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Week of January 26, 2025 | View the Map

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Monday

Our weekend was busy as usual. Mr. V had to fly back home for a family event. We investigated the map coordinates provided and the caller ID telephone number. Did you figure out anything about the telephone number? We surely did. Whoever sent us the message mustn't realize who they are dealing with. The telephone number was 1-555-837-4827. Uncle GT thought that the final 7-numbers represented something or someone. So, we decoded the numbers (we attached the link with the telephone keypad if you want to take a peek). The number 8 could be T, U, or V. The number 3 could be D, E, or F. The number 7 could be P, Q, R, or S. We tried various combinations of letters trying to spell the beginning of a word. Nothing seemed to fit with U as the first letter. And the only letter that could be the second letter was E (none of the consonant letters fit together - td, tf, vd, or vf). So we had either TE or VE for the first two letters. We quickly decoded the final five numbers and realized that 837-4827 spelled VERITAS. Holy Idaho!

After we solved the first mystery, we had to figure out where the message was telling us to travel. The map coordinates provided were 5 00 S, 140 00 E. We asked for your help to figure out the map coordinates. The majority of our blog readers chose Tonga. But we used the attached map (see the link below) and found Tonga at about 20 00 S, 185 00 E - so we didn't decide to go to Tonga. 5 00 S, 140 E is actually Papua New Guinea. So we booked the next flight heading towards Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea is a fascinating country in Oceania. This country is a group of islands (like many other countries in Oceania), including the eastern side of the island of New Guinea. The other half of the island of New Guinea is part of Indonesia. We attached a map for you to take an up-close look at Papua New Guinea. The overall size of this country is a bit larger than the state of California. We learned much about Papua New Guinea from a lovely older man who rode our bus from the airport to the hotel. Most of the country has a tropical climate. In fact, they even experience monsoons! Monsoons are strong systems of wind. They influence the climate of a large area. They can even bring in heavy, HEAVY rains.

Papua New Guinea has only a small amount of arable land: .49%, about half of 1 percent. Do you remember what arable land means? It means that the land can be used to grow crops. Holy Idaho! They mustn't grow many crops if they have less than one percent of arable land. Strangely, over 85% of the workforce works in agriculture! They may not be able to grow many crops, but what they do grow is very profitable. Some of the most profitable crops include coffee, cocoa, tea, sugar, sweet potatoes, vanilla, fruit, shellfish, vegetables, pork, and poultry. I wonder where these crops are exported. If a crop (or another product) is exported, that means that it is sent or transported to another country or area (for money).

This country is also rich in natural resources. Some of their natural resources include natural gas, gold, copper, timber, oil, silver, and fisheries. Many citizens of Papua New Guinea work in the industries of tourism, construction, the mining of copper, gold, and silver, petroleum refining, and various other industries.

There are many natural hazards in Papua New Guinea. The major hazard is caused by the country being located in the "ring of fire." The ring of fire is a circle that encompasses the Pacific Ocean. In that circle, many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. Sometimes even tsunamis occur in the ring of fire. Geo read that there are over 500 active volcanoes worldwide, and more than half of those are located in the ring of fire. Holy Idaho! You won't believe this - but there are even parts of Alaska that are in the ring of fire (remember we visited Alaska at the beginning of our adventure). Okay, we have got to run. We are searching around the city for Veritas International. We have had no luck so far.

Text Message From Pandora: Hey, r u ever coming home? ruok? Call me.

Text Message to Pandora: We r ok. In Papua New Guinea, will call u 2nite. bbfn.

- Meri

The Green Weevil, an unusual bug found in Papua New Guinea.

Here is an amazing volcano we found online (in Papua New Guinea.

We found this picture of erupting lava from an active volcano. Isn't it amazing?

Telephone Keypad
Here is the link to the telephone keypad.

Map of Oceania
Can you find Papua New Guinea?

Papua New Guinea Overview
Take some time to watch this engaging video about Papua New Guinea. Pandora shared it with us and it is full of great information.

Tuesday

You won't believe who called us today - Mr. Vuhn (the bodyguard). We were happy to hear from him. He wanted to tell us that he finally got his $2,000 from the Equators. And he felt bad for leaving us, so he did some investigating about Veritas International. Mr. Vuhn has a strong background in Latin, and he told us that the word "Veritas" means "truth." In the words of Meri - Holy Idaho! That makes sense then - they bought Dewey: The truth-sniffing dog. I wonder what truth they are trying to prove by using Dewey?

Mr. Vuhn also said that whoever told us that we should travel to Papua New Guinea was obviously trying to lead us in the opposite direction from Veritas International Headquarters. Although the company keeps a low profile (and isn't listed in the phone book or on the internet), Mr. Vuhn located the company in Sydney, Australia. He didn't have an exact address, but he knew it was within walking distance of the Sydney Opera House. We aren't sure what the Sydney Opera House is, but we will find out tomorrow. So tomorrow morning, we are traveling to Sydney, Australia. We are so lucky that Mr. Vuhn called us today. We called tonight to book our hotel in Sydney on Bridge Street (near Macquarie Park). Can you look at the attached map and tell us which cardinal directions we will travel to go from our hotel to the Sydney Opera House?

- Geo

Here is an unusual wasp found in Papua New Guinea.

This is a picture of the Sydney Opera House. Isn't it a neat design?

Map of Sydney
Can you look at the attached map and tell us which directions we will travel to go from our hotel to the Sydney Opera House? Our hotel is on Bridge Street, near Macquarie Park.

Vote Here:

Links to learn more :

Enchanted Learning - Ring of Fire
This resource offers information about the Ring of Fire. There are printable pages, "kid-friendly" information, pictures, and outline maps.

Geothermal Energy
This website provides information about geothermal energy and the Ring of Fire. This is a great way to incorporate additional science instruction into your weekly Globetracker lesson.

Lonely Planet - Papua New Guinea
This website provides additional information about Papua New Guinea. It also features video clips of the country.