Chapter 1 - Who I am

My family

My home is in North Ryde, where I live with my mum, my dad, my sisters Rebecca, Elsie and Lydia, and Toothless, the black axolotl. At the moment, in Cambridge, we are also looking after two giant rabbits called Nibbles and Flopsy.

My family

My mum is a great parent to me and a loving mother. She has shoulder length brown-black hair and brown eyes. She loves blogging, taking photographs, reading books, and reading and writing poetry. She is a fan of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, who used to live in a house just around the corner from where we are living in Cambridge. When she was at uni she studied law, then she worked as a legal editor. At the moment in England, she is doing a great job teaching us about British history.

My dad is (like my mum) a great parent and a loving father. Over here in England he is writing books on theology in a place called Tyndale house. (My family are Christians). Back at home, he works at Morling College, giving students at the college lessons about the Bible's New Testament. Morling College is right next door to our church, Macquarie Baptist, which is near the crossroads of Herring road and Epping road.

My eight year old sister Rebecca is an enthusiastic reader, like all of the family, and enjoys Shakespeare stories and The Lord Of The Rings, which  is her favourite book after The Horse and his Boy. She ploughs through even the hardest books like a runaway freight train. Like all of us, she has a big imagination.

Elsie is six years old and very social. Because of this, she gets quite homesick over here, away from her friends. Thankfully, she is making a lot of friends here. She also loves reading and enjoys writing letters to friends.

Lydia is the youngest member of the Starling family. She is 20 months old at the moment and is very, very, inquisitive. She loves exploring and when we visit somebody's house for the first time and there are no toys, she goes around opening the doors and looking at every room, telling me what everything is in it. Lydia is a very good talker for her age and wants to be just like "The Big Kids". She calls me "Daddle", calls Becca, "Gucca" and calls Elsie "Essie". Recently she has learnt to count to three. Lydia likes moving around so much, she could crawl before she could sit!

Toothless, our pet axolotl, is being looked after by friends at the moment and (literally!) always has a smile on his face. He can't help it because his lips are fixed in that position. His home is a large tank with a pebbled bottom and a big rock at the back. We call him Toothless because he looks just like Toothless from the How to train your Dragon movie. He also looks like something from before the dinosaurs, like an Acanthostega. Compare these pictures.

Toothless the dragon

Toothless the Axolotl

Acanthostega

                            

Ambitions

"When I grow up I want to be a....". This question I have trouble finishing. I love history, biology, physics, chemistry, writing and reading so what should I be? I would like to be a biologist but what about a zookeeper? I could be a doctor but what about an author? I called be a palaeontologist but what about an archaeologist or a historian? What can I be? I will wait and see!!

Opinions


Some things that I feel very strongly about are refugees, the environment and the gambling industry.

I do not think it is fair that refugees who have left their homeland, been in great danger, suffered incredible hardships and have finally arrived in a safe country should be locked up in a place like a prison and stay there for at times over a year, getting so depressed they may commit suicide. I believe this should be stopped.

Then there is deforestation and poaching. I wish that people and animals could live in peace together! Most animals aren't nearly as dangerous as people think. In fact, you are more likely to be killed by a cow, a coconut, a golf ball or a falling vending machine than a shark! Also, while 70,000 to 100,000 sharks were killed by us in 2007, only one person was killed by a shark that year, worldwide. Pollution is destroying the world around us and we must protect animals before it is too late.

I also feel strongly about the gambling industry. They are like parasites, living on their innocent  prey's money until he or she is broke. They ensnare victims in their web of greed, saying there is a chance of doubling your money when in reality it is one in a million. A poor family could be destroyed by the gambling industry and the industry wouldn't even care!

Interests

My life's ambition is to dive deep into the ocean's depths within a bathyscaphe and be the first person to film a sperm whale fighting a colossal squid. The chances of me even seeing this is slim to none though. From this, I bet you can work out I love animals and I certainly do. At first I just liked all animals, then although I still liked all of them, I became particularly interested in a certain type of animal...

I was three years old, almost four, when it happened. I was on holiday at Port Stephens with my family and was at the beach, looking at the shoreline when I spotted something. I picked it up. It was a plastic shark! I took it home and showed it to my family. It had a white belly, a dark green coloured back, large yellow eyes, and a nervous look. I explained that was because another shark had scratched it on the neck! I did not yet know that the red lines were gill slits. Athough I still like sharks, I like learning about all animals now, as well as them.

Also I am into history. At first I just read "Horrible Histories" but now I read a much bigger variety of books. Now we are England, we are seeing lots of museums and historical sites and mum is teaching us a lot about history as well.

Me at the Sedgwick museum

As I like animals, one of my favourite activities involves watching them in their natural habitat. I love to visit the Cooks River in Canterbury with my Grandad and watch the herons, ducks, moorhens, egrets, pelicans, mullet, tailor, darters, wattlebirds, cormorants, and once, even an eastern long necked turtle!

Me birdwatching at Cooks River

One of the best days we ever spent there was in mid summer when I think mullet lay their eggs. When we got there, the river was - believe it or not - full of mullet. They reached from shore to shore and wherever I looked, they were there, in one shining, fishy mass. I reckon bull sharks would have been tempted to swim up the river that day!

In England, we have a great nature walk right near our house. It goes beside a river and I have seen sheep, squirrels, ducks and geese there. It is called Paradise Nature Reserve.

I love soccer, as I am a fast runner, especially over a distance. I play for Ryde Panthers and even though I unfortunately am unable to join it this year, I do miss it. I usually play either midfield or goalie in soccer and I don't often score any goals! So when I do, it's a big thing. One of these times, I was playing at a field near North Ryde RSL. It was a chilly day and my team was tied 1-1 or 2-2  with the opposing side. Somehow, I got the ball and kicked it high over the enemy goalkeeper's head. I scored the winning goal!

Another activity I like is reading. I read all the time, fiction and non-fiction! Some of my favourite novels are The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings, The Chronicles Of Narnia and Harry Potter. Currently I am reading Watership Down.

I have been to the Harry Potter exhibition and the Narnia exhibition at the powerhouse museum as well.

Obviously, that's not everything I like. I also like taking photos and studying animals, among many other things. I have a good camera and am taking many photos over here.

Well, that practically sums up me! Next thing you need to know about me is my ancestors but that's another story. Please leave a comment if you like Part 1 of my Autobiography!