London, England!

Bonjour sailboat loving people!

This time in the Amazing race, Rachel Dubois and I fly to London, England! It was amazing! Before the race started this week, we got a little clue. The clue was to not forget the Heelstone. We had to find out who was in control of the British monarchy which was Queen Elizabeth. We had to find out when she was born. Then, we had to the London Eye in England. The London Eye is a large ferris wheel! It lights up at night! It looks beautiful! After, we had to complete a slide puzzle. The slide puzzle was a picture of the London Eye. It didn't work because we had a hard time moving them into the right places so we did a jigsaw puzzle instead and Rachel and I worked so good together on it like when we were sailing one day and then the mast started to crack! Rachel and I had to work together to fix it! It went well. Anyways, after that we had to make a replica of the Stonehenge using dominoes! The Heelstone was very important in the Stonehenge and we kept forgeting it. We got it wrong so many times but then, I placed the last dominoe down and we got it right! We were so happy! Next was the best part in the race, we had to eat a "99" treat. Its basically an ice cream cone but it has a chocolate stick in the middle! It was so yummy! After, we went to the Yielding station and we found out that Team Super Stripes yielded us! Revenge! Then we played Rugby. Rachel Dubois and I did it farely quickly. Last but least, we had to find the pitstop. We had to find a picture of the London Eye beside the Thames river. It wasn't our best race but we did fine. After the Amazing race, we went to the Tower of London. Talk about Amazing!
Thats all for now! I'll keep you posted!

Au revoir mon amis!
Maria Waters

Oslo, Norway!

Salut mon amis!

This week in the Amazing race, we went to Oslo, Norway! In this Amazing race, Rachel Dubois and I didn't stress as much in this one. It was a little hard, but not easy. First thing was that in Norway, Reindeer racing is very popular. We had to draw a labelled diagram of what we needed to enter a Reindeer race. Next, we had to find out what a Fjord was. A Fjord is a channel with mountains around it. After that, we found out that a Troll, is a Norwegian folklore. Then we had too do a Detour. We either had to play a game on the computer or hit targets and if we missed the targets, we have to run laps of the school. We chose to hit the targets and in total, we only had to run 2 laps. It wasn't that bad. After, we played a game on the computer where we had to guide the snowmobile to do 4 laps on the track. It was sort of hard because the snowmobile was slipping on the ice! We were tied with Team Bubble Gum Bling but then we pulled ahead and we were in 1st place! They were still very close!
Our pitstop was the Jukkasjarvi ice Hotel. It is the largest hotel made out of ice and snow! In the end, we came in 1st place! Yay! Team Bubble Gum Bling was 5 seconds after us and placed 2nd. After the race, Rachel and I went down to the harbour and we got a boat! We had so much fun! All I have to say, for now!

Au revoir friends!
Maria Waters

Vancouver, British Columbia!!

Bonjour my sailing friends!

This time in the Amazing race, we went to Vancouver, British Columbia! It was our very first day of the Amazing race this year but it was only a practice race. Anyways, we had to first do a Canadian Immigration test. We had to get 70% on the test or we will have to do it again. We got it on our second try! After that, we had to find the name of the famous park in Vancouver which was the Stanley Park. In the Amazing race, we had to play a game and it was the hardest game I have ever done! Rachel and I had to swat mosquitoes and get 6000 points! I'm not used to swatting mosquitoes. Since I spend a lot of my time on the water, I rarely see mosquitoes. It took us so long! We finally did it though!   There was another thing in the Amazing race where we had to catch a certain type of fish. We had to catch a Halibut and I caught it on the first try! After that, we had to play hockey and get a goal but it was really hard! Rachel and I took so many shots but they wouldn't go in! Finally, Rachel Dubois shot the puck and it went in! We quickly went to the Fairont Chateau Whistler which is a resort. That was our pitstop in the Amazing race. We finished 8th though. Good thing it was a practice race!
Thats all I have to say! I will keep you posted!

Au revoir!
Maria Waters

Amazing Race in Tokyo, Japan!!

April 27, 2011 at 1:10pm
Bonjour my Sail Boating Friends!

