree.
Now I am going to talk about animals. Another way to say animals is fauna. One of the kinds of animals that we saw in Hayman was a bat. Not just any bat but a Flying Fox is what they are called. The Flying Fox is a type of fruit bat. On Hayman island there were about 700 Flying Foxes. I went on a hike to see them and saw them. All 700 of them were hanging up side down fanning themselves. They looked like a bunch of Chihuahua's. They sounded like them too. They also look like small bats. There are 3 different species. The Greyheaded, Black and Little Red. The one that was on the Island was Little Red. Unlike other bats Flying Foxes us eye sight to see were they are going. You would think that they are not busy during the day but they are. During the day they fan themselves and they take care of their young. They only eat at night though. At night the Flying Foxes fly all the way around the Island eating food from native trees. Look for a Science Explorers On Location Video coming soon showing more about Flying Foxes.
Another animal that is very popular on Hayman is the Green Tree Snake. The landscaping manager told me this story. He explained that once someone left their door open the whole day and then when they came back and got in the shower she found one in her bathroom. She called Doug to get it, but she would not move or put a towel on so he had to go in to the bathroom with his eyes closed and try to find this snake. Anyway the snake got out and he got out with out seeing anything. If you touch The Green Tree Snake it will make itself larger, and it will stretch out so that you can see the blue in between its scales. They eat small reptiles and frogs sometimes even fish.
Last but not least I am going to talk about the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is under the category of animals but some people would think its a plant. It is not. "Corals looks like plants, and they don't move around like a lot of animals, but they are animals. What we see as branches actually are whole colonies of coral animals. (found at http://www.discoverymagazine.com/digger/d98dd/d9806dd.html)" Thats why. While I was in Hayman my family and I took a sea plane to the outer reef. The sea plane felt so much better on my ears then a normal plane (my ears hurt sometimes when I take a normal plane). When we got to the reef we went snorkeling and saw so many different coral. We also saw so many HUGE clams. The clams there were giant. I could fit in to it! After 1 hour of snorkeling we were ready to leave but we were sad because we did not see a turtle. All of the sudden a turtle shows up right when we were about to leave.
The Great Barrier Reef is called "great" because it is the largest reef in the world. Please look under pictures and there will be some pictures of fish and the Great Barrier Reef. The area of the Great Barrier Reef is 344,400 km2. That's big! The Great Barrier Reef grows in Australia because of the warmth that is in the water, the clearness that is in the water, and because the sun can reach it. The companies that take people out to the Great Barrier Reef are super careful that no-one touches the coral. I think it is fantastic because then the Great Reef will last even longer.
I loved it at Hayman in the Whitsunday Islands and was sad to leave. I am writing to you from a different place and this place is also in Australia. I will tell you were I am in the next blog. I will talk to you soon. Thank you and don't forget to comment. : )
Enjoy this video I made on some of the animals!
http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?i=1&db=1&pw=e1RmEhz1&a_id=5912052
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coral Is An Animal. N.p., n.d. Web. 6. 5 Jan. 2013. .
What Flora and Fauna Means. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2013.
%3Fsuggid=78224B97E696987A657D1DD5C1153760>.
Van Wyk Smith, Douglas. Person to person interview. 4 January 2013.
Hayman Island Grounds Maintenance & Landscape/Environment Department General Overview. Hayman Island Pamphlet. ND.
Green Tree Snake. N.p.. n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
The Flying Foxes. N.p.. n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
Grass Trees. N.p.. n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.
All photos and video were taken by me and my family.
- comments
World Rings Bell I loved your entry!! I really liked how you described everything!
Sharon savarese Hi Olivia (Woops I mean Captain O)! It's Sunday morning here and I just woke up but didn't feel like getting up right away so I reached over and picked up my phone and was excited to see your email! Australia sounds amazing! Thank you for your entry. The temperature here today will be in the mid 60's which is warm for January, but nothing like the warmth and tanning opportunities in Hayman Island!!! Thanks for a great way to start my day!!!! Sharon
Aunt Amy Lots and lots of humidity makes flora really really big!! It's such a healthy thing to see, right? Big, green, healthy looking plants. And I am glad to hear about the great reef from you directly, it gives me a small taste of what it would be like to see it myself. But WOW are you lucky to have had the chance to snorkel in it!!! So glad you are enjoying yourself and learning so much too! Thanks for sharing, captain O - I look forward to more :) lots of love, AA
Skylar Ward Hey Sweetie Pie, miss you guys! You guys are lucky its hot there! It is so cold here in London! I have SO much work in school! You are lucky you are there instead of here! Well your blogs are really nice to read! Bye! -Skylar
Devin H Hey O! The Great Barrier Reef sounds amazing! How big was the turtle you saw? I'm gonna tell my friend about it(she is obsessed with turtles!). Love, your friend, Devi-Doo
Debra Levy Hi Olivia You came to mind so I thought I would see how you are. It sounds like you’re having a fantastic time. What with geysers, death roads and the great barrier reef, it must all seem a great adventure. I would like to see a turtle, you’re so lucky, although I’m not sure about a snake in the shower. You are however, missing the (brief) snow and the lots and lots of rain and floods of merrie England! Yesterday was rather scarey actually, because I was giving a friend of my sons a lift back home. He lives on a road that runs alongside the River Thames. Rather late down the road I realised the river had come right over its banks and was about 30cm deep (the length of a long ruler on its side). I knew I had to keep going and keep the engine running hard otherwise it would just stop and we would be stuck but the river was quite strong and pulling hard against the car so it felt like we might be drawn into the river itself. However we did make it to the other side and I am able to send you this message. It is the longest stretch of deep water I have driven through in my life. So far the car still works as well. Cars are like cats, they generally don’t like water. Unfortunately I didn’t dare slow down for a lady who was standing on the higher edge of the road so I think she got quite a lot of water over her wellies and up half her body. I did call out ‘sorry’ but I don’t think she was impressed! School is moving along in a familiar pattern. We miss you of course and I do hope you have your violin with you and have got it out a few times. You could even try out some busking in the streets! We have school concerts coming up soon so I shall pop along and listen to the orchestras to see how they are getting on without you. Love for now Mrs Levy
Jupiter Jen Hey Captain O! Thanks for sharing your finds! The description of the clam was great! I was thinking big clam...ok, but when you said you could fit in it...well that is in fact a big clam! I love reading the blogs about your finds! I have been posting my own finds on our Science Explorers Facebook page. I have learned so much during my stay in London. We have been able to take 3 or 4 day trips to ancient civilizations and other cool places around Europe. Keep posting your discoveries, I love learning from you!