by Pam Harvey
EXXON VALDEZ (1989)
Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker loaded with 200 million litres of crude oil, sailing from Alaska to California, USA. The tanker was meant to stay in the shipping lane—a safe course for ships to follow through the sea—but veered out of it to avoid icebergs. The captain left the wheelhouse for a rest, and the third mate was in charge with instructions to return to the shipping lane at a pre-arranged point. The Exxon Valdez never returned to the correct course and hit a reef just after midnight. Twenty per cent of the cargo spilled into the sea and was spread by storms, swamping sea creatures and nearby islands, and creating one of the world’s worst ecological disasters.
Boo! Famous Ghosts
Some people believe in ghosts and some people don’t. Sceptics will argue that ghost ‘sightings’ can be explained scientifically, but ghost stories have been told in many different cultures dating back to ancient times.
AN AUSTRALIAN GHOST
Frederick George James Fisher left his home in Campbelltown, NSW, on 17 June 1826 and was never seen again. One night four months later, a man stumbled into the local pub with a wild story of seeing Fred sitting on a rail of a bridge, pointing down the creek to a particular paddock. Fred’s body was found soon after in the very paddock he had pointed to. In September 1826, George Worrall, Fred’s neighbour, was convicted of Fred’s murder.
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
The Headless Horseman is a famous ghost in a story written in 1820 by an American writer, Washington Irving. In the story, a man named Ichabod Crane is chased by a headless ghost on a horse—a soldier who ‘rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head’. Many films of the story have been made, including a Walt Disney version in 1958.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln was the first president of the United States of America to be assassinated. Sightings of Lincoln’s ghost have been reported at the White House and at Springfield, where he was buried. Winston Churchill, visiting the White House during World War II, claimed to have seen Abraham Lincoln standing by a fireplace in a bedroom.
Lincoln had a premonition about his death that he related to a friend. He had dreamed of a body dressed in funeral clothes guarded by soldiers. In the dream he asked, ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ A soldier answered, ‘The president. He was killed by an assassin.’
TREASURE…
Gold is a ‘precious metal’, that is, a rare metal highly sought after. Other precious metals include silver, platinum and palladium.
An ‘ingot’ is melted metal moulded into the shape of a bar or a block.
The largest gold nugget ever found was ‘The Welcome Stranger’, which weighed about 2500 ounces (about 72 kilograms). It was found at Moliagul, Victoria, in 1869.
Gemstones are highly attractive and valuable minerals or rocks, but they aren’t necessarily rare. An example of a precious gemstone that is commonly available is a diamond. Other gemstones include ruby, amethyst and jasper.
…ISLAND
The world’s largest island is Greenland. Australia and Antarctica are considered continents, not islands, because they have unique flora and fauna.
The world’s smallest island is Bishop Rock, United Kingdom.
La Palma, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, is a stratovolcano (a volcano composed of lava flows and pyroclastic material). It is said to be the world’s steepest island.
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the book Treasure Island in 1883. The story evolved from an imaginary map drawn by Stevenson and his stepson while on holiday.
DRAW YOUR OWN TREASURE MAP!
Hide or bury some treasure in an unlikely spot. The treasure could be a coin, an unusual stone or $1,000,000 in a treasure chest—it depends on what you have.
Remember where it was that you hid the treasure.
Draw a map of the area. Put in some landmarks, but not too many or your hiding place will be too easily found. For instance, if you are in your backyard, mark a tree, the dog kennel, or the trampoline.
Put an X where the treasure is.
Find a starting place for your map. The back gate? The back door? It doesn’t matter where.
Pace out a course using either your long stride or a short stride (heel toe walking) to measure with.
Write your instructions. Use commands like ‘six paces from back gate towards clothes line’ or ‘six steps north from back gate’ if your hunter has a compass.
Make your course interesting. One instruction might mean going over the trampoline.
Once you have your map and instructions, make them look old. Screw them up, rip the edges, dip them in black tea. Don’t make the paper too fragile or it will disintegrate before being read!
You might want to have a whole series of maps that lead to more clues before the actual treasure is found. For example, the first map leads to the second map hidden in a bottle in the grass. The second map leads to the third map under the guinea pig house.
Why not weave a whole story around your map, just like Robert Louis Stevenson? Write it down or film it or audio-record it, sounding like a troubled pirate. Arrrrr!
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to say thanks to the team at HarperCollins, who are very easy to get along with—especially Lisa Berryman, Patrick Mangan and Liz Kemp. Special thanks to the staff at the Point Lonsdale lighthouse for their enthusiasm and support; thanks to Camille Jeffreys for the wonderful sketches she drew of Intrepid Point that helped paint the picture. Pam would like to thank Michael for not giving up the ghost. Michael would like to thank Pam, for, without her spirit, this project had only a ghost of a chance of being done!
About The Author
MICHAEL PANCKRIDGE is the author of the bestselling Toby Jones cricketing adventure series. He lives in Geelong, Victoria. His main interests include a wide variety of sports, music, reading and keeping fit. He has worked as a teacher for just over twenty years and currently teaches part-time at Geelong College.
Visit Michael’s website at www.michaelpanckridge.com.au
PAM HARVEY lives in Bendigo with her husband, two children, two dogs, two goldfish, two ducks, fifteen chooks and a ghost horse. Pam works as a lecturer in medical education, a physiotherapist and other bits and pieces. She’s enthusiastic about a lot of things—including books, chocolate and getting up in the morning—and wears a bracelet made out of spoons. Pam has been writing since 1993.
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BY MICHAEL PANCKRIDGE
Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack (with Brett Lee)
Toby Jones and the Secret of the Missing Scorecard (with Brett Lee)
Toby Jones and the Mystery of the Time-Travel Tour (with Brett Lee)
Toby Jones and the Timeless Cricket Match (with Brett Lee)
Shielding the Truth (League of Legends, Book 1) (with Laurie Daley)
Live Action (League of Legends, Book 2) (with Laurie Daley)
BY MICHAEL PANCKRIDGE AND PAM HARVEY
Faster than Lightning In the Deep End
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2007
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Michael Panckridge and Pam Harvey 2007
The right of Michael Panckridge and Pam Harvey to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Panckridge, Michael, 1962 - .
Ghost of a chance.
For primary school students.
ISBN 978 0 207 20063 2 (pbk).
ISBN: 978 0 7304 4425 1 (epub)
I. Harvey, Pam, 1965– . II. Title.
A823.4
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