The Tingle Factor Box

It's So Beautiful - Crystal Lotus

Imagine, you are a Buddhist monk living China. It is Spring, and you are looking out over the massive ponds in the Temple gardens. Through winter, the ponds have been full of fish, but there has been nothing for the koi to hide under – the lotus has been dormant, lying in the mud awaiting the warmer weather. Now, the giant leaves have unfurled and the flower stalks begin to reach skywards. Soon, the expanse of the pond will be covered with the sacred flower.

When the children saw this beautiful crystal lotus flower, they were amazed. They had assumed it was simply a waterlily, and were surprised to discover it was something different and quite special. They had not seen something so delicate and yet ornate, and were stunned at the way the light caught in the prisms of the carefully cut petals. They were more amazed still to discover the story and history behind the lotus flower itself.

The lotus plant, and the flower it produces, is actually native to tropical Asia, and perhaps surprisingly to some, also parts of Queensland in Australia. The plant, which is an aquatic perennial (meaning it lies dormant during winter but regrows and flowers each year), is similar to the water lily but the flower does not float on the surface of the pond, standing well above the leaves, often several inches from the surface of the water. The lotus is also a very important plant, playing a central role in many distinct cultures. In ancient Egypt it was seen as a symbol of the sun and represented creation and rebirth. This was because at night the Egyptian lotus closes up and retreats back to the water, being reborn again at dawn, with the sun. It rose, pure and clean from the muddy waters and was seen as sacred.

In Buddhism the lotus flower is considered to be pure because of this ability to rise clean and beautiful from the murky depths, but also because it breaks free of the water, representing the breaking free of desire and the achievement of spiritual enlightenment. One sect of Buddhism, the Mahayana sect even believes that all souls are born from a lotus flower. In Hinduism the lotus also plays a role, representing beauty, fertility, eternity and spirituality and many of the Hindu gods and goddesses are actually associated directly with the flower. Lord Brahma for example is said to have been born from a lotus which grew out of the navel of Lord Vishnu. The lotus is also important to the cultures of specific countries though, and often this significance is born of the belief system historically associated with the culture. For example, the lotus is very important to Chinese culture, and in Beijing the lotus is rumoured to bloom on the lunar day of April 8, which is also the Buddha’s birthday. To the Chinese, whether Buddhist or not, the lotus is a special flower, representing purity and perfection. In fact, Moon Cakes, which are the symbolic food of the Chinese Moon Festival, actually have a paste made from lotus seed inside!

Rover Finds A Kurnell Of History - Kurnell Visitor Information Centre

This week, Rover decided it was time to head back to a ruggedly beautiful area of Sydney, which he loves. Kamay Botany Bay National Park is a magnificent area, full of history, both Aboriginal and European and with breathtaking scenery and views. The area has something else spectacular to offer though – the Kurnell Visitor Information Centre.

If you would like to visit the Kurnell Visitor Centre, it is located within the Kamay Botany Bay National Park. To get there, follow Captain Cook Drive towards Kurnell and then turn right into Cape Solander Drive. Look for the Visitor Centre on your left. There is plenty of parking at the visitor centre, and also plenty to do with a small kiosk, standard visitor information and even an exhibition to visit. Of course, the National Park also has plenty to discover!

The Kurnell Visitor Centre, which was once known as The Discovery Centre, is more than just the run of the mill tourist information stop. With a small cafe, an art gallery, a theatrette, shop and exhibition, as well as standard tourist information, Rover thinks you could happily spend significant time exploring the building. There’s even information for whale watchers! The thing which truly captured Rovers attention though was the exhibition. The exhibition accentuates and explains the history of the national park, which is not only important to the Aboriginal peoples, but is also the site where Captain Cook first came ashore in Australia. There is information to be found about the plants which once covered the Kurnell Peninsula, and which were not only used and known to Aboriginals, but which so fascinated Banks and Solander, the botanists on board Cooks ship.

The main bulk of the exhibition when Rover visited though focussed on the ship itself – The Endeavour. The exhibition includes a spectacular model of The Endeavour but also pieces of wood and ballast stones which are believed to have come from the ship. There’s even a cannon which is believed to have come from the ship! Many of these items were recovered from the Great Barrier Reef, where it is believed that the cannon on display and five others were thrown overboard to lighten the ship. The Endeavour had struck the reef and needed to ‘lose weight’ so that it could be floated off and so many items would have been thrown overboard.

