Week of January 12, 2025 | View the Map
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Friday
At the end of our last blog entry, we asked you to help us figure out which cardinal direction we would be traveling from Morocco to New Zealand. The majority of blog readers chose Southeast. And you were correct!! Thank you - you geographical geniuses. Uncle GT, Meri, Mr. Vuhn, and I are traveling from Morocco to New Zealand. This is such a LONG flight! We are on our third flight now and have been traveling well over 24 hours already, and we are not there yet! Mr. Vuhn told me that New Zealand is part of Oceania. Neither Meri nor I had any idea what Oceania meant. Mr. Vuhn told us some fascinating information about Oceania. This all gets very confusing. Some people think that Oceania is a continent. It is really a region because a continent does not usually encompass several land masses. Some people call Australia a "continent," but it is really part of the region of Oceania. Meri and I found this all confusing. We had no idea. Oceania is located in the Pacific Ocean. Oceania is one of the most fascinating and diverse areas in the world. We can't wait to explore this geographical gem (after a long nap!).
Oceania is made up of many islands and countries, which can be confusing. It is divided into four regions, each containing numerous countries and islands. The regions include Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. We attached a map that shows Oceania@.
The first region (Australasia) includes Australia, New Zealand, and a few smaller islands belonging to Australia. The largest island/country in Oceania is Australia. In fact, the total land area of Oceania is approximately 9,008,000 square kilometers. Australia accounts for 7,600,000 of those square kilometers. So, as you can see, over 75% of Oceania is Australia. Australia is surrounded by both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world. Geography is fascinating.
The region of Polynesia includes numerous island nations; however, many are claimed or are territories of other countries nearby or from around the world, such as New Zealand, France, the United States, or the United Kingdom. Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu are all located in Oceania and are all actually independent nations.
The region of Micronesia consists of the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam (a United States territory), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands (another United States territory), and Palau.
The region of Melanesia includes East Timor, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. New Caledonia is also a country of Melanesia but France's territory. Indonesia is also partly in Micronesia. This is the most fascinating country of all, in my opinion. Indonesia has 17,508 islands (although humans only live on about 6,000 of them).
Okay, our airplane is getting ready to land in Wellington, New Zealand (the capital city). We will write more once we get some rest. I am glad we have a few days to relax before the conference.
Oceania is made up of many islands and countries, which can be confusing. It is divided into four regions, each containing numerous countries and islands. The regions include Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. We attached a map that shows Oceania@.
The first region (Australasia) includes Australia, New Zealand, and a few smaller islands belonging to Australia. The largest island/country in Oceania is Australia. In fact, the total land area of Oceania is approximately 9,008,000 square kilometers. Australia accounts for 7,600,000 of those square kilometers. So, as you can see, over 75% of Oceania is Australia. Australia is surrounded by both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world. Geography is fascinating.
The region of Polynesia includes numerous island nations; however, many are claimed or are territories of other countries nearby or from around the world, such as New Zealand, France, the United States, or the United Kingdom. Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu are all located in Oceania and are all actually independent nations.
The region of Micronesia consists of the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam (a United States territory), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands (another United States territory), and Palau.
The region of Melanesia includes East Timor, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. New Caledonia is also a country of Melanesia but France's territory. Indonesia is also partly in Micronesia. This is the most fascinating country of all, in my opinion. Indonesia has 17,508 islands (although humans only live on about 6,000 of them).
Okay, our airplane is getting ready to land in Wellington, New Zealand (the capital city). We will write more once we get some rest. I am glad we have a few days to relax before the conference.
- Geo
This is a picture of the yellow-eyed penguin (found in New Zealand).
This is a picture of a really cool bridge in New Zealand - isn't it neat! Would you walk across that bridge?
Map of Oceania
Check out this map of Oceania. All of the countries in Oceania are written in RED.
Oceania Explained
Do you want to learn more about Oceania? This video does a great job explaining all of those many islands.
