Vietnam

Hi there year 2. How are you all?

I do hope that you are all well? I hear that the weather is being kind to you all over in England meaning that you don't need your hats and gloves just yet. Wonder if it will snow again this year?

We have been here in Vietnam for 3 weeks now and Mrs Maynard has had lots of pratice at her Vietnemse. I'm glad to say she is getting there and all the locals are able to understand her a little. Here are the basics-

Hello  -  xin chào (sin chow)

Goobye  -  Bye (easy one!)

Thank you  -  Cám ơn (gam on)

Một - 1 (moy)
Hai -  2 (ha)

Ba -   3 (baa)
Bốn - 4 (Boy)
Năm - 5 (num)

The money is very tricky to work out. Are you ready for this-(sorry no pound signs on the keypad) 

50p = 16,750 Dong

1 Pound = 33,500 Dong

5 Pound= 1,675,000 Dong

I told you it was crazy didn't I !

I can now understand why the sign for Vietnam is as it appears, because of the traditional hats that they wear. Here i am with Mrs Maynard wearing the traditional hat. 

So, where do I start? I guess at the beginning would be a good idea-

We left Thailand and were very excited to be flying over to here. Mrs Maynard has wanted to visit Vietnam for a long time so she was like a child just before christmas. Tim and I had to keep telling her to calm down quite a lot.

On our first few days in Vietnam we visited some massive sand dunes. Look how big they are compared to me. 

Mrs Maynard enjoyed whizzing down them and said that it reminded her of when she did Activity Club in the Christmas holidays last year and used the snow tabogins in the playground. 

We had lots of fun whizzing down these sand dunes on  a small bit of plastic. My ears hurt a little afterwards as Mrs Maynard screams VERY LOUDLY.

Mrs Maynard and Tim also did a cookery lesson for the day so that they could learn how took cook Vietnemese when they are back in England. The food over here is very different from what we eat at home but quite simular to Chinese. Have any of you eaten Chinese before?

.Our first exciting trip was hiring some motorbikes and with a guide riding right into the middle of the country along the bumpy roads. The roads over here are not like at home which are nice and flat. Here you have LOTS of pot holes which you have to be carfeul and dodge. Chickens, cows, dogs and cats often run right out infront of you so we rode very slowly looking out for any animlas all the time.

Our guide was very nice. Everytime he smiled his whole face lite up like the sun. He liked me a lot and always wanted to take lots of pictures with me in it which was very cool.

We spent 4 days visiting lots of places along the way. Mrs Maynard and Tim each had their own bikes. Here they are- 

As you can see Tim's bike was a lot bigger than Mrs Maynard but Tim kept telling her size didn't matter. Which bike do you like best?

On one of the days we went to see an orphange. This is a home where lots of children live if they don't have a Mummy and Daddy to look after them.  Even though they don't have a Mummy and Daddy every child that I met was very happy and had lots of lovely friends there living with them. The home is run by a church.

Mrs Maynard and I both really enjoyed this day very much. The children were very pleased to see us as we took cartons of milk as a little gift for them which they drank straight away. The children at the home were from the ages of 1-13years. I had lots of cuddles with the children.

Here is a picture of their bedrooms where they sleep at night.

There is also a school next to the home where the children go to daily just like you do.  Mrs Maynard said the classrooms were nice but very different to Trumps Greens. The rooms were very small and there wasn't lovely colourful displays on the walls like at your school.

Some of the older children were learning English which Mrs Maynard liked helping with. Here I am with some of the children in their classroom-

Our next adventure was a 4day walking trip to visit some of the local villages and staying with local people in their homes.  We could only take what we could carry on our backs so Mrs Maynard and Tim packed some small bags, I was popped onto the outside of Mrs Maynards and we were off.

The views were amazing and left me speachless. I loved just sitting on the back of Mrs Maynards back being able to take in all the green fields around us. Growing in these green fields are infact rice. 

Did you know that rice when picked from the field looks like this-

The rice is then put into a big machine where the outside gets beaten off leaving the small rice kernels that we see in packets when we buy it from the supermarket.

We stayed in 3 different villages with 3 different families in their homes. The homes have a special name called Stilthouses. Can you guess why? 

The families made us feel very welcome and it was a great experince to see, live and eat with a real Vietnamese family. 

I told them all about you at Trumps Green School and how Mrs Maynard was taking me round the world with her. They thought it was a fantasic idea that I was sending pictures to you of where I have been on our travels.

Whilst I was travelling in the hills,i came across a fellow bear by the name of Bernie. He was from Germany and was travelling with his friends too. 

On Wednesday we arrive into New Zealand. Rosie I remember you visited New Zealand when you were in reception. I wonder if we go to any of the places you visited ?