Roy Creates A Springtime Blossom Gift Tag

This week, Roy decided he had done a lot of cooking recently, and with the holidays underway, he wanted to do something a little different. He decided to look through his old craft sheets, and see if there was something inspiring to create, and found some lovely things which he plans to make in the future. With Spring underway though, he thought that this little blossom gift tag would be ideal. It is very easy to make, looks wonderful and being homemade, adds a touch of something special to any gift. So this week, Roy Creates A Springtime Blossom Gift Tag.

You Will Need:

• The template printed from the photo above
• Coloured paper. One sheet should be green to make leaves, but the other sheet can be whatever colour you prefer. Roy used a pinky purple colour
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• A pencil to draw the outline of the flower and petal
• Roy also used a sheet of tracing paper and a cardboard box, so he could create a more durable stencil. However, you could just cut out the stencils from the sheet above and use those, if you prefer!

Method:

• Cut out the templates (or transfer them to cardboard and then cut them out)

• Trace around your template, transferring the shape of the three leaves to the green paper and the blossom to the other colour
• Cut out the shapes and set the leaves aside for later

• Start by folding the ‘A’s’ together, folding and unfolding them. You will create a folded triangle shape in the middle
• Next, do the same folds for the ‘B’s’, again, unfolding them as you go. Now you should have a hexagon shape in the centre.

• Next, fold each petal in half, with the fold facing out from the centre (as shown above)

• Push the folded petals down, one towards the other and they will sit flat as shown above. If your folds are crisp, this will be very easy to do
• Use a little sticky tape, folded into a double sided piece, or a dab of glue, to stick the flower to the leaves.
• Write a message inside your blossom and give it as a gift, or use it as a gift tag!

It's So Heavy But So Small! Tennis Racket

Imagine you are living in the 1960s and you have a very important day ahead of you. You absolutely love playing tennis, and have played for almost as long as you can remember. You can still remember when your parents gave you your very own tennis racket for your birthday – one of the best presents you could possibly have hoped for. You have become quite good now, and people suggested you enter the local tournament. Today is the big day and you can’t wait to find out how good you really are!

When I showed the children this old tennis racket, they immediately recognise what it was, but were intrigued by the differences they saw between it and the modern rackets they play with today. They first thing they noticed was just how heavy the racket was. Compared to rackets of today, this racket is incredibly weighty and the children found it quite awkward to use. The thing which concerned them most about this old racket wasn’t the weight though. As one child put it ‘it’s so small, hitting the ball would be even harder!’

Tennis was, according to most scholars, first played as far back as the 11^th century and originates in France. The first players weren’t children though, they were monks and the rackets, such as they were, were nothing more than hands! At first, the ball was simply hit against the wall, and then later a basic net was introduced. The problem was that hitting the ball with hands was quite painful, so the players began to look for alternatives. They began to use gloves, and then added webbing between the fingers of the gloves, but it seems that still hurt, so others began using a wooden paddle. Then, in the 14^th century, people began to use something closer to what we would recognise as a racket, with strings made of gut secured in a wooden frame. Most believe that although the French introduced the game, the Italians created these first rackets, but whatever the case, by 1500, the racket was being widely used. It was still quite small though, with a long handle and small teardrop shape head.

It wasn’t until the late 1870s that tennis began to evolve into the sport we really recognise today though. Up until then, tennis was an indoor game, with a hard ball being hit back and forth over a net. Then, in 1874, Major Walter C. Wingfield registered a very important patent – a patent for the equipment and rules of outdoor tennis. This is considered to be the very first version of tennis as we play it today. His equipment was sold in sets and became a major success, being sold in not just Britain, but Russia, India and even China! His racket had changed a little too, with the head having grown substantially to almost the size of the racket I showed the children. In the 100 years that followed, there were very few changes to the racket, with most still heavy, made of wood, and with small heads. It wasn’t until 1967 that the first popular metal racket was introduced by Wilson Sporting Goods. The frame was stronger and also significantly lighter than the wooden frame and by the 1970s, wooden rackets were going out of fashion. Then, in 1975 and 1975 Weed USA and Prince rackets introduced oversized heads, as we see them today. The future of the tennis racket was set.  