Sunday
The Dewey saga is really heating up. We are all set to attend the International Conference on Global Warming tomorrow morning. The Equators are second on the agenda as guest speakers. They are talking about the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage is a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic. This passage is a direct route for ships to travel from Europe to Asia across the Arctic Ocean. The passage is becoming ice-free for the first time since satellite records began to be kept in the 1970s. We have been in contact with the security guards for the conference. As soon as the Equators arrive at the conference center, the security guards will take them into custody and demand that they return Dewey, the truth-sniffing dog, to the USA. The Equators must have been using Dewey to discover the truth about the Northwest Passage. Holy Idaho! I am so excited to finally confront the Equators and take Dewey home.
Text Message from Pandora - How R U? RUOK? No news from U? Call or text ASAP. BBFN.
Text Message to Pandora - We R N BTFL N. Zealand. Will Call U 2MORO.
In other news - NEW ZEALAND ROCKS! New Zealand is located in the South Pacific Ocean and is Southwest of Australia. New Zealand is about the same size as the state of Colorado (the home of Denver, The Mile High City). There are many natural resources found in New Zealand: natural gas, iron ore, sand, gold, coal, timber, limestone, and hydropower. Earthquakes are very common in New Zealand but are rarely severe. This country also has numerous volcanoes. Do you suppose earthquakes and volcanoes are related? New Zealand has three national languages (English, Maori, and sign language). I wonder why one country would have three national languages. About 80% of New Zealanders live in major cities. I guess this is because work is easier to find in the cities. Can you think of other reasons why New Zealanders (sometimes known as "kiwis" - not to be confused with kiwifruit!) might live mostly in cities? Most of the major cities are located on New Zealand's coast, making it easier to ship items. Tourism is a major industry in New Zealand, and a reasonable number of New Zealand residents work in the tourism industry. We will update our blog tomorrow - after our encounter with the Equators. Wish us luck!
Text Message from Pandora - How R U? RUOK? No news from U? Call or text ASAP. BBFN.
Text Message to Pandora - We R N BTFL N. Zealand. Will Call U 2MORO.
In other news - NEW ZEALAND ROCKS! New Zealand is located in the South Pacific Ocean and is Southwest of Australia. New Zealand is about the same size as the state of Colorado (the home of Denver, The Mile High City). There are many natural resources found in New Zealand: natural gas, iron ore, sand, gold, coal, timber, limestone, and hydropower. Earthquakes are very common in New Zealand but are rarely severe. This country also has numerous volcanoes. Do you suppose earthquakes and volcanoes are related? New Zealand has three national languages (English, Maori, and sign language). I wonder why one country would have three national languages. About 80% of New Zealanders live in major cities. I guess this is because work is easier to find in the cities. Can you think of other reasons why New Zealanders (sometimes known as "kiwis" - not to be confused with kiwifruit!) might live mostly in cities? Most of the major cities are located on New Zealand's coast, making it easier to ship items. Tourism is a major industry in New Zealand, and a reasonable number of New Zealand residents work in the tourism industry. We will update our blog tomorrow - after our encounter with the Equators. Wish us luck!
- Meri
Check out the amazing landscape of New Zealand!
Look at this beautiful pond in the mountains of New Zealand. Wow!
Here is a beautiful picture of a rainforest in New Zealand.
Airpano
This site takes you on a 360-degree virtual tour of New Zealand.
Check out the Botanic Gardens
Check out this amazing place that we saw over the weekend!
What is the Northwest Passage?
Learn more about the Northwest Passage with this up to date site.
Monday
Holy Idaho! I don't know where to begin. Today is the most exciting (and crazy) day of our trip. We arrived at the conference around 8 am. We quickly found the security guards, who told us that the Equators had not checked in. We decided to stay with the security guards until it was "time." The Equators arrived about 20-minutes later. We watched from a few steps away while the security guards approached. We could see Claude and Phoebe both acting confused and throwing their arms up in the air (obviously frustrated). Finally, we decided to walk over and speak to them. Geo told them that stealing Dewey and using his truth-sniffing for their own purposes was wrong and they needed to return the dog to us NOW. Phoebe told us we were too late and that Dewey was gone. Gone? What happened to Dewey? My first thought was that he had run away. What else could have happened to Dewey? What should we do now?
- Meri
Here are the Equators! Can you believe it - we took a screenshot of them during the conference before they went to talk.
Vote Here:
Links to learn more :
Kiwi Conservation Club
This website provides information about the unique wildlife of New Zealand.
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