Column 221

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: New Life

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about our brand new kitten. On Thursday last week we fell in love with an eight week old adorable kitten from the Bathurst Pound. She was amazing so we decided to take her home. We have had her at home about a week and she is very playful and she sleeps a lot. But our other cat isn't very fond on the new little cat. In conclusion of naming her (we had lots of choices) - we ended up with Miko. There have been times when she has been a bit feisty - I have the scratches to prove it. Miko is a short-hair Tortoiseshell cat with blue eyes which I think will change colour to yellow or green. She is just so friendly and cute and it is really nice having her around the house. I just hope our other cat finds that out as well.

Until next time

Leo Roving Report

Column 220

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: School Holidays

Hi people, it's Leo here. Sorry again there was no column last week! Things are pretty busy around here for a kid my age. For me, the school holidays are literally around the corner. Two more days of school and then Speech Day. Well, Speech Day is just two hours of boringness unless you are getting an Award. Believe it or not I was pretty shocked to get a letter saying I was getting an Award so it might not be so boring after all. In the school holidays my family are going to Bermagui - I know, funny name right? Bermagui is located on the coast about 5 or 6 hours drive from Bathurst. We stay at this great old house which you can book anytime and we've booked it for a week. I'm so excited.

Until next time

Leo Roving Report

Column 219

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: My Office

 Hi people, it's Leo here. Sorry there was no column last week! Today I am going to talk about my weekend. This weekend was quite a good one. Me and my mum went to two fetes this weekend. The first one lacked community involvement but the second one was jam packed. I found some good books at both fetes and lots of other good items. My mum also got some good stuff too. After that we went to The Junktion again. We've been going the The Junktion for a while now. We're looking for a desk for me. I did a column on my hunt for a detective-style desk two weeks ago. Well, now I have a new to me detective-style desk which I have used to write this very column. The End

Until next time

Leo Roving Report

Column 218

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Birthday Party

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about laser tag. I went to a birthday party at the new laser skirmish building. It was awesome, there was a really cool arcade game with Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. There was also table soccer but the best thing was of all was obviously the Laser Tag -  for your gear, there were soldier vests (I ended up being the only person wearing one but I didn't care) and a variety of hats and guns to choose from. The first game we played was Green vs Red but unfortunately Green, my team, lost. The second game was Zombie Attack, that's were two people start as the Zombies and the rest of the fighters stay hidden next to a jeep (that looks like a bomb went off in it). And the last game was Imperial vs The Star Wars Rebels.... I was on the Imperial's and guess who won..... us! The Imperials, that was a first for the day I think.

Until next time

Leo Roving Report

Column 217

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: The Garden

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about recycling. I was at The Junktion on Saturday and as I was looking in the junk pile outside, I got a glimpse of some spindle legs sticking out of it. I went over to look and quite liked this chair, even if the top bit of the back rest had come off. We took it home and fixed it. Now my eyes are open for a matching desk and someday I hope it will be in my room. I want it to look like a detective’s office. My mum has a wooden paper-tray which was my grandfather’s,it's a thing you’d find on a detective’s desk I think. She said someday I can have it. And there’s two more things – my typewriter and a magnifying glass which will go great with the setting. And there’s also my grandmothers coat rack. But I'm going to wait on that one (I can’t wait).

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 216

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Micro Fiction IV

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to tell a short story.

How the Red Kangaroo got it's long feet

In the early days in the dreamtime, there was a red kangaroo who lived in the mountains. One day he went too far....he went to a part of the mountains that was not stable and there were lots of loose boulders. All of a sudden a lightening strike came out of nowhere and hit the mountain. Boulders started to roll and fall down around the red kangaroo. Now, although this kangaroo was known for his small, short feet he soon found he was trapped by a big boulder that had landed on his small, short feet. He pulled and pulled, trying to get free. Soon with much pushing and shoving the boulder rolled away and he was left with long feet! He found he could hop a lot more quicker and that felt good and he still has his long feet today.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 215

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: The Garden
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about worms. I think a portable worm farm is a good idea. Just think, having a portable worm farm might be what your garden needs. You spread your worm farm around, your plants would find it a very good good place to grow. The worms will burrow through the soil and they move the air, moisture and nutrients thought it. Plants grow much better in rich and healthy soil. Did you know that worms have been on earth for millions of years? Also if you have chickens, instead of throwing away their scraps why not feed them to the worms. Worm farms are one of the best ideas to recycle food scraps. They are also easy to make and portable.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 214

