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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Melbourne
Story filed:  Christmas 2016
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about Christmas. In Melbourne I saw the most amazing windows ever...Ok guys, I'm not just talking about plain windows in a house, I am talking about 'show' windows, little puppets in windows. They built these machines in a window and they are attached dummies - not dummies that babies suck, dummies as in puppets. Metal wires are attached to them and underneath the settings there are machines that go up and down and across and across the other way - these are attached to wires that are attached to the dummies and these wires make the dummies move. So it looks like they are not just plastic - they look like they are moving and walking people. The story was about a little girl called Bella and her grandpa who went to Luna Park - and the rest of her family stayed at home. She went on the merry-go-round and the horse that she chose was grey with white spots, and a blue and silver saddle, with a white mane. The merry-go-round went faster and faster until they found themselves flying! The horse followed a stream into the city and they also flew over a big audience watching some Christmas Carols - then the second last window was the little horse coming down to the ground. It all finished with the clouds going away and Luna Park coming back. On Christmas day, Bella was given a rocking horse made by her grandpa - and guess what! It was the very same horse that was on the merry-go-round. And a Merry Christmas to you.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Canberra
Story filed:  Curvy Concrete
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about my stay in Canberra. The first place we went to in Canberra was the Australian Museum where we saw the History of the
World in 100 Objects exhibition - I've already told you that story, where I dressed up as a king - yeah, yeah, you know all that. Outside the building was a nice smooth roll of concrete and then it got bumpy and then ended up in a big curve that reached to the sky. I went up and up and up until I couldn't go any further - then I ran down super fast, all the way down the hill to where my mum was standing. I think it is a very interesting art piece because it is very, very curvy and you don't see things like this everyday - it's interesting!

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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                            A very good effort of a complex drawing. Leo's (age 8) wise owl.
                            Teacher: Julie Foxall see  Kids at Pigs

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Bikes
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about bikes. Do you like riding bikes? I do. They are fun. To go down a very, very big hill; you just sit on the bike and don't pedal because you're going down a very, very big hill! When you go down a very big hill you are going very, very, very fast. You can feel the breeze go past you and everything goes so fast it is like a blur. I was going down a big hill - I've been down that hill before - and I forgot they there was a walk path and bricks because you couldn't see from the point of view I was, I went down and smash bang.... I fell on the concrete. Luckily I was wearing my helmet because the handle bars smashed on my head and then the bike tumbled over me. I grazed my knee very, very badly and the rest of my body was ok. And in Bathurst, all around, they have put up some hire bikes. There are two white ones on the stand at the pool. In the school holidays Mum says I can hire one - the bike is not too big and not too small, it's just right for me.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Stories
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about stories. I came second in the Faraway Competition 2016. I will tell you what the Faraway Competition is: " Young writers aged 7 -18, from around Australia, were asked to respond to the theme 'faraway' with a short story, poem or illustration".  I drew an imaginary map of Faraway and came second in my age group and for that my map gets published in a book! We waited a long time for my book and today it has arrived! It took many weeks to come from where ever it came from, to Bathurst. It's called 'Faraway Anthology'. I also got a certificate and a voucher. I think coming second is great but I'd rather come first.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Stories
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about History in 100 Objects. In the museum, in the special exhibition A History of the World in 100 Objects, there was a little round room especially for kids to play in. The adults can have a rest and the kids can play. I dressed as a king, I wore a crown and a robe - but they weren't real! There was a square hole that had been made into the wall - it had a frame around it. You step into it and stand up and then it looks like you are in a painting. Your mum or dad can a take a photo and you can put it in a frame at home. My mum took a photo of me. After that we went around the rest of exhibition. I thought the exhibition was good. My favourite thing was the dressing up.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Lego Series: 1

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about Lego things. Yesterday I went to Hobart and my Dad took me to a special shop down an alley way - this shop sells nano blocks; they're tiny pieces of Lego. I bought a nano block wolf. There were a lot of nano block packs and I chose a wolf. I also have a baby grand piano in nano blocks. And I also have a panda made of nano blocks which my Godfather Greg brought back from Japan for me. It me a while to build the wolf. I had a bit of trouble with building the head as it was a bit confusing and hard to make it.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Train Museum

