Kids Friendly – Smart Writing

CanTeen – Helping those with cancer

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Originally founded in Australia in 1985 CanTeen was founded in New Zealand in 1986.

CanTeen is for anyone between the ages of 13 and 24 who is living with cancer be it “patient”, “sibling” or “bereaved sibling”. The aim is to provide a relaxed, friendly and fun environment where members can share their thoughts and feelings with other young people whose lives have been affected by cancer.

The New Zealand organization was launched with “Miles for Smiles” a walk from one end of the country to the other, to raise funds and awareness of adolescent cancer. Today, CanTeen operates in 13 regions within New Zealand.

CanTeen does not receive government funding and relies on the generousity of New Zealanders. There are many ways to donate through Cash Donations, Monthly Giving Club and Bequests (see the website for more information).

THE SIMPLEST WAY EVERYBODY CAN SUPPORT BANDANNA WEEK IS BUY A BANDANNA!

Schools bring gardening to life for their students

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Moturoa Primary School in New Plymouth has made gardening part of its curriculum.

In 1994 the school re-introduced the annual planting of school gardens by the children, marking Arbor Day. Every year since, they have created and planted out a new garden.

Moturoa School was the first Trees for Survival school in Taranaki, opening its propagation unit in December 1996 with funding from Westgate Transport Ltd, Port Taranaki. New Plymouth Rotary West assembled the unit and supplied many man hours and additional funding.

How to show your children how to enjoy a small garden

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Gardens come in all sizes and shapes. We fit into the small garden category – ‘Small enough to keep under control and big enough to provide a great learning environment.’ What a great way to educate the children.

Make sure you choose a well sheltered area that gets many hours of sunlight. Let your child help prepare the soil. Dirt can be turned over with a small shovel or trowel and clumps can be broken up by hand or by ‘stomping’ on them.

Choose easy to grow plants and as many different ones as you can get into the small space. Carrots, radishes, lettuces and dwarf butter beans are good vegetable choices. Mini cauliflower, mini cabbage and mini broccoli are a great idea for small or planter gardens. Herbs are great to add to meals parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives, peppermint and mint. Strawberries are also fun to grow.

Cooking classes for Kids

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

With a great passion for cooking, Naomi Ward has years of experience in the hospitality industry. She has worked as a chef and has trained them too.

In 2003, deciding it was time for a change, she purchased Etcetera in New Plymouth. The shop specialises in tableware and kitchenware.

The first thing to add to the shop was a kitchen. Naomi started holding classes in the evening for adults looking to expand their cooking skills. These proved popular and within 18 months she decided to introduce children’s cooking classes. “My children are all great cooks and I’m now working on the grandchildren.”

“I am passionate about children learning to cook in this day and age. They need the basics of cooking for when they go flatting or move on to university.”

Stepping out in New Plymouth

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Hang gliding at Back Beach — Handgliding at Back Beach

With the holidays approaching fast have you thought about venturing out and about in New Plymouth?

BackBeach is beautiful to wander along especially when the tide is out. The surfers are out in force when the wind is right; also the hang gliders, and more commonly, para gliders float around on the thermal air coming off the high cliffs.

Paritutu Rock is also an unusual place to clamber about. It is a portion of the outer rim of an extinct volcano. The steep track up is graded hard. Make sure to allow heaps of time for the rest at the top as there are amazing views in all directions -most certainly not for the faint hearted.

Another lovely beach with a great playground is NgamotuBeach. There are public toilets and barbecue facilities available. You will also find the beam pump, which marks the site of Moturoa No. 4 oilwell, drilled to a depth of 666 metres in 1931 and closed in 1972. The beam pump was erected by Shell BP and Todd Oil Services as a memorial to the pioneers of oil exploration in New Zealand.

Kawaroa Park is well known for its rock pools. Make sure to have sturdy footwear. Young and old have fun exploring the rockpools, seeing creatures up close and then putting them back into their homes.

Learning in the outdoors on Mt Taranaki

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Alex Smart making his way to Wilkies Pools.

Alex came racing in the door “Mum we’re going to camp at Konini Lodge up the mountain. Can you come?” The mountain Alex is referring to is Mt Egmont and one I had never tramped even though I live in New Plymouth!

Visions of the last camp I attended flooded back; sleeping in a hall with 60 children and 10 parents, exhausted from spending the day in the sun doing activities on the beach, and children still talking at 2am in the morning. One thing I remember was being woken at 5am by voices, only to see two girls playing cards with the dimmest of lighting from the kitchen.

“Not if I don’t have to” was my hasty reply.

But as I put the necessary paperwork in saying Alex was allowed to go, I thought about it and I decided to go too. Perhaps it was the write coming out in me, time to think outside the square and push previous thoughts to the back of my mind.