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Home DIY
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about Home DIY - that is, do it yourself. You know when something looks easy but is actually super hard? We recently had that problem when we had to chop up old wood. The wood was 100 year old Oregon battens from our roof (we're getting a new roof). We did try to think of ways to recycle the wood but didn't come up with anything we could do so, my mum had the idea to chop it up into firewood and sell it. We pulled out all the nails and got half way through chopping up the pile and ran out of energy. This is where having an electric saw would make our life much easier. We were going to borrow the roofers electric saw but when mum went onto a website that showed lots of injuries from home DIY accidents she then told me I would not be using the electric saw. So far this weekend dad has got a really deep gash in his shin from trying to move corrugated iron roofing, mum has abrasions and bruising in her calf from trying to break half-sawn wood with her foot and also a blood blister on her hand from hammering her finger. I have no DIY injuries myself because I caught gastro and I spent the day in bed. It was much safer there.

Until next time

Leo Roving Reporter

Column 213

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Circle of Life
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about my little cat Mou-Mou. She has been my mum's cat for over 16 years and now she is very old and very sick. She is a beautiful cat, she really is, but she is fading more every day. She is the best cat in the world says my mum. I think it is sad that our pet will pass away and it is even more sad when people pass away. And lot's of us have been through that and it is not fun. I hope Mou-Mou goes up to that great big cat basket in the sky a happy cat.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 212

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: From my desk
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about school holidays. They're just one week away......the school holidays, that is. I've been waiting for ages for them and now they're just one week away, yay! The school holidays are the best, you can do whatever you want to do. You can sleep and relax and do nothing.There's not much to talk about that, just doing nothing. But before all that there is my school band tour, where we go out to Cowra and Greenthorpe - which is pretty exciting. So, see you in the school holidays!

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 211

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: The World

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about climate change 2019. Climate change isn't the best thing in the world, it really is the worst. But there is a lot of stuff we can do to stop it like recycling and reusing instead of using things once.... lots of us are doing all that which is good. At school we were looking at Forests for Geography and we've been looking at deforestation and we were looking at some videos of it. One story was pretty bad. It showed satellite footage of all the the rain forests slowly turning into farming land and the worst view was of Madagascar. It is literally bare with no trees to hold the soil so it all goes into the sea and from above it looks like it is bleeding. Not good at all. Let's do something about it, OK? The Governments of the world should really do something. I mean, come on guys, seriously, they have the power to stop all of this mess but they don't do enough. It would be great to help the environment.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 210

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Stuff
Hi people, it's Leo here. On the weekend I left Bathurst for a Sydney cello workshop. The best part was the shared lunch afterwards. After all that Mum and I thought it was a good idea to go and visit Aunty Sharon and Uncle Michael. They have lots of interesting stuff in their house. Some caught my attention and I got to know more about them by asking questions. Then I found an old flute with the mouth piece missing (actually, I used to play the flute). Even thought the flute was missing a mouth piece I still liked it because it looks so interesting. Michael finds all this stuff on the street, some could say it's a hobby. It's amazing what people throw away. Sometimes it is interesting like a round 50 cent coin, old surfboards, old golf clubs and an old very distinctive walking stick. Sometimes is it just rubbish.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 209

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Food!

Hi people, it's Leo here. Last week when I was in Sydney I went for breakfast at this little food place and it was amazing we had: crepe omelettes with an yummy crunchy filling, freshly made soya milk, noodles and congee.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 208

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Sydney

Story filed: Time Capsules
Hi people, it's Leo here. Last week I went to a music camp at Stanwell Tops and on the last day we did a big concert at the Sydney Town Hall. It was so cool - and I found something  in the Town Hall that I never knew was there (maybe some of you know about it). 

So, there is a time capsule, locked behind bars with a sign on it saying "This time capsule will be opened on 5 March 2030 by the Lord Mayor of Sydney" or something like that. My Mum and two of my Aunties were at the concert, anyway I told them about the time capsule and also that we have one at school too. Our school one is near the Year 4 classrooms next to the sundial and buried under a brck panel. When it is 2030 I'm going along to see the Sydney Town Hall time capsule be opened - noone knows what is inside. 

In the car going home we all talked about making a family time capsule. We agreed we all need to spread the word to our other family members to think about something to put in it. Maybe you might do a time capsule too, who knows?

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 207

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My Desk

Story filed: Micro Fiction
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to tell you a story.