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about trains. We still use trains today - but not the shoving coal in the engine, pulling levers trains. We use diesel trains and electric trains. The electric trains have wires above the train track and wires on the roof of the train and this is where the train gets electricity to run. In some places they don't have the wires above the tracks; the train tracks are electric, so these trains get electricity through the wheels. There is a train that is Ben Chifley's engine. He drove it himself on the Bathurst train tracks, the tracks inside the station. Ben Chifley was a famous man so they kept his engine and put it on display for whole world to see. This photo is of a train carriage that is going to be in a new Bathurst train museum. I was thinking of getting a job there, a weekend job like taking guiding tours around the museum. In the photo I am pointing to the letters NSW, they are bit chipped away. These letters were underneath the carriage.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Nom, nom, nom

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about food. I like food; it's nice, it's delicious and it's yum. Food keeps us alive, There's healthy food and there is once a week food. This photo is a special breakfast - it is special because it is a breakfast for reaching level 20 in reading. This breakfast is before school in a little cafe in a little alley way. It was very delicious. It was special because it was a reward. It was a special, delicious breakfast.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Rainy day beaches

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about rainy day beaches. We went to Sydney and then came back to Bathurst. We went to Sydney to get more things to put on my teeth. I wanted to go to the beach but it was a very soggy, wet day and it was too wet to go to beach, so we just looked at the beach and ate some lunch (that my had grandma packed) while we were sitting in the car. Then we went to the the lung functioning hospital and did some breathing with one nostril blocked and breathing in a special tube, and then we did the other nostril. We did that for while and then we went to the train station and caught the train back to Bathurst.

PS the pretty wood pigeon in Grandma's back garden has returned and she has laid another egg.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Sydney

Story filed: birds nests

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about birds nests. At my grandma's house we found a pigeon's nest with an egg in it, with the mother bird sitting on top of it. My grandma's house is in the middle of the city. But we must have done something for the mother to abandon it. The mother flew away and abandoned the egg so it's probably not alive anymore, it's probably dead. And otherwise, we don't know why she flew away. Why did the mother have to leave the egg behind? Who knows.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Looking at art

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about art. The art was painted by a woman and her husband. After we looked at the whole art exhibition we went to a verandah and hanging on some wires from the roof were some projector screens. And there some films about the lady and the man and I looked out through the glass window and imagined myself climbing around the edge of the inside of the building. I imagined myself falling and dying, I imagined the verandah falling and dropping and killing 100 people including me. I was scared. I looked over and imagined the same thoughts three times. But it was only my imagination! And then Mum took a picture of me then we left, down the stairs, into a little shop, Tessy my aunty, she came along with us. Then after Tessy bought a book we left and we enjoyed the rest of our day.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My Desk

Story filed: Another list

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about lists. My list helps me write my column and I tick a subject every time I do it. When I get to the end of my list I have to write a new one. I just think of ideas and write them down then I have to go round taking photos of things for my ideas. I'm now at the beginning of a new list and on the list are things that I think my reader will like, things that have I seen and things that I like. I keep my list on the fridge.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Canberra

Story filed: The Glass Piano

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about a piano, a piano with bubbles of glass coming out of it! This piano was in an old glass factory in a special room for art. To me it is very creative and very interesting because you never usually see a piano like that anywhere else. I don't really know what the glass bubbles mean but it might mean that your imagination is flowing out or it might mean that the music is coming out of the piano; because the music comes out as you play a piano. It could be a bubble piano that when you play it, coloured bubbles come out instead of notes. To me it looked like the notes are flowing out like sound-bubbles, that come up to you when you are listening and go pop in your ear and the note comes out of the bubble, beautifully.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

 

Photo is of Ken Unsworth's "Fascination", exhibited at the Canberra Glassworks, Smokestack Gallery April 2016

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My Desk

Story filed: History

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about History. I like learning about history because to me, it is very interesting because you get to learn about what happened a long, long time ago. Richard III, an English king, was found buried under a car park and then was reburied in Leicester Cathedral. Richard III had a very nice burial and I saw it all on television. Well, to me it's a bit weird being buried in a church. I thought he would have a special place in a graveyard with a big statue and a plaque saying Richard III. He died not of old age, and not in war - well it was tied to war because he was in a different part of the battle and he got murdered in secret. Some monks found him and buried him the ground near their church. The car park was built on top of the monks church. No one ever knew he was buried under a car park and now they do, so that car park is famous now!

