FUN & GAMES - Fun Facts
Hey kids! Click on Spike or Shred to reveal some fun facts.
Fun Fact 1
SHRED SAYS...
Did you know snow is actually water that freezes inside clouds, and once the flakes are heavy enough they fall to the ground as snow.
Fun Fact 2
SPIKE SAYS...
Out of Coronet Peak, Mt Hutt and The Remarkables, the highest peak is Double Cone at The Remarks, which is 2340 metres. The next highest peak is at Mt Hutt where the summit is 2086 metres, followed by Coronet Peak’s summit which is 1649 metres high.
Fun Fact 3
SHRED SAYS...
Each snowflake is made up of from 2 to about 200 separate crystals.
Fun Fact 4
SPIKE SAYS...
Believe it or not the colour of snow is actually clear (transparent).
Fun Fact 5
SHRED SAYS...
Snow appears white because the crystals act as prisms, breaking up the light of the sun into the entire spectrum of colour.
Fun Fact 6
SPIKE SAYS...
If you live in a place where the soil is red, snow actually looks pink. The red dust blows into the clouds, discolouring the snow.
Fun Fact 7
SHRED SAYS...
Jandals is the kiwi word for flip flops or thongs. This is a combination made in 1957 from the words “Japanese” and “sandals”.
Fun Fact 8
SPIKE SAYS...
The Kea is a native bird of New Zealand.
Fun Fact 9
SHRED SAYS...
Most snowflakes are less than 1cm across.
Fun Fact 10
SPIKE SAYS...
The largest snowflake recorded was fifteen inches in diameter.
Fun Fact 11
SHRED SAYS...
All snowflakes have six sides and no two snowflakes are alike.
Fun Fact 12
SPIKE SAYS...
Scientists think that there are five different shapes of snow crystals. A long needle shape, hollow column that is shaped like a six-sided prism, thin and flat six-sided plates, six-pointed stars and intricate dendrites.
Fun Fact 13
SHRED SAYS...
Tuatara is New Zealand’s oldest native reptile. It has lived for about 200 million years. Today this creature of the night still survives on offshore islands. In Maori tuatara means spiny back.
Fun Fact 14
SPIKE SAYS...
The Remarkables are called the Remarkables because they are one of only two mountain ranges in the world which run directly north to south.
Fun Fact 15
SHRED SAYS...
Coronet Peak has the most extensive snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere.
Fun Fact 16
SPIKE SAYS...
If you stand at the very top of Coronet Peak and look across to The Remarkables you will actually be standing at the same height as The Remarkables car park.
Fun Fact 17
SHRED SAYS...
Togs is a word used for swim suits in New Zealand.