10 Really Cool Things

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Well, today I finished reading that thesis. I'm a little closer to deciding what project I will do now. Theses and papers are normally the most boring things to read, with difficult and important-sounding words substituted for easy to read words that mean the same thing. Sometimes they even use long words in the wrong context, which is even more confusing! Honestly, some of these papers could be about dinosaurs that shoot laser beams from their eyeballs being discovered in a remote part of the rainforest...and they'd still be boring.

However, this thesis wasn't that bad - it was quite fun to read, which means it is possible to get a PhD without succumbing to words like "utilize".

Yesterday I was shown the captive redback spiders, Latrodectus hasseltii, and they were verrry nice. We fed them too, although at first they all seemed frightened of the flies that were supposed to be their dinner. They are wimps, despite their impressive appearance. It was fun seeing them wrapping up their food using microscopic comb-like structures on their back legs to chuck silk over the prey.

Anyway, apart from that nothing particularly exciting has gone on. So here are my 10 favourite things about katipos and New Zealand.

Five Really Cool Things about New Zealand

1: Feijoas. They are small and kiwifruit shaped, but their skin is like bright green avocado skin. It tastes really strange and I think it's one of those things that you either love or hate.

2: Tuis. They are so common, but they really do make me smile - they're so agile in the trees, like parrots, and their 2 voice boxes combine to make a sound like a Transformer that has swallowed a one man band.

3: Katipo. Of course!

4: The money has pictures of endemic wildlife on it. For example the 20 dollar note has the karearea, or New Zealand falcon on it - yet most people won't recognise one if they see it! Undoubtedly the falcon is the raddest thing of all, but everyone knows that so I don't need to put it here.

5: Trademe (www.trademe.co.nz). People sell the weirdest things on there and it's one of the most interesting and websites around! Want a ghost? A paperclip? How about a time machine? Look for it on Trademe.


Five Really Cool Things about katipo

1: They LIVE on the beach! Imagine living on a beach.

2: Even the Maoris were scared of them...that's impressive! There are lots of Maori stories about "night-stingers" killing people. I expect they are exaggerated though...

3: The females and males are completely different: females look a lot like the famous black widow from America, but males have a lot of white on them. They are very pretty.

4: Unlike redbacks, female katipo hardly ever kill their mates.

5: Adult katipo have been known to survive at least 2 weeks clinging to driftwood in seawater.

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