This time in the race we flew from Oslo, Norway to Tokyo, Japan! We got the second earliest flight. After that we had to sing Karaoke, because that is a common thing to do in Tokyo. Next, we had to find out about the Imperial Palace in the East Garden which is a famous palace in Japan. Then we had to find out information about Sumo wrestling. Did you know that the belts around their waists determine how good they are? Then there was a road block, where you had to knock the other person's player out of the rink in a game. I made it on my second try! Maria tryed but she couldn't do it.. After that, we had to find out information on the Yushukan War Museum. At the Yushukan War Museum they have things from World War II! Then we had to learn some things about the Fugu fish (a picture of it is provided at the bottom) which is also known as a Puffer Fish.Finally, we got to the Pit-Stop! It was at the Peninsula Hotel. We got there last but we came in 3rd in total, because we came in 1st last time! Now we are at Ueno Zoo, which is hundreds of years old! It is amazing! Well, that's all for now!

Good Sailing,
Rachel Dubois

Tokyo, Japan!

Salut my sailboat loving friends!

Je m'appelle Maria Waters. Today in the Amazing race, we went to...Toyko, Japan! It was amazing and we got a few clues before we actually did the Amazing race. The first thing we did was to book a flight from where we were before in the Amazing race which was Oslo, Norway to Toyko, Japan. There was a Detour that we had to do and it was hard! It was a game that you had to not hit the wall 10 times and your opponet has to hit the wall 10 times to win. I did it twice and I did not do well. We also learned about Sumo wrestling. I learned how to tell who the best sumo wrestlers are.They have a large rope tied to their waist. In the Amazing race, Rachel et moi had to sing!  We sang YMCA! We had to do a Detour which was to find the name of a poisonous fish that they eat in Japan which was a Fugu which is a pufferfish! We had to do that because the second option was not available, I don't know why but the first option was to eat sushi! Since I lived on the water for I while, I love fish! I really wanted to eat the sushi! The pitstop in the Amazing race this week was the Peninsula hotel. Overall, we were the last team to finish, but luckily, there was a team that had a really, REALLY bad flight. They arrived 17 hours later! It was Team NBA that was eliminated this week. Oh, I did some research on Japan and its known as "The Land of Rising sun." Its because the name Japan means "the Sun's origin" and so its sometimes known as the "Land of Rising sun." We placed 3rd in the Amazing race so it wasn't bad that we finished last. Guess what! After the Amazing race, I went sailboating at the Okhotsk sea and I met a Sumo wrestler after my sailboat tipped! He helped me, I'm a little clumsy on water! Thats all I have to say for now!

Au revoir mon amie!
Maria Waters

First Place in Norway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 15, 2011 at 4:40pm
Bonjour my Sail-Boating Friends,
Today, the race was not as hard as those in the past! We were in Norway, and had to find out the capital, which was Oslo. Then we had to draw a labeled picture of a Reindeer Race! We also had to find out about Fjord witch is a channel with mountains around it. Then we had to find the name of a Norwegian folklore, which was Troll. After that we had to find out that Cross Country Skiing and Rifle Shooting were the sports in a Norwegian biathlon. Next, there was a Detour. We either had to play a game on the computer, or run laps and hit targets. We ran laps. Then there was a Chance and we only lost 200 corral points. After that, we had to do a computer game where we had to do 4 laps on a snowmobile. It wasn't too hard! By this point, we were neck and neck with Team Bubble Gum Bling, and we just made it to the Pit-Stop! Team Bubble Gum Bling was 5 seconds after us! Meaning we got to first place! Now we are at a 2km ski hill in Norway, it is called Holmenkollen Metro. We aren't skiing, we are just looking at it! Let me tell you, it was amazing!
Good Sailing,
Rachel Dubois
P.S. This is Holmenkollen Metro!!!

Hawaii!!

Salut my sail boating friends!

Je m'appelle Maria Waters. Aujourd'hui, Me and Rachel went to... Hawaii! It was an amazing experience. We first had to find out where we were going from Toronto! We finally figured it out and we had to take the Kona International to get to Hawaii. We found out that Hawaii is a U. S state that made entirely out of islands! On December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked Hawaii and we had to find out where Japan attacked and who won, Japan or Hawaii. It was Japan and the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbour. Next, we had to search or watch a video about the goddess of the volcanoes which was Pele, which is not just the goddess of  fire, lightning and dance. Guess what! Rachel and I had to search the Hawaiian alphabet which is pretty weird. They only have 12 letter, 5 vowels and 7 consonants. Who knew? Finally, we are at our hotel, The Pink Palace. After we finished the Amazing race, we went to Honolulu's ultimate mega beach which is the Waikiki beach. We had an amazing time! Well, thats it for now! I'll keep you updated on Me and Rachel's adventures.

Au revoir my sail boating friends!
Maria Waters