For those not familiar with Mt Egmont here is a bit of a history lesson. Captain Cook named the mountain Mt Egmont after John Perceval, 2^nd Earl of Egmont, the First Lord of the Admiralty. In the 1980’s it was ruled that its official name is Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont – there is still controversy about which is its rightful name. For me it was a mountain, which meant I was going to have to do a bit of tramping, great!

Fonzi – From thoughts to print

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

If you have ever had a dream of writing your own book you will know that the process is not as easy as it seems. Getting those ideas down on paper and then readable can appear an impossible task. But sometimes it all comes together and after many rejections from potential publishers, one of them finally says ‘yes’ and that dream becomes reality.

You will undoubtedly have read one of Sharyn Smart’s interesting articles in our digital magazine, Kids Friendly NZ, as Sharyn is a regular writer here. Sharyn has given us a glimpse into how she got her first book published. Who knows, it might just inspire you to get your ideas down on paper and write your first book.

Sharyn’s dream started back in November 2004 when she did a comprehensive writing course by correspondence through the Writing School. One of her assignments was to write a juvenile fiction story.

Discovering Waihi in the North Island, New Zealand

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Oh how things go in circles.

Growing up we lived on a dairy farm. I certainly didn’t get involved too heavily in farm life. I enjoyed huts made in the hayshed, jungle adventures in a small patch of bush, island adventures involving our para pool, numerous hours playing house, restaurant and shop, helping feed calves, helping feed out, washing down the yard but avoiding the cowshed when the cows were there.

At the age of 12 we left the farm and became “townies”. This life I could relate to with shops and NO cows!

Fast forward 25 years and I am now married and we have children of our own. For a family holiday what do we do? – Go and stay with friends on a dairy farm!! What is really crazy is my husband Campbell and son Alex, nearly 10, love the farm life-style. Daughter Kate (13) and myself are townies through and through.

The major bonus of this farm is – it is in Waihi. There is so much to see and do around the area that I thought I would let you know what we have discovered.

The most beautiful place I love is Whiritoa. Only 20 minutes drive from Waihi on the road to Whangamata, our friends took us to a lovely lagoon. The golden sand was a major for our Taranaki bred children as we only have black sand. All around the Waihi area we couldn’t get over the amount of shells.

“Moving forward – positively”

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

With the New Year here, once again we all start making New Year resolutions.

In 2002 my resolutions came looking for me. Life over-whelmed me, which in turn forced me to make some drastic changes.

I broke a bone in my foot, in December 2000 and spent a lot of 2001 having physio and not exercising much. The slightest step on uneven ground sent my recovery back to the beginning. This meant that I spent a lot of time sitting around and eating. I made a minimal attempt at using the time to change careers and started a writing course by correspondence.

In 2002, I got offered a part-time job. The hours were great so I went for it. Unfortunately it meant that for 10 weeks, I had to use my lunch break to race to kindy, home to our neighbours to drop off Alex and back to work, until Alex turned 5.

My husband, Campbell, ended up at A&E at all hours of the day and night in excruciating pain in his side. They eventually decided it was kidney stones. There were many blasting operations and stent operations. Everybody was on alert in case he needed to get to the Hospital. Every time he groaned in his sleep or got up to the toilet I was ready to organise his parents to come and take him, as I would need to stay with the children. A good nights sleep was a thing of the past.

South Island On Wheels

November 13, 2013 by Sharyn Smart

Join the Smart family from New Plymouth as they take a trip of a life time to the South Island.

After three years of planning and budgeting we were pulling out of the drive-way on our micro South Island holiday. I was quite nervous, as all I had been allowed to book, was the ferry and it was the September school holidays.

We camped at relatives in Waikanae, Wellington. Overnight I was worse than the children. I was sooooo excited. Our holiday was about to begin. Our children, Kate 12½ and Alex 9½ had never been on the ferry. Both were a little nervous of the unknown. Many horror stories had been told about rough crossings and we were all hoping for smooth seas. Lucky for us, that’s what we got.

The trip across the strait involved games of noughts and crosses, connect the dots, the gaming room, hot chips and numerous walks around the ship. We got off the ferry at Picton and drove to Blenheim. It was hard to believe we were in the South Island! We arrived in Blenheim exhausted and grateful to finally stop travelling. We ate tea and fell into bed and slept!.

I had loosely drawn up an itinerary. After a day spent with friends, we went to Kaikoura. The highlight of our trip was Wings over Whales. Yes you read right – an aeroplane ride. Our children had never been on a plane and nerves crept in.

We spent the night in a beautiful Top 10 Holiday Park. We had what is termed a Motel Unit and were very impressed. We treated ourselves to a spa. Alex loved the fact we had full Sky television (something we don’t have at home!)