Sterling’s Blog

Platypuses are interesting animals.  They have bills, webbed feet, lay eggs, and have poisonous spurs on their ankles.  When people in England saw platypus furs, they thought it was a mix of different animals that someone had glued together. 

Platypuses use their webbed feet for swimming.  They use their front feet for paddling and their back feet for stopping and steering.  They spend most of their life in water.  They eat things they find at the bottom of ponds and rivers, such as crayfish, little minnows, tadpoles, worms, and insects.  When they go under water, they close their eyes, nostrils, and ears, and then they use their sensitive bill to sense things.  Their bill uses electrical pulses to “feel” food.

Platypuses don’t have belly buttons because they lay eggs.  They don’t have toes, because their feet are webbed.  They don’t have fingernails, but have claws — a type of fingernail. 

Platypuses have different fur on their back than on their tail.  Their tail is hard and scratchy so when an enemy bites it, it will go “Ooh, hard, scratchy tail.  I don’t want to eat a platypus.” 

Platypuses are mammals ,even though they have a bill, webbed feet and  swim in the water.  Australia is the only place you can see a platypus,but we never got to see one in the wild.   Even though we didn’t see a platypus in the wild, I still think they are cool and interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we went to the Nature Center, we saw many cool animals.  We got to pet koalas and hold wombats (see left).  Then, we got to look at Tasmanian Devils and feed kangaroos from our hand.  The Nature Center studies animals to try and help them do better in the wild.  It was really fun.

When we went to the Platypus House, we saw platypuses and echidnas.  Platypuses are mammals that live in the water, have a bill, have webbed feet, and lay eggs.  The Platypuses had a little box that they slept in every night covered in blankets.  One of the platypuses wouldn’t wake up in the morning unless someone scratched its back.  We went to the echidna room.  The echidnas were walking all around our feet.  An  echidna is a really cute marsupial that looks like a hedgehog (to the right).  Echidnas are my favorite animal.

At Seahorse World, we saw lots of seahorses.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures because it would bother the seahorses.  Lots of seahorses live at the Great Barrier Reef.  We’ll go the Great Barrier Reef in a week and one-half.  We saw the Leafy Sea Dragon.  The Leafy Sea Dragon camouflages just like a leaf. 

I went mountain biking with Gibson and my parents.  We went biking down Ben Lomond, a mountain in Tasmania, Australia.  We had a lot of fun.  I saw a wallaby, a wombat, and a dead possum on the way down.   It was really exciting.

When we went to the zoo in Sydney, we took the ferry and then took the tram up the mountain and walked down through the zoo.  We saw koalas and got to go in their cage and pet them.  We also saw elephants, monkeys, wombats and giraffes.  My favorite were the koalas and wombats.

When we went to the aquarium, we took the ferry.  We saw a huge crab and lots of sharks.  We also saw a huge crocodile and a platypus.  My favorite was the platypus.  i bought a little stuffed wombat animal at the aquarium.  He is really really cute. 

We went to the Blue Mountains.  We saw kangaroos in the wild and got really close to them.  Then, we went to a gazebo and fed Crimson Rosellas from our hand.  It was really fun.  We saw a little “grand canyon.”  It was amazing. 

When we went to the Australian Museum, we saw skeletons and rocks.  We saw an elephant’s skeleton (see picture).  It was huge.  And next we saw rocks.  We saw lots of cool gems and minerals.  My favorites were the opals.  It was really fun. 

I am excited for school.  In school I want to go to other countries and see what schools are like there. I also think it will be fun to learn math, mapping and computer with my parents.  That is why I think school will be fun. 

I also want to learn about sports.   I want to see what new sports are like.  I want to ride camels and elephants. 

I want to try new foods in places.  Some of them will probably be really disgusting.  Some of them will be good.  I wonder if I’ll get to try new candy.

I hope I get to go to animal museums.  There will probably be some really boring museums, but there will be some really interesting ones, too.  I want to go to a horse museum.

We are going to do a LOT of traveling this year.  We are going to go in a three-night train from Singapore to Thailand.  We are also going to go on an overnight plane to Australia.  We are going to go onto a really cool boat to Antarctica. 

It will be fun to see all the animals in the Amazon and in Antarctica.  I really want to see a penguin that I can pet.  I also really want to see a wild horse and lions. 

   This is my doggy Scallop.  She is lazy, but she is the cuddliest dog in the world.  She loves food.  She will be with my cousins in Needham, Massachusetts.  I will miss her!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!