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My Desk

Story filed: stranded on an island

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about a movie. It's about a family who get shipwrecked. The ship has been wrecked on the shore of an island but the pirates are there too - they are bad news. The family defend themselves from a pirate attack by throwing logs, coconut bombs and setting booby traps (one is a pit with a tiger in there and the other booby trap is a bridge that collapses underneath the pirates). And they do it with the help of a rescued cabin girl. The father made a mechanism that shoots arrows at the pirates, to work it you have to pull a rope - same as the bridge. The pirates get shot in the bottom, OUCH! And the best thing in the movie is their tree house. I wish I lived there.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Hobart

Story filed: Things to see

Hi people, it's Leo here. Do you know about the Aurora Australis? It is a ship and it is a very old ice breaker (launched in 1989). It has a hole in its' hull. So, now it is at the dock not far from my hotel in Hobart. I can see it from the window of my hotel room. It has lots of lights, it is sitting there for repairs. Well, we went down to the dock and there are tram tracks around the dock that are from the old cranes and pulley's. I saw lost of boats, I had lunch there - fish and chips because they do really good seafood. I also saw one seal, it had its blubber on so, it was a very fat one. I think it came into the dock waiting for a seafood chef to feed him. But the chef didn't feed him.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Cat on a mat

Hi people, it's Leo here. A while ago I went to a little Cottage shop and made this small square rug. I made the rug because it was one of the activities that you could do there. I thought it was good and I wanted to make one for my mum. The ladies at the Cottage were trying to teach me to sew in a straight line and I think I succeeded!. I made half of it and Mum made half of it after we got home. At the Cottage shop I also bought a miniature goblet made of wood, it is one of the most amazing things I have.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Skeletons

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about skeletons. I don't like them - you probably don't either. We have skeletons in our body, to me they are a bit scary! There are all kinds of bones in a skeleton and there are a lot of them. There is the skull; the bone that keeps your head in shape and it protects your brain, there is the funny bone; when you get hit in the funny bone, you sometimes laugh...don't you? There are the rib bones, there are the legs bones, arm bones and finger bones. Your nose doesn't have a bone, your nose is hard cartilage. Your ear doesn't have a bone, it is hard cartilage as well. Have you ever broken a bone? Trust me it is not fun, I know this because I had broken a bone before. It was very sore.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Birthdays

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about birthday parties. Do you like your birthday parties? I like my birthday parties because birthday parties are about celebrating you, getting older - I am sure the best part is about the cake and the presents. I love the presents and I have had some very good presents, some very very good presents. Christmas is like that, where you get presents but you are celebrating some one else's birthday. Last time I had a birthday party I got a really cool "Dig and Play Egyptian Tomb" box from a guy called Hugh. The Egyptian stuff was a hammer and a digging knife - they were special ones - the object of the game was that you had to chip away at a rock and try to find some objects in it. I found the sarcophagus last. So then I opened sarcophagus and found the rest of the pieces for the game. It was like a discovery. The best bit was digging the objects out - my friends helped me.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 67

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mystery

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are doing a mystery column. Who put these posters up? Have you seen these posters? Do you know who put them up?  They are 'Wanted' posters. We do not put them up not in the city anymore but in the police station we do - that's where the wanted posters are put up. A wanted poster is showing that someone is a baddie and needs to go to jail and people see this and whoever catches this person and brings them to the Cops, they get a reward. Mostly it's money..... like, a lot of money. These posters say Thief: jewellry, Banks, shops, stuff stolen. Reward $700 million and two dollars.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 66

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Gates

Hi people, it's Leo here. I'm in Sydney right now. Yesterday I went to a cafe to see my friend called Helen - my food was delicious! When we were eating, I saw a little narrow alley across the road, between a church and a shop and after we had eaten we went over to the alley. I really liked this alley; it had two little gates - one side didn't open far but the other one opened all the way. There was another gate outside the church but is was blocked and locked. It was blocked by some furniture just sitting there on the street, there was a sign on it saying "FREE". It had an ordinary lock on it and it also had an old fashioned lock but that is not important. And we weren't just looking at the alley - we were waiting for our bus. Thank you for reading.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Rocket ships

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about rockets. Rockets are used to go to outer space and explore space. They are also toys - I have a big rocket that has a little rocket and the little rocket is its' nose; and it can come off! I also have a rocket I made of tin foil, plastic tubs and pegs as legs. I stuck a plastic see-through thing on top as a window. I have seen more toy rockets at my old pre-school, in toy shops and lots of other places. I have seen a lot of rockets and I think they have cool boosters, cool wings, cool noses and I think everything about them is cool. 