Roaming Roy And Rover Go Exploring - Tourism In The Blue Mountains

This week, Rover and Roy were looking through their various photographs from visits to the Blue Mountains. One thing they noticed surprised them – many of the images had hints of old paths which tourists once used many years ago. This got them thinking about tourism in the Blue Mountains and they wanted to find out more. After all, they had explored how the Blue Mountains were first explored, but the early tourists are another fascinating area of exploration they wanted to discover.

The images today are from all different areas of the Blue Mountains, from the Leura Cascades to the beautiful lookout at Govett’s Leap. These areas which we so enjoy today, were also popular with early tourists, and this week, instead of giving specific directions, Roy and Rover want to encourage you to look closely at the places you visit, for traces of the past tourist trade! Signs may include old stonework walls to old paths which run parallel to more recent steps and trails.

After the Blue Mountains were first crossed and a road was built to allow travellers to traverse the ridges and valleys in the early 1800s, it became possible for people to access the beautiful scenery and fresh air which we associate with the Blue Mountains today. Some of the first buildings to be built were actually inns, but they did not cater to the tourist. Instead, they were built for the use of people travelling to the settlements west of the mountains. It was not until the railway was built in the 1860s that the Blue Mountains began to be somewhere people could visit for shorter periods, and in following two decades many hotels were built, including The Oriental Hotel at Springwood and the Great Western Hotel (later known as The Carrington) at Springwood. Yet still, tourism was a little slow. The areas we now think of as popular tourist retreats were simply towns – in fact Katoomba was a mining town! It would not be until the late 1800s that the Blue Mountains began to slowly transform into a fashionable place for tourists to enjoy the health benefits of mountain air and the spectacular scenery.

In the early 1900s the large hotels began to discover competition from the dozens of smaller, more intimate guesthouses which were opening to tourists and with the increase in tourist numbers, lookouts and walking paths began to be formalised. Some of these paths are extraordinary engineering feats, which seem to have made the impossible, possible. The most famous of these is the Giant Stairway. The idea for the stairs was conceived in 1914 but people thought it was impossible! Yet still, in 1916 approval was given to begin construction, and the hazardous and difficult work of hacking stairs from the cliff face began. A quarter of the way through though, work was halted because it was too costly. It was only as the Great Depression worsened that work recommenced, in the hopes not only of providing work, but attracting tourists to the Blue Mountains and boosting the economy. Although Echo Point is probably the most famous lookout in the Blue Mountains today, this was not always the case, and you can often tell which were popular in the past as they have ornate stonework fences and sometimes even the remnants of gardens. Some even have tourist attractions such as the wishing chair at Mount York lookout.

Roy Creates Cake Crumb Chocolate Fingers

This week, Roy was going through the freezer, trying to see if there was anything which needed to be used up. He noticed a packet of cake bits, which were offcuts from a cake he made earlier in the year. He wondered what he could possibly do with the bits of cake, so started scouring his cookbooks for inspiration. He came across a delicious looking recipe for chocolate fingers, which seemed perfect and the results were indeed spectacular. So this week, Roy Creates Cake Crumb Chocolate Fingers.

You Will Need:

• 2 cups of cake crumbs. Roy used a plain cake, but thinks you could use whatever cake you had on hand.
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa
• ½ a cup of chopped nuts
• 90 grams of copha
• 2 tablespoons of red jam. Roy used cherry because he had some on hand, but strawberry or raspberry etc would be just fine too.
• 2 tablespoons of orange juice (or if you are an adult, you might like to use sweet sherry instead)
• 1 cup of raisins
• Chocolate icing
• Extra chopped nuts, desiccated coconut or hundreds and thousands to decorate – whichever you prefer!

Method:

• Line a slice tin with baking paper

• Melt the copha, jam and orange juice together over a low heat. Keep an eye on the melting mix, as copha melts slowly, then suddenly is a liquid. It also burns!
• In a bowl, mix together the cake crumbs, cocoa, raisins and chopped nuts

• Add the copha mix and stir until everything is thoroughly combined
• Press into the slice tin and chill in the refrigerator until set (it won’t take that long)

• When set, ice with chocolate icing and sprinkle with nuts, coconut or hundreds and thousands.
• Cut into squares and enjoy.
• Please store this slice in the refrigerator – the copha will melt if left out too long.

