On Tuesday the 22^nd of February 2011 I woke up to find that it was raining and we were in our second day of challenge week (that’s where instead of going on camp we do daring stuff) so I thought that today’s activity would be cancelled (beach education).

I got to school to find that we were still going. All of the kid’s from room’s 3 and 4 started to moan and grumble. Some of the pupils had left their gear at home (but not me). They went to the office and while they were ringing their parents I asked the office lady ‘Who decided to make us go to Beach Education?’. The office lady said ‘Mr Harris and Mrs Jansen both decided to go’.

On the bus we all slumped cold, wet and miserable. We made our way to New Brighton surf club. When we got there we all made our way up to the surf club. Once inside we all sat down to listen to the lifeguards. They talked about how to be safe in the water and to stay in between the flags. We finished talking about safety in the water then we had morning tea and we jumped into our togs. We set off into the water and we had 20 minutes of body surfing and then boogie boarding.

Once finished we went up to the beach club and got dressed then had some lunch (I had marmite sandwiches).When we had finished we sat down to listen to the teachers. They had decided we would go for a walk down the Pier.

So we set off down the Pier and it happened to be about 12.40pm and we were down the very end where the fishermen would normally be fishing. Then it happened ! the 6.3 earthquake. The Pier was rolling and going UP and DOWN and cracks appeared , bolts popped up and all the glass shattered into one million pieces. To be honest I thought I was going to die! We all got on our hands and knees and covered our heads while Mrs Jansen was yelling out ‘GET DOWN,GET DOWN!’

We made our way down to Central New Brighton school and there were a series of small aftershocks while we were walking. When were absolutely terrified. When we got there we all sat down in a line while Mr Harris talked to us. We all just talked about how scary it was.Mrs Jansen rang the school on her cellphone to say that we were safe and to tell them to tell our parents we were okay. A few hours passed and some people went home with their parents but I was still there with a few others.Then the bus came so we all lined up with our bags to get on it when I saw a man on a bike. He was coming towards me. It was my Dad , I cried when I saw him. Mr Harris was asking my Dad ‘What way was the best way back to Queensapark School?’. My dad almost fainted because he biked so fast to get there.Then my Dad and I walked all the way home. It was a long trip.