Mrs Maynard asked me to say that she hope that you are all looking forward to starting the Christmas play? She hopes that you will sing so loudly that she will be able to hear you all the over in New Zealand where she will be for Christmas and New Year.

Lots of love

Buster

Thailand

Sawasdee Ka (Hello in Thai)

We are coming to the end of our Thailand adventure and i am thinking that Mrs Maynard should have taken some Thai lessons from Miss Van Rooyen; as between you and me, she is not very good ! But the main thing is that she is trying and having a go.

See if you can have a go, you might need Miss Van Rooyen to help you here.

Hello - Sawasdee Ka
Good bye - La Kron
Thank you - kop khun kha
How are you? - Sabai Dee Mai?

The money over here is Baht. 1 English pound will get you 45 Baht.
The time difference here is 6 hours, so when you start school at 9am, it is already 3pm here.

We have been very busy, as Tim has learnt how to Scuba dive and Mrs Maynard has also done some diving.

I stayed on the beach, whilst they went off diving on a boat.

They said that they saw lots of fish of different colours and sizes. It was like swimming in a huge fish tank.

The island that we went to was really small, so Mrs Maynard and Tim hired a motorbike, so we could all whizz around the island. We were very careful as Mrs Maynard told us about James` daddy had broken his leg on a motorbike. I do hope that it is all fixed now James?

We stayed in a very small hut that only had 2 rooms; a bathroom and a bedroom. It was very cheap and only cost us 4 pounds a night - isn`t that cheap !?

We did however stay in a nice hotel a few days later, with a view of the sea from our balcony and a BIG TV in our room. Even Mrs Moore would have approved of this one.

In Bangkok, which is the capital of Thailand, we hired a small tuk-tuk who took us out for the day to all the different sights and temples around Bangkok. Did you know there are over 450 temples in the city of Bangkok alone.

Below, you can see me riding on the tuk-tuk and some of the temples and Buddhas we saw along the way.

We leave Bangkok and Thailand tomorrow and are heading to Vietnam, so look forward to telling you about the next leg of our trip soon.

Take care

Buster

Safari in South Africa and Botswana

One thing that I was most excited about when Mrs Maynard told me about their trip was the safari that we would be going on.
This was a 11 day trip where we actually camped out in the wild with all the animals around us. I was a little scared but Tim told me that we would be safe in our tents.

We did a 2 day trip to another National Park called Kruger. Kruger is so big our guide told us it is about the size of Wales. How crazy is that.

 

We saw so many animals through out the 2 days. So many more than I though we would. Are you ready for the list. (I think this will test Miss Van Rooyen or Miss Sinclair with there animals signs now. Lets see how they do)
Elephants, zebra, wildbeast, buffalo,gnu,hyena,impala,kudu, warthog,giraffes, lions, leopards, hippo's, monkeys, baboons, monkeys, wild dogs, crocodiles, rhino and quite a few more including lots of beautiful birds.

The lion came so very close and walked right by our jeep on the road. I was really so scared but luckily it didn't take any notice of me or us in our big jeep. I wonder if this lion has ever seen a bear before? The size of his paws were so big. Just one paw was nearly the size of me.

After leaving Kruger we went over to Botswana which is the country next to South Africa to a very special place call the Okavango Delta.
Botswana is quite similar to South Africa with the climate but can be a little warmer which Mrs Maynard was happy about.
The money they use over here is Pula. Amran can you tell everyone what the flag colours are for Botswana? Maybe a tricky one for you?

Here in Botswana we had a lovely couple of days camping again in the wild. To get to our camp site we had to go in special boats called mokoros. They are quite like canoes but made out of wood and pushed along by men that stand at the back of the boat with extremely long wooden poles who push us and steer us in the right directions. They are called Polers.  We could only take a few clothes for the days that we were at this camp site so we had to pack just a few T-shirts and shorts into a black plastic bag.
We had a little campsite set up with just 4 tents. Every night our guide Lloyd would cook our dinner on a camp stove and we would sit around the fire eating and listing to the animals around us.

During the days were very relaxed learning how to pole the mokoros, writing our diaries and swimming in the delta.
The water was so very fresh that we could have drunk it. We decided not too as it could have given us poorly tummies which would have very nice while we were there. We did did very early morning walking Safaris (we left at 6am) but didn't see too many animals which I was quite happy about.

One evening we went for a mokoro ride to see the sunset and we saw some more elephants. It was so peaceful sitting in the mokoro on the water seeing them having there dinner and literally eating a whole tree.

Mrs Maynard told me about our scenic flight that we were going to do on our last day. A flight in a small plane with only 6 seats. How cool! Let me tell you cool isn't a word to describe this. It was AMAZING!

I was allowed to sit in the pilots seat for a while and pretend to fly the plane which was fun I though of Lukes Daddy who Mrs Maynard said was a pilot. Has anybody else sat in a pilots seat before?

