Have you ever seen a group of people playing a game of rugby?  well it is a very popular sport in some countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Most recently there was a game held in Tokyo where Australia and New Zealand played each other.

You may ask, why would they be playing in Tokyo? Well Japan has been trying to promote rugby to their country and many teams have already been created. Many companies have been buying rugby teams to advertise their products two of the companies are and Coca Cola.

Many Australian rugby players are going to Japan to play rugby. They go because they get paid more money than they get paid in Australia. They are also more experienced than the Japanese players. I think some people are paid too much money to play sport such as Tiger Woods who was paid 3 million dollars just to appear at a golf tournament.

Two of the rugby players that moved to Japan are Mark Gerrard and Craig Wing. They both think it is a great opportunity. The only problem is that if lots of players move to other countries teams what will happen to Australian rugby. I think players should have a very good reason to move to other teams. In the end I think Australian players should stay being Australian players and not go and change to being a Japanese player when their not Japanese.

Have you ever seen famous swimmers wearing skin tight swimsuits. Well lately there has been a lot of controversy about these slick swimsuits. One type of these swimsuits are causing the most trouble, these swimsuits are made out of a material called polyurethane this allows the swimsuit to stay dry and not absorb any water which makes the swimmer go faster. It also keeps the air inside the swimsuit. Which makes the swimmer float. Normal swimsuits aren’t made out of polyurethane and they absorb water which creates drag, this slows the swimmer down. If you have ever tried to swim in your clothes you will know how drag affects your swimming.

If these swimsuits don’t absorb water what are they called? Well an object that does not absorb water or let water pass through it. It is called impermeable. And if the object does absorb water and lets water pass through it is called permeable. For example if you have ever tried pouring water on glad wrap you will notice that the glad wrap doesn’t absorb the water so it is impermeable. And if you have ever tried poring water over a t-shirt you will notice that the water passes straight through it so it is permeable.

Many people were involved in the design of these flashy swimsuits including N.A.S.A scientist and engineers. But was this all a waste. FINA said they are not going to let people wear them after the end of 2009. Because people say they are an unfair advantage. But some fear that no one will be able to beat the records.

If think FINA has made the right choice and these swimsuits should be banned.

Lots of australians do it but how could traveling overseas land you in jail. Well it happened to an australian mother when she was traveling in Thailand when her friends put a bar mat in her hand-bag which belonged to a bar as a joke.It turns out the Thai police didn’t take it as a joke and she ended up in prison.

This is why you should always research before you travel overseas because different countries have different laws and customs. For example in Singapore you can be arrested for chewing gum on the streets.

There are more than 200 countries in the world and they all have different customs and laws and when you travel overseas the countries expect that you will obey them. Like when people come to Australia we expect them to follow our laws.

Annice Smoel’s family where devastated to hear what had happened and her three daughters were petrified at the thought of not having their mother round for 5 years.

This story should teach people that you should always obey laws and customs when traveling overseas.

On the 7^th of February there were horrible bushfires in Victoria. Over 200 people were killed and that is because most of them decided to stay and fight the fires but the fire were to strong, so most of them perished in the flames. People now think it is the Governments fault that all these people died.

It is said that the Government are at fault because they gave us the choice to either stay and fight the fires to keep the fire away you self or leave early with all your belongings such as legal documents, food, pets, furniture and clothes. Now people are debating if we should change the law so everyone has to leave early but some people don’t want to change the law. Some people don’t want to change the law because they want to stay and fight the fire so they can protect their house and belongings. But other people don’t agree with them. People are now trying to decide if we should change the law and become like other countries because they do not get the choice.

Personally I believe we should be able to choose what we want to do because we might want to stay and fight to protect our houses. I believe we should be alerted before the fire comes near so we can evacuate if the fire is very strong or if it is not that strong we could decide if we want to stay and fight or leave early. But on one hand we could leave early and leave the fire for the fire fighters to deal with. But on the other hand we can stay and fight to keep our house and belongings safe which the fire fighters would not do.

So what is our choice should we be able to choose if we want to stay and fight or should we all have to leave early, I really think that we should be able to choose but it is not my choice it is the governments. If you do read my story please leave a comment about what you think should happen.

On Saturday the 7^th of February several fires started and took many lives it was very depressing. They think some of the fires were lit on purpose. Thousands of acres of bush have been destroyed. The fires started when there were very strong and very high temperatures.

People are now trying to recover from this horrific event. They are sheltering in tents and community centres, many people are trying to help by donating money, blood, food and other goods such as toys and clothes. People in hospitals are trying to recover from injuries and other people are trying to rebuild their lives.

In the future people will become more aware of what can happen in these bushfires. They could put bunkers in their houses to shelter, or cut down trees that are near the house. Some people will make escape plans. In the future we will become more aware of what can happen.