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 64

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Kitty cats

Hi people, it's Leo here.  Do you like cats? I do. Some of you might not like cats, you might like dogs or birds but to me cats are really cute: big or small, fuzzy or furry, weird and funny...... I like them all. There are tea cups cats (that means they can fit in a tea cup) and there are cats that have really small legs and some cats that can fit in your hand. I wish I had one of those. I have Mou-Mou and Lucky - they are my two cats. I found Lucky on the side of the road when we still lived at the farm. Mum picked her up and put her on my shoulder when I was still asleep in the car.  She was very small and fit in my sock and now she is nice and big. Lucky is four and half years old and turns five in November. Lucky is black and Mou-Mou is a long haired tortoiseshell cat. The best thing about my cats is that they are cute and fun to play with and I love them. The end.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 63

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Inventing, No 2

Hi people, it's Leo here. Hey, you know that Inventing Column I did a few weeks ago? Well here is Inventing No 2. Well it's not really inventing, it's talking about what I've built and what I have recently added. I moved to Bathurst in 2014 and a bit later I decided I wanted a chicken house because I had a doll's house and I wanted to build a whole neighbourhood like the one in a book that I saw, which inspired me. Over time I have added a ship and built a dock, I also built a windmill with Lego which I then put into the chicken house. I put in train tracks, cars, more Lego, click clacks and built things with wood. And now I am still adding more things I've built! I like to do this because 1. it's my hobby 2. I just love miniature things 3. Lego is cool 4. building things is my thing. And that's pretty much it.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 62

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Canberra

Story filed: Secret doors

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about secret doors. In the olden days, this door was a little door that you could open to put coal into the furnace to make electricity. It was not a glass works gallery then; but it is today. It used to be an electricity factory. I didn't know that at the start but I know that now because we looked it up on the internet. Out the back there is a cafe and outside the cafe there is a train track, but not a real one -  what it is trying to do, is represent a train track that used to be there - I just figured that out because the train track was just flat-out and a real train tran is sticking-out so it had to be a fake one. And the wood is all over the place, not like the real wood in train tracks, that are not so close, next to one another. It was all very interesting to see.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 61

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: From my desk

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am talking about how I do my column. How I come up with my ideas for the column is that I think of things I like and write about it. I wrote a list of things that I like to do and then I did photos for them and this is my list of column ideas stuck on the the fridge. For the photos I had to get the right amount of sunlight (not too much) and the right amount of darkness in (not too much). When I first got the job for the column it was a bit hard to do them so I told my mum what to write. I talked and Mum wrote the words on the computer. Since then I have talked and I have written them in pencil and on my old typewriter. Over the past year I have done 60 columns. I also put my columns on my blog. The best thing about writing the column is that I get to make up stories and get to share my things with other people.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Email from BCL Editor:
This is so cool - thanks. Love it - one of his best.

Cheers

Dave Rankine | Owner and Editor

Bathurst City Life

“We capture the Spirit of Bathurst”

133 Stewart Street Bathurst NSW 2795

0467 200 245

dave@bclife.com.au

www.bathurstcitylife.com.au

www.facebook.com/bathurstcitylife

Column 60

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Matchbox cars

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are talking about Matchbox cars - they're not cars made of match boxes, they're just cars the size of a matchbox. I got my cars from auction sales, two second-hand shops, birthdays presents, the old ladies shop and all other kinds of places. At my great Aunt's house, she has a bag of really cool old Matchbox cars (a wooden one and mostly metal ones) that I get to play with. I have a whole box of cars somewhere in the front office at home that are amazing. I like Matchbox cars because they are old, they are cool and you can get them all kinds of ways - you get the idea. I like to build roads for my cars and drive them around these roads. Recently Mum accidently ran over one car, one train and one tram which were parked on their roads in our gravel driveway.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 59

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mining

Hi people, it's Leo here. I built a mine a couple of weeks ago. Not a real mine, a toy one. I built it in the driveway. I got a spade and I went 'Hmm', this is a good spot for a mine so I started digging. I put sticks up around to support the roof but it collapsed. I put some blue Lego train track down so that they could carry the trolley that had coal inside. On the trolley I also had bits of railway tracks so I could put them down when I've been digging further. It wasn't really a coal mine it was a gold mine. The soldiers were there to protect the gold from baddies.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 58