What On Earth? Camera Plate Case

Imagine you are a man living in the early 1900s. You have recently become entranced by photography, and you are eager to learn more and become proficient in taking the amazing images. The process is simply astounding – to be able to take a picture of the world and capture it exactly with a simple click is like magic. Of course, you couldn’t do it without the fragile plates which capture the images and luckily you have a wonderfully sturdy plate holder to keep them safe from harm.

When I showed the children this plate holder for photographic plates, they had absolutely no idea what it could be. In an age of digital cameras, children tend to think about photographs in terms of how much memory the camera has available, not whether there is a fresh plate available, or even whether there is film left in the strip. The idea of camera plates was bizarre and unimaginable to this technological generation.

Photography has a fascinating and surprisingly long history, with the first ever attempts at capturing photographic images coming in the very early 1800s. The first person to attempt to make camera images, in around 1800, was actually Thomas Wedgewood, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Next came Nicephore Niepce, who did manage to capture images in the mid 1820s, but the exposure process took several days, so it wasn’t exactly quick and easy, and nor were the results that spectacular! Louis Daguerre was the man who created the first really successful photographic process in the 1830s. His invention was the daguerreotype, which only took a few minutes exposure and produced crisp, clear images. Of course, what made the photographic image possible at all was the daguerreotype plate. These first photographic plates were made of silver coated copper which was then polished to a mirror finish and treated to become light sensitive.

The problem with daguerreotypes was that the plates were relatively expensive and they could not be reused or replicated to create an identical image so it would not be long before people were seeking alternatives. William Henry Fox Talbot created the calotype which was paper with a coating of silver iodide and this was a great advance as not only was it more cost effective, the image could be reproduced through contact printing (and his invention is still the basis of film printing today). People also turned their attention to creating glass plates for photography. John Herschel created the first known glass negative in 1839 but they were difficult to produce and so the invention was not popular. Then, in 1841 Janez Puhar created a more functional process for creating glass plate negatives and others soon followed. In fact, glass plate negatives were some of the most popular forms of plates available! Of course, these plates were also fragile, and so cases were created like the one I showed the children, not only to carry the plates safely, but to prevent damage to the photo before it could be developed.

Rover Finds A Blooming Great Garden - Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat

This week, Rover decided he wanted to enjoy some of the beautiful Spring weather we have been having, and also some of the beautiful Spring flowers. Rover thinks Spring is a wonderful time, and loves to head out and about to see the plants and trees burst back into life with fresh leaves and stunning colourful flowers. He had heard about a rather spectacular garden in Galston which is only open to the public occasionally, and decided this was the perfect time to visit and share his photos.

If you would like to visit this beautiful garden, it is located at Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat in Galston. The street address is 405 Galston Road, Galston. The garden is only open occasionally, but it is well worth visiting when opened to the public, as the garden is absolutely amazing. This year the garden is open on the 12^th and 13^th of September (today!) from 9:30 to 4:30, thanks to the Galston Garden Club open garden scheme. Bring your walking shoes though as this is a huge garden and you will want to see it all! Entrance to the garden is $5 per person and all proceeds will go to charity.

The Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat is renowned to be one of Sydney’s most stunning gardens, and having been to visit, Rover has to agree. With blossom trees absolutely covered in flowers, extraordinary bonsai’s, enormous koi, delicate orchids, stunning camellias, succulents and more, there is something to see everywhere and every way you look. Yet the garden has not been seen by the public in almost seven years, apparently closed while the new temple was constructed. The Buddhist Shrine is a stunning, modern building where members of the Australian Buddhist Association gather for prayers and contemplation. You can visit the shrine on the open day, and see the stunning interior and beautifully presented offerings.

Seeing the extraordinary, seemingly ancient trees and plants which make up the amazing gardens, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Golden Wheel Buddhist Retreat gardens were established fifty years ago. Yet this is not the case - the gardens were constructed in the late 1990s as a beautiful landscaped environment for the Buddhist Temple and retreat buildings. Despite their surprisingly recent construction, the gardens are extremely well established and many of the trees and shrubs seem much older. Rover was particularly taken by the bougainvilleas which twist their enormous trunks around poles before spreading into a canopy over the path.  