Future Shock

Suddenly woken by the blazing hot sky, the grey, dark monster swallowed the sky.....swallowing everything in its' way leaving everything as black as a starless night. Turning cities of life, to cities of ash. Ash streets with not a happy face in sight. The red and yellow fiery forests are gone and now the earth has come back to life. Cities of ash turned back to cities of life. We can all make a diffrence. What difference are you ging to make today?

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Photo credit: Stuart Palley  

Column 206

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Canberra

Story filed: Questacon
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about my trip to Canberra. I went to Canberra for a school excursion. The hotel we stayed in was quite good, the beds were very comfy and the food wasn't that bad either. But even better than the place we stayed in were the places we visited, which were: new Parliment House, National Musuem, the War Memorial, the Dinosaur Museum, Australian Institute of Sport, Questacon, the National Arboretum and a place where we saw a painting done by Nyree Reynolds, the grandmother of a friend from school. Questacon was the best - we got to meet a robot! We did lots of really intereting things - like a slide called Free Fall.You put on an orange suit, walk up tall stairs and sit on a ledge - then grab hold of a pole and go....this slide is really, really, really, really, really steep and I'm not exagerating .You really do free fall and slide down safely. It was quite scary for me. At the gift shop I bought a model Hubble Telescope - I made it as soon as I got home to Bathurst.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 205

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst

Story filed: Nature and art
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about nature and art. Last Thursday, after school, my friend came back to the class room with, well, a small dead tree with no branches. It had been uprooted (not by my friend) and she had used it as a staff. I thought it was really cool. When it was time to go home, my friend said I could have it, so I took it with me. My mum and I thought it would be interesting if we put it back in the ground the wrong way up and decorate it so it looks like a nest. We're going to put more things in it like feathers, and some eggshell so it looks like a nest and is art at the same time. I hope it turns out to be good!

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 204

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Tamworth

Story filed: Towering Heights
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about my trip to Tamworth. My dad and I went to Tamworth and we did lots of cool stuff like go to the movies to see Toy Story 4, go the the local toyshop, bought some Lego and visited a place called the Tamworth Regional Playground. I has seen lost of playgrounds in my time and this one was awesome. It had the boggest climing frame ever. The climbing frame had climbing pyramids, a very long 'tree-top' covered walkway and three long slides down to the bottom which were scary and fun at the same time. It kind of reminded me of Jurassic Park 3 when they are in the abandonded Terradactyl cages. Further behind the climbing frames, ther were lots of trees in a mangrove gully which were covered in fruit bats - there were just fruit bats galore. Smelly, noisy and cute at the same time - one kept staring at me! I do hope I can visit Tamworth again some time. But I didn't really like the five hour drive.....

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Mount Wellington Tasmania 27 July 2019

Leo at the top of Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania 27 July 2019

Column 203

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Hobart
Story filed: Travelling
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about my trip to Tasmania. My trip was really fun - we got to stay in a really nice hotel in a really nice room too. The food there was really great, I liked the chicken parmigiana the best. We stayed in Hobart for three days and on the first day we went to the National Museum. We've been there a couple of times before - this time we visited the Antarctic exhibition and the coin exhibition. There was also a room with lots of animals as well. There was also a really big room with paintings furniture and sculpture. After that, we went to the Maritime Museum which was really cool - there were lots of model ships on display and they were awesome. I learnt that under the bridge that we drive over to get to one side of Hobart to the other, there is a ship wreck. In 1975 a ship collided with the bridge and it ripped part of the road off. Five people died that night as all the lights went out and the drivers did not know that bridge road was gone and just kept driving. There was a photo of two cars dangling dangerously off the bridge - it looked like a movie but it was real life. I also saw the Aurora Australis, the snow at the top of Mount Wellington, walked to the Salamanca Markets (and bought some things) listened to a pipe band and ate more food. It was a really great trip. I was kind of sad to leave and can't wait for my next trip to Tasmania

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 202

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Penrith
Story filed: Exploring
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about exploring places. On Friday mum and I went to Penrith to meet up with my Aunty Tess. We arrived at the train station (the train trip was quite nice)  and we met Aunty Tess at the station entrance and after that we walked to the shopping mall for breakfast. I had some sushi and mum had a tiny bit of sushi and Tess had a hot chocolate. After that I went to the playground for a while and I had a play around. After the play me, mum and Tess hopped into the car and drove all the way to art gallery which was an old house which two artists used to live in. They decided that when they died they would give it to the public to be an art gallery. It was alight for me but I feel that the current exhibition did not have enough 'art'. I also met some other kids and played with them in the small bamboo forest in the garden. We all had lunch at the café and then walked along the river. We found a tunnel under the road that led to a forest-y bit and we found kind-of an old cubby house. Then we caught the train home. The best part of the day was seeing Tess.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 201

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: My Desk
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about the new Bathurst City Life. Hello Kellie and Rich, I'm Leo as lots of people know but I'm really excited to work with you. I am going to miss Dave and Cath but I'm willing to start new. I've had lots of good columns in the past but I'm still going to have lots of other new adventures to put in the new Bathurst City Life . 