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Inventing

Hi people, it's Leo here. Do you like to build things? Do you like to make new kinds of things? I like inventing, I invent little things. I built a chicken house that has 13 rooms and two verandahs! This little space took weeks to build but that's not the story here. I have a little cellar that has all kinds of bits and bobs to build things, like: a windmill, ships, inventing rooms and just rooms. Sometimes I put up light bulbs and lamps and one day we will get battery operated lights too or I could build electrically operated lights but it is very likely that won't happen because I don't have the special wires.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 57

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Hospital

Story filed: I feel sick

Hi people, it's Leo here. On Thursday I went to get my tonsils and adenoids out. They made me breathe in some special gas to make me go to sleep and then they took my tonsils out. I tried to wake up but I was very sleepy. I woke up eventually and I was in very much pain; everywhere I was in pain. And I have to take pain killer so I don't feel the pain.  I couldn't eat my regular stuff, I can only eat yogurt and honey, and some chocolate stuff and custard and jelly and ice cream. I can't eat anything hard. And I have to sleep upright so no fluid will drain down into my head. I can't go swimming and I can't go to school and I can't talk properly.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 56

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mystery Object

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today we are looking at old glasses - not just any glasses, special glasses made by Dr Yee. I know this because the glasses case has his name on it and also the name of the place he worked and on the glasses (just where the nose goes) it says 'USA' - and that stands for United States of America and he probably lived in the United States of America in Maui, Hawaii. I got the glasses at an old lady's shop. I bought them because they looked quite interesting. The glasses reminded me of a character in The Wind in the Willows - it was Moley! And they were only $5.00. So, I got all this information (below these words I am writing), from my Mum. My mum got them from some newspaper she found on the internet. "Announcement: Dr. A. Y. Yee, optometrist and manufacturing optician is at the Grand Hotel, Wailuku, in the interests of his Maui clientele. If you wish your eyes examined kindly call at the hotel or phone Wailuku 80 for an appointment. Eyes examined and glasses fitted. From the Semi-Weekly Maui News 'For the Valley Isle first', Tuesday March 28, 1922.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 55

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Treasure

Hi people, it's Leo here. Do you have a safe place at home where you put all your precious goodies? I do. I can't tell you where it is though, it's secret - not even if you beg me, I'm not telling you. You probably have a bank to keep all your money in, or maybe a money box like I do. I have a jar of 1 and 2 cent pieces. I have some American money of $1 bills, some Pounds (that is English money) and one Euro (that's Greek money). This money is left over from trips overseas. There are also some other things of mine I like to keep safe like a glass 'diamond' and a special cat collar I made  - I made it especially for my kitty cat. I also have some very, very, very old coins; the ones from my Uncle Michael. Uncle Michael found them on the street and gave them to me. Aren't I lucky!

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 54

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Canberra

Story filed: Marbles

Hi people, it's leo here. Today I visited the Glass Factory. We saw all kinds of marbles in an art exhibition; they were on the floor, on the wall, in cases. In the big chimney furnace there was a video installation that saw lines being drawn on the floor with light. It drew over over my shoes! The photo here shows a marble, not in jail, but in school detention. It shows DETENTION, is like jail. In one of the Glass Factory rooms, everyone was watching a man teaching another man a lesson in how to make a big marble circle - a glass paperweight. I liked it, it was interesting and I wish I could have a lesson too. 

 

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Canberra Glassworks artwork by Mikki Trail, Detention Marble, 2016

glass, silver, stainless steel

Column 53

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Sydney

Story filed: My own city

Hi people it's Leo here. When I was in Sydney I visited my friend called Helen. I brought some paper money - it was Greek money and she had a little book with all kinds of words in the book. They were nice words and it said lots of different things - and guess who wrote it? Helen! She also had some rulers that you can bend; you can make a star or triangle shape with them. And there were feathers and a trophy and even an old book that she never let me see inside, it was really old. I made a little city out all these things. I found a little man, a little boy and I put the little boy in the city, with a sign next to him. And there was a queen. And I had a weight turned upside down, also a clear rock (I think it was a crystal) and that was my city.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 52

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mystery destination

Hi people, it's Leo here. On the way to the Autumn Fair we stopped at Machattie Park and we went into the garden house. There were lovely, lovely flowers and some statues in there. We went and had a look and we played a game of hide and seek for a while. The sounds in the ferney kept going fhh fhh fhh.....the sounds of a waterfall. The garden made me feel like I was in a jungle because it was just a like a jungle - because a jungle has all those lovely green, green plants and all also plants of all different kinds of colours. I think the statues were locked up behind bars because everyone, well not everyone maybe some people, might have scratched them or threw stuff at them. To me they look like prisoners disguised as a statues.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 51