The flight was so much fun although a little bumpy which made Mrs Maynard scream quite a lot which was funny. We got to see yet more animals and take in how big the Delta was. We even saw the area where we got into our mokoros on the first day.

Well Year2  this is my last blog from South Africa and Botswana as tomorrow we are off to Thailand. Have any of you been there? Tim and Mrs Maynard are going to be doing some diving so of course I will be sure to get some more pictures and tell you know what we are doing.

Bye for now
Buster xx

Addo National Park

Before our final stop along the garden route was a National Park where lots of wild animals live. Although they are wild and free to walk around there is a big fence that goes around the edge meaning that the animals can't get hurt by cars.

We had a great afternoon driving ourselves around the park with just a map looking for any animals.
We saw lots and lots of elephants which was really fun and exciting as we got very close.

Because the animals are wild we were not allowed to get our the car. This was fine by me as the elephants where huge compared to me.

The Garden Route

We have now hired a car and are driving along a famous part of South Africa called the Garden Route. It's famous because it is a very pretty long drive. If you were to drive it in one go it would take about 10 hours which is the same I think if you drove from Virginia Water to Scotland. Fergus you have family in Scotland. How long does it take you? We took 6days which is nearly a week to drive it as we stopped off at some pretty towns and had some lovely walks along the beaches.

Along the route we saw some more whales and visited some wineries which is where they make wine. I wasn't allowed to try any wine as I'm too young so I stuck to water and juice. Mr Maynard and Tim had fun. Do you know what fruit wine is made from? Grapes. I learnt a lot about wine making while I was there.

One of my favourite day was when we visited a place called Tsitikamma. We did a very long walk here along the beach and saw some waves that left us all breathless. Some where so high that they would have been higher than your school. How crazy is that. I enjoyed sitting and watching them from a safe distance though. I was very tired at the end of the day as my legs are not as long as Mrs Maynard or Tim's. I slept very well that night.

Have any of you done surfing before? If so you would have really like a beach that we went to called Jeffery's bay. It is very famous for it's surf as the waves are perfect for surfing and body boarding.

I really wanted to have a go but because I still wear arms bands Mrs Maynard decided this probably wasn't a good idea. So Tim and I enjoyed writing in the sand.

That day Mrs Maynard seemed to really enjoy just sitting on the beach and watching the surfers in the water and instructors teach. I think maybe she was taking notes for when she next does it.

South Africa

So where do I start. I guess by telling you which country we are in.
We are in a country called South Africa. They use Rand over here as there money.  1 pound = 12 ZAR
The weather is like a warm English summer during the day but can get a little chilly in the evenings. Mrs Maynard always pops her scarf on to keep her warm.

There is a time difference of only 1 hour. When you start school at 9am in the morning it is 10am here.

Cape Town
We have been away now for just over a week and have been VERY busy. I thought we would spend our days eating ice creams, playing on the beach relaxing but oh no Mrs Maynard has Tim and I up early every morning and we don't get back to our room till late that afternoon. We are definitely making the most of our time here in Cape Town.

Mrs Maynard told me that Luke has been to South Africa. Did you visit Table Mountain Luke? Or has anybody else been there? If you look at the picture can you guess why it is called Table Mountain?
When the clouds roll over the top the South Africans call it 'The table cloth'. Isn't that a good way to describe it.

Table Mountain is Thousands of years old and very famous for being able to see some amazing views for the town and sea below.

We had a day visit to the southern most point of Africa. I know Mrs O'Connell has a map on the wall. Can you see it?
On the way to the point we stopped at a Botanical Gardens and saw some lovely South African Plants. Mrs Maynard said that it reminded her of when she went to Kew Gardens with you and Ms Peter's in Year 1.
We also saw some whales which I know Alex would have like because Mrs Maynard told me that you like whales Alex. Is that right?
They are very large indeed. 

Introduction

Hello there year 2,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Buster and I am cousins with Barny who I know you know very well.
I know that Barny and some of my other cousins like to go on holiday with you in the school breaks but I am a little bit more adventurous and so when Mrs O'Connell told me about Mrs Maynard's and her new husband Tim's adventure around the world I wasted no time at all in asking if she would mind me coming along for the ride.

I was over the moon when they agreed and said that I could come with them for the 6.5 month trip.

Mrs Maynard said that there was only one condition. I had to keep a diary and promise to keep you in Year 2 updated with our adventures and tell you about the sights and sounds that we are experiencing.

The easiest way I thought was to keep a Blog. Do you know what a blog is? Well, let me tell you. It is like a diary that I will write but instead of writing in a book I will type onto the computer which will mean that you at Trumps Green will be able to read my thoughts and see all my pictures in your classroom.
The Internet is a clever thing don't you agree?