Our great big school trip

“Urrrrrrr” the wetness from the cold grass rubbed beside my purple jandals as room nine lined up to hop onto the bus.  Mrs Anderson counted us all, (hopefully) one by one.  The bus driver made it clear for us to sit right at the back.  Most of my friends and I sat on the long back seat, it was like I was at a concert standing right next to the loudspeaker. That really was how really loud it was.  Most of us at the back were eating lollies hoping the teacher wouldn't see, but I'm pretty sure Mrs Anderson wasn't that dumb!  As I noticed that there was water at the back of the massive houses, I thought to myself that must be Eastern beach, it was a gloomy calm but kind of sunny day.  

Around about 10 minutes later we finally arrived at Eastern Beach, which was a good thing as I was kind of getting impatient.  Suddenly the loud speaker turned down and I could hear the teachers were trying to speak over all our chatter. Our teachers told their classes to stand up quietly. It was really quiet then, like someone pushed the mute button.

One by one all of us pushed our way out of the bus. As I jumped off I let out a great big sigh relief that the whole school was finally here.
“Ahhh fresh air,” I sighed.  

Room 9 and Room 6 lined up under the strict orders of Mrs Anderson, who was looking after us all.  We strolled over to a grassy spot in the middle of the reserve.  The whole school sat down in their lines.  Most people were chatting and sneakily munching away at their lunch.  Mr Johnson made it clear what our rules were for our day at the beach. Afterwards the year 7 and 8 kids were told to go to the spot under the tree where Ms Kirkpatrick was standing.  When she finished
telling us the in’s and out’s of kayaking and the rules, Group A (the first kayaking group), slowly stood up and followed their group leader, Lavinia. They all looked excited but nervous at the same time.

Meanwhile the rest of us ate, went for a swim, walked around, talked, ate, climbed the tree and made the most of our day out. Finally around about three hours later it was our turn, group D’s turn, to kayak.  Leila was our leader. Leila gathered her group together and we all squealed when we put the wet soggy, freezing cold life jackets on.  Each of us chose a kayak and a paddle. I grabbed mine and stood in front of Ms Kirkpatrick as she explained how to turn, how to reverse, and basic things like that.  As our group placed themselves into their kayaks we were told to push off and paddle.
“Down twist up, down, twist up,” I kept saying in my head.

Strangely everyone was heading in the direction of where Ms Kirkpatrick told them to go but I seemed to be paddling in the complete opposite direction!  Mr Grady came and helped me and gave me a big push off.  I was away and I did eventually get the hang of it!

Out in the middle of the sea we played tiggy and races where we had to paddle off, raft together, come back in and join together.  Then we were challenged to stand up and walk over the kayaks while the group was holding them together. It was freaky but it was up to us to work together so that the kayaks didn’t flip over. Thankfully I had the choice if I wanted to do it. I decided I was not going to take the risk!
Kayaking was fun and I didn’t want our time to end.

Back on land we volunteered to help stack the kayaks back up on the trailer. When that was done I quickly ran into the water for a dip but I soon wished I hadn’t as it was freezing!   Not long after that the school started to pack up. Most kids were changed and our spot under the tree had been tidied by all who sat there.  With the grounds spotless the school sat down in their lines.  The buses had arrived so Mr Johnston quickly announced how wonderful we were for sticking to the rules and keeping safe!

Soon after we began to drag ourselves onto the bus.  I sat in the same seat I sat in last time.  This time on our journey back to school it wasn't so loud. I guess everyone was exhausted just like I was.  It was a fun day. I really enjoyed the kayaking as you can see in some of the 185 pictures the Rachael took! I was totally tired, the day had gone so fast and I could not wait to get HOME!

Candice