I'm looking forward to meeting Kellie and Rich and I hope that they are looking forward to meeting me. 

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 200

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My Desk
Story filed: 200 Columns

Hi people, it's Leo here. Yes, it's my 200th column. Remember my 100th column? Well, now I am up to my 200th! And guess what, I've been doing my column for over four years. But I have to give my mum some of the credit for helping me and my dad for supporting me. I hope you have enjoyed my columns and don't worry, I'll still be doing it. I really can't wait until my 300th column. I wonder what stories are waiting for me, what adventures await. But until then I'm going to celebrate getting to my 200th column. So, see you next week.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 199

Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My Desk
Story filed: Thought for the Day

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about things that are important in our life. There are lots of things out there that are important - and they might not be things, they might be people as well. And if they are people, you need to respect them, treat them well, look after them if they are sick. Like your parents for instance - they need help sometimes especially when they get old. A thing can also be special in our lives like a pet... a dog, a cat a parrot - anything. And the same goes for them - you look after them, you help them and you care for them - and they do the same back to you. And it can also be another thing like your first toy, a photo of someone, some thing that has been passed down to you from generation to generation. Something very special to me is a present my mum got from work for her baby shower that she gave me - a little blue bear. Another thing special to me is my very first Lego set. It is a white ambulance set but it isn't the thing itself, it is more about the people who gave it to me that is special -  Michael, Sharon, Tom and Jonno. They are my family.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 198

Leo, Roving ReporterReport from: My Desk
Story filed: Micro Fiction V

Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to tell you another story called The Missing Water and Grass.

Once there was 176 wombats. They lived peacefully near Lake Burrendong. Among the 176 wombats there was a wombat called Sebastian. He was small but he had a big heart. One day a wombat came running into the burrow. "The water is gone" he said. Sebastian could not believe it "The Lake has never dried up before" he replied sadly. The wombats all went out side to have a look, just then a wombat pointed to a mob of kangaroos. the wombats knew that they would now need to move on to make room for the bigger animals. But, luckily for the wombats, they found a better place far from the kangaroos. Sebastian and the rest of the wombats lived happily ever after.

The end.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Column 197

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: My Desk
Story filed: Micro Fiction IV
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to tell you a story.

Once there was a boy who lived with his family. One day, all the family went to the river and they went swimming. The boy went dived far down to the bottom of the river and found an old car. He the found a diamond and he took it. What he thought was a great treasure was the heart of the gods. The gods were angry with him for taking their heart. His punishment was being turned into a a fish next time he went swimming in the river. And that is what happened. When he was a fish, the gods turned his family into fish too. The curse will only be undone if someone puts the heart back in the river.

The end.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter

Illustration by Michele Soares

Column 196

Leo, Roving Reporter

Report from: Bathurst
Story filed: Trades Trail
Hi people, it's Leo here. Today I am going to talk about the Artisans Trades Trail. Did you go? I did. It was really cool. The first stop Mum and I went to was the Uniting Church Hall which had all these little tables - one was were you learnt to to clean silver and mend pots which will come in very handy as we have some old silver and  a broken pot. We also saw a really old flag, which the attendant said it was home made and probably used to welcome the fleet back home. Our second stop was the Walshall Hall. There we met a stallholder that has been to Greece (I'm half Greek!) many times and she speaks Greek too. She is a language teacher. Her husband makes Appalachian dulcimers .On our third stop we went to the CWA Hall. I met some ladies from the wire-making guild and I was given a small wire scorpion - that is a pretty good thing to have! We then caught the bus to our fourth stop which was Experimental Farm Research Station. I got some popcorn and some corn on the cob with butter, I did some wip cracking and looked around. At the end we caught the bus back to William St and then walked home. That was a pretty good and I can't wait for next year.

Until next time
Leo Roving Reporter