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Adventure

Hi people, it's Leo here. As you all know, the Royal Bathurst Show is coming on soon. There is going to be motorbike jumping and if it's really cold there might be a kettle drum fire down near the dog trials, like there was a couple of years ago. There will be some things to eat like hot chips and sauce. I want to go to the show this year because I liked it last year and it could be the same - you know, good! I like the Show because I like watching the motorbikes go over the jumps. I also like the sheep shearing, the snake man and the CWA sandwiches. The snake man was in this big pit and it had plastic and a roof over it and that's where he kept the snakes. The best thing is being at the showground and seeing all the stuff.

 

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mystery Object

Hi people, it's Leo here.  Can you guess what this thing is? Is is a stick? Is it a crooked stick? Is it a colourful crooked stick? It has purple and blue triangles, it can twist bend and do many things. It is fun to play with and you could turn it into a walking stick, perhaps or a snake, maybe. You could turn it it into the letter P or your very own selfie stick. I have taken this object on holidays with me, to play with in the car. You could take it to many places. Once it broke but I fixed it by breaking it again - it is a bit shorter now. It looks like a maze if you turn it in to squares and squares and squares......do you know what it is or do you not?

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Adventure

Hi people, it's Leo here. We have two students from Japan here staying with us, again! We are playing with their electronic device - it is a computer dictionary. You press buttons and stuff for it to work. If you want to computer a word; you type it up and then it tells you what it is in Japanese! I have translated my own computer log-in code. It is really cool - I have set up a little desk for myself to work on.....I wish I had one of my own but I think I will need to go to Japan for that.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My Desk

Story filed: Ships, Chapter One

Hi people, it's Leo here. I have typed up on my typewriter another of my story chapters, about Ships. Ships have a lot of places; like where they store the gunpowder, the storage in the belly of the ship, the Captain's quarters. There is a ship in next door's house. It is a  wonderful model ship. It didn't have a name, we called it 'The Wasp'. It had 10 sails and 12 cannons. I looked for the steering wheel but it had none. I have also seen a model ship in a shop-front window. It was a speed boat. It had levers and smooth wood. It had real white leather seats - amazing! and I think it had real metal and definitely had glass windows. In Tintin's books there is a ship called "The Unicorn'. In the story it's carrying a special cargo. It was treasure. The Unicorn got attacked by pirates the leader was Red Rackham. I have made up some other names for ships like 'The Crocodile' and 'The Scorpion'. If I had a ship I would call it 'The Pistol'. 

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Visitors

Hi people, it's Leo here. We had some guests for three days. They were two school students from Japan. We picked them up from the club called Panthers; they were called Fumina and Mariko. We did a quite a lot of fun things with them.....we went to the swimming pool, we went to the supermarket, we went to the library and we went bowling and then we went to Churches fairy garden. We had some pizza in the park next to the big church before their concert and then we went to a concert by the Japanese students. We also had some ice cream, we went for a bike ride by the river, we went to my cricket match at Paddy's, we went to the craft cottage and we watched a Disney DVD. I felt happy and I was really happy with them staying and I felt really sad when we had to say goodbye. I felt happy because they were joyful and friendly and really exciting! Mariko took many photos, we thought is was just for fun but it was to make a little book for us to say goodbye. My message to Mariko and Fumina is 'thank you for staying with us, we really enjoyed it and we hope you both come back to Australia to visit".

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Mystery

Hi people it's Leo here. Do you like gates? I do. I like gates because they are very interesting. One day on the way to the bus stop Mum and I saw this small, little gate. Very strange! It is part of a brick fence. This gate does not open, it is made of metal and reminds me of a gate for a little town. It's like it might be for a group of special magical creatures who come there for meetings......the gates would open at night and let them in. It leads to a picture of a flower in the concrete and they would circle around this and talk all the way until midnight - then at midnight when the gates are still open everyone goes and at one o'clock they close. 

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My desk

Story filed: No 3 in a Series

Hi people it's Leo here. 

We went to the NGA - the National Gallery of Australia. The floor there was very nice, it was very striped. We didn't know what was it there for, for decoration? What was it there for? It was on the ground floor. It was very amazing and colourful and shiny. Do you like it? I like it. It felt like I was sitting on a rainbow. Still, we do not know what it was there for. Very strange - but that is another story.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter