The next morning began much as the previous day had ended; with absolute serenity. Waking up at 7am (which deserves much commendation, by the way), several of us managed to stagger back down to the shore to watch the sun slowly rise over the ocean.This illusion of tranquility was soon shattered, however, as members of a neighboring camp walked down to the beach to greet us with some rather unsettling news:
There had been a massive earthquake in Chile (8.8!) and a tsunami was now hurtling towards us, expected to hit within the next two hours.
Now, it's easy to not think too much of this now. After all, the possibility of a tsunami striking areas ranging from Japan to Hawaii turned out to be just that; a threat and nothing more.
But at the time, with little information available to us and a natural disaster expected to arrive within several hours, the gang was freaked out. Especially because not everybody was awake; as a potentially cataclysmic event gradually grew nearer, the majority of the group continued to sleep. This, however, did not last long, as concerned parents began texting and calling, fearing that we might be in an area of potential danger.
You know... Like the beach?
Packing happened very quickly from this point on.
Now, the plan had been to go into Kaikoura, a tiny town right on the ocean, and spend the day there. Maybe play a little frisbee on the beach? Work on the tan a bit? Eat some ice cream while sitting with your toes in the sand?
Well, the whole tsunami thing kind of changed things a bit. But, at the same time... It really didn't alter the plan at all.
After weighing the options, the group opted to drive into Kaikoura anyways. Not only did it seem slightly counterintuitive to drive towards a destination directly on the ocean when a tsunami was due to arrive in an hour, but the road to get there was a coastal one. On one side was the Pacific Ocean. The other, a wall of rock. Escape routes were certainly limited.
Along the way, we stopped and pulled over alongside the coast. Why would the group stop while in such a precarious situation?
These guys were spotted. Shortly after this, they began to bark and gesture towards each other like two other large mammals I know, though the seals probably weigh more than Cody and Jasmine. Either way, I loved this photo.
Note: While sitting along the road (it was about 3-4 meters above sea level, no worries), a passing car slowed, pulled over and rolled down its window. The following exchange then took place:
"Do you guys know that there is a tsunami headed in this direction?"
"Yes."
"...Um, well, did you know that it's supposed to hit any time in the next 1-2 hours?"
"Yes."
"..Err... Well... did you know that it's not a good idea to be near the coast when there is a tsunami coming, because, um, well, it's a tsunami?"
"Hm, yes, true. Thanks."
Conversations such as this one would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day.
About 30 minutes later, we finally did reach the town of Kaikoura. Though noticeably quiet, its charm