Our amazing friend Tarja K. from Finland sends us more whimsical greetings. She writes: Hello there, another funny card for you! The big text says "Just Relax!" The frog is saying "Lovely!" and the little fish "I Agree!" or is it a fish? We had a warm sunny week, but now its cold and rainy (same here)!
| When the Infante Dom Henrique, better known in English as Prince Henry the Navigator, gathered together the finest cartographers and navigators of Portugal at the beginning of the 15th century, his plan was to extend the knowledge of the coast of West Africa. Armed only with square-rigged ships, compass, hourglass and astrolabe, the initial sea captains were severely handicapped in their endeavors. But in the course of their ventures, the finest hour of Portuguese maritime history, luck brought greater riches than the purities of science and logic. Two young sea captains, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were blown off course on their journey around the African coast and after many days at sea found land on a small island that they named Porto Santo - the very first of the many discoveries made by Henry's school of navigation. On reporting to Henry they were promptly ordered to return and colonize the island. The year was 1419. Seductive as are the charms of the golden sands of Porto Santo it seems somewhat incredible today that it took a further year before the next discovery was made. The captains had reported a dark mass of clouds visible on the southern horizon. They were now encouraged to explore this foreboding mass. As theories to whether the world was flat had yet to be completely disproved, it took an enormous leap of faith to cross the traverse. As they approached, the huge Atlantic rollers breaking along the north coast and the boiling turbulence of the cross currents at the Ponta de São Lourenço cannot have eased the concern of the superstitious sailors. But on rounding the headland they discovered the bay of Machico, the threshold to the heavily forested island that they named Madeira. Prince Henry immediately organized the colonization of the island, with the first families coming from the Algarve region of Portugal. Today the statue of Zarco looks down on the descendants of the first colonizers as they navigate the corner in front of the Bank of Portugal building in downtown Funchal. As the Portuguese overseas possessions have shrunk, so the relative significance of this first of the great discoveries has gained in importance. To find a needle in a haystack can be trying, but to find Porto Santo in an Atlantic storm was a lucky prize indeed. |
Today a long time friend of ours Terri P. has been kind enough to send us two postcards from Minnesota. Terri writes: Little Miss Postcard collector this card is from St. Paul, Minnesota the capital. We live 30 minutes from there. I hope we can see you girls soon! I bet you and my daughter would have fun playing!
Our amazing friend Trish L. sent us a package from Australia. In it are many gooddies that my daughter simply adores. The are four postcards filled with outstanding facts, A Koala book mark also with facts, and a plushy turtle that our daughter danced around with when she saw it (and has as of now gone to sleep with). Trish writes on the first postcard: This is the small beachside town I live in, and it's only about a 10 min drive from Mon Repos where the turtles go. We get a lot of holiday makers on the school vacations visiting here as well as a number of backpakers from overseas. Did you know that the children in Australia all have to wearuniforms to school (no but as a mom I think that is wonderful!) Hope this was the sort of thing you were looking for (Yes it sure is thank you.)
The Koala, a cuddly native Australian Marsupial. Koala's have thick grey or brown fur on their backs and white fur on their stomach. Koala's don't have a tail. They have strong, sharp claws and long toes to help them climb. They are Marsupials. Koala's measure between 64 and 76 cm in length and weigh between 7 and 14kg. They eat ecualyptus leaves ( we love the smell of eucalyptus) and they don't drink water very often. Also a baby Koala stays in its mothers pouch for a few months (or till around 1 year old) after it is born.
The Third postcard with a map of New Zealand reads: This is my home country, New Zealand. It is also called "Aotearoa" which means "land of the long white cloud"because of the clouds that cling to the mountains along the central south island. Pictured here is a: Buzzy Bee- wooden pull-along toy for children. Maori Pa, Bone Hook necklace and tiki - all various symbols of our native culture. Tuatara, Kiwi, Cabbage tree and Kina - examples of our fauna and Hora. Pavlova - delicious dessert Chocolate fish - yummy! Silver Fern and NZ flag. Beehive - our parliament buildings. (Wow this is the kind of thing that makes this project so amazing because we can learn so much from one postcard and you sent us six!) 
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
The 6th postcard reads: This is my city - it is called Christchurch. It is very flat and very much like an English city - we even have a tram! Only around 400,000 people live here. It was once swamp forest, but the early settlers chopped down all the trees and built their city in the 1800's. The postcard shows Cathedral and Chalice in Square, Tramcars, Worcester Street, and Punting on the Avon River.
