1. Olly and the awesome adventure By Jishika, Paluki and Alexia

2. One day not long ago there lived an Otago skink called Olly. He was having his daily measurement. Today he was 300mm long. He loved looking at himself in the mirror everyday. He was green, yellow and black. That morning Olly was rehearsing for the concert that comes every four years.

3. He was rehearsing with his friends Amanda the Armadillo and Jasper the Jaguar. They were doing a play called the Lion and the Mouse. While they were practising Tamsin the Toucan came running to them. There is a human coming and he has a net in his hand!

4. Olly thought he was just joking until the hunter came and started chasing the animals onto a bridge with a very big hole. Olly made a big jump and made it over and so did Amanda, Jasper and Tamsin. The hunter didn’t see the hole and fell head first down.

5. The hunter started yelling. “I didn’t see this hole. I should have known that this hole was here. I live here too!” the hunter shouted. “I'm going to get you Otago Skink and you Armadillo, Jaguar and you, Toucan.”

6. Olly said to his friends they were so lucky to have jumped over that hole and to get away from the hunter. “That was a close one,” said Amanda. “You’re right Amanda,” said Jasper and Tasmin.

7. “Oh, will you people be quiet!” shouted Olly, “It will be fine. He is stuck in the hole back on the bridge. It is most likely he will be stuck in there for a while or so.” He paused, “Now we have to tell everyone else about the hole before they get captured by other hunters.”

8. On the way they saw something move in the rock pools, “What was that?” Amanda tried hiding behind small little Olly. A person approaching a rocky outcrop in search of these lizards may get an eerie feeling of being watched. Olly the Skink did what only skinks can do and was stretching up, craning his neck to peer over the rock crests, like a little Indian in an ambush.

9. “Who’s there? Is that you Amanda?” “No I’m right here behind you. Is it you Jasper?” “No I’m behind Amanda. Then it must be Tasmin. “No I’m behind all of you.” “Then it’s the hunter again!” they cried.

10. “I told you I was coming back for you!” the Hunter yelled. “Olly the police are here and they are coming to get the hunter!” “Thanks for telling me but who told the police that there was a hunter?” asked Olly. “I think it was that little girl over there. Wait! Olly, I think they’re coming for us!” she screamed.

11. “You guys are coming with me to a zoo in Christchurch.” said the little girl. “I thought that they were taking the hunter but they meant us. They were workers from Willow bank Wildlife Park.” “What is a zoo?” Amanda asked. “I’m not sure,” replied Jasper.

12. “We’re here I think” said Olly. “I don’t think we’ll see each other again” said Amanda (starting to weep). “ Otago Skink, I’m taking you to your first nice warm cage with a light like a sun and a nice big rock for you to sit on.” said the keeper.

13. Next was Tamsin, she was trying to fly away but there was no escape because her wings were tied up. Amanda rolled up into her ball and tried rolling away but she was not able to roll out because she was in the cage. Jasper was lucky last. He gave a big roar and the scared zookeeper ran away. Then he used his sharp claws to open all the cages. All the animals ran away and lived in the forest happily ever after.