Roy Creates Deliciously Savoury Stuffed Steak

This week, Roy decided he would like to make something old fashioned and delicious for dinner. He had a little time to spare, so started flipping through his various old cookbooks for inspiration, when a recipe for stuffed steak caught his attention. He was intrigued by the recipe, because he had never really thought of stuffing steak, so he decided to give it a go. He discovered that his steaks were a little thin to cut a slit in and stuff (but you could easily do this with some cuts), but the stuffing was great folded between the steak and pinned into place. So this week, Roy Creates Deliciously Savoury Stuffed Steak.

You Will Need:

• 4 steaks. Roy used rump, but you could use whatever cut you prefer
• Lemon zest to taste. Roy used the zest of about 1/3 of a lemon
• ½ an onion
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 pieces of bread
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs (Roy used an Italian mix)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: A handful of fresh parsley

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and lightly oil a baking tray

• Put the lemon zest, onion, celery, garlic and parsley if using into a small food processor and chop until fine. Alternately, you could chop these by hand, but make sure you have very small pieces. Transfer the mix to a bowl

• Put the bread in the processor and process until you have fine bread crumbs. This will also clean out any residue of the celery mix. Add the bread crumbs to the bowl

• Add the egg and mixed herbs to the bowl and mix everything together until thoroughly combined
• Divide the stuffing mix into 4 portions

• Lie the steaks flat (or hold them up if you cut a slit in them) and spread the stuffing over half of the steak area (or stuff the cavity if you are filling the slit)

• Fold the steaks over so the stuffing is covered and use toothpicks to hold the steaks in place (or to close the cavity)
• Bake the steaks for 30 minutes or until cooked to your liking (the time you need will depend on the type of steak and how thick they are etc)
• Serve with salad or vegetables and enjoy!

The Prettiest Wood Ever! Petrified Wood

Imagine you are a you boy, interested in rocks and stones. You particularly love going out and finding rocks in the countryside, and then bringing them home to be cut and polished. So often the rock which looked uninteresting when you first discovered it is shown to be a fascinating and beautiful specimen, with just a little work. The one which you are most pleased by though is the petrified wood you found. When it was cut into slices and polished, it became so beautiful, and you can even see where the bark was, and the rings of the tree. Just amazing!

When I showed the children these slices of petrified wood, they were quite intrigued. They had heard of petrified wood, and seen very small samples in the past, but these slices are large enough to see the pattern of the wood, and also have remains of the bark around the wood which are intact. The children were amazed to see that petrified wood does indeed look just like a slice of wood, but hard as stone. The other thing which particularly intrigued them though was how beautiful the wood is. As one child said ‘it’s like a piece of wood, but the prettiest wood ever!’

Petrified wood is a type of fossil and is a term used to describe land vegetation like trees or tree like plants which have been preserved and transformed into stone. In fact the word petrified comes from the Greek word petro which means rock or stone – the term literally describes wood which has turned into stone.  The process by which wood is petrified involves all of the organic material in the wood being replaced by mineral materials, usually silicates like quartz. The stone is stained by other minerals in the environment, like iron and copper and this is what gives petrified wood its beautiful colour ranges. In order to be petrified wood is buried and petrifaction actually happens underground. It is the underground conditions, and the lack of oxygen which they contain which allows the wood to be petrified at all. If oxygen is present decomposition can occur and the wood would not be able to be preserved at all.

It might seem that, if wood only petrifies when it is buried, only small pieces of wood are preserved, but this is not the case. In fact, whole trees can be petrified, and there are examples in Argentina which are 3 metres wide and 30 metres long! There are also examples in places like the Petrified Forest National Park in America where multiple trees were petrified after falling into water and being buried by sediments. There are even trees which have had their stumps petrified. The most amazing thing about these trees though is the detail in which they are preserved. In the petrifaction process, the original structure of the wood, including rings and bark are preserved, but the wood itself is gone, replaced by stone. Often, you can even detect the cell structure of the original tree, and so they are very important study materials for those interested in ancient plants and forests.