Socky Longlegs, the mascot of Ms. Robinson’s Reading Mastery class at Britannia Elementary, gets to spend the month of February in New Zealand. His best friend, Socky Claus, is staying at school with the kids. Penny, who volunteers in Ms. Robinson’s Reading Mastery class, is Socky’s travelling companion.
The place in New Zealand that Socky is going is called Bethells Beach.
First, however, is a fourteen-hour airplane trip from Vancouver to the New Zealand city of Auckland, which is the biggest city in New Zealand (about 1/3 of the whole population of New Zealand lives in Greater Auckland), but it’s only about half the size of Vancouver (what we call Metro Vancouver).
New Zealand is on the far side of the International Dateline, an imaginary line that runs down the middle of the Pacific Ocean. When it’s Thursday in Vancouver, it’s Friday in places on the other side of the International Dateline. When we talk to our relatives in New Zealand, it’s tomorrow there, but three hours earlier!
That’s why, when Socky leaves for New Zealand on the afternoon of February 1st, when he gets off the plane the next morning, it will be February 3rd!
Luckily, when he comes home, he leaves on February 29th and gets home just four hours later on the same day (even though the flight takes 14 hours!).
After Socky gets off the airplane in Auckland, it takes about 1½ hours to drive to Bethells Beach.
Some things will be pretty surprising right away.
First of all, when it’s winter here, it’s summer in New Zealand. Canada is in the Northern Hemisphere, the top half of the Earth when you look at a globe, and New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, the bottom half. When it’s winter on the top half, it’s summer on the bottom half. When it’s summer on the top half, it’s winter on the bottom half. So when Socky gets off the plane, it will be hot!
Also, in New Zealand they drive on the left-hand side of the road instead of the right-hand side. And the driver of a car sits on the right side of the front seat instead of the left. It’s scary on the drive home from the airport because you keep thinking “Yikes!” when cars are coming toward you in the right lane. This also makes it very dangerous for a Canadian pedestrian. You really have to pay attention so you don’t get run over, because you automatically look to the left first before you start walking across a street.
They can even see different stars in the sky at night!
When Socky gets to Bethells Beach, he will get to see the ocean and a huge, beautiful beach.
He will also get to see a stream that flows from a giant fresh-water lake surrounded by sand dunes for a couple of miles down to the ocean. The water in the stream is warm and the bottom of the stream is soft sand, so you can walk the whole way from the lake to the ocean in bare feet without stepping on anything sharp!
Socky will also get to explore a huge cave in a big rock wall at one end of the beach.
There are some interesting creatures in New Zealand. Maybe you have heard of the flightless Kiwi bird? They also have the stick insect and the praying mantis.
You, and your parents and your friends, are invited to join Socky as he goes on adventures in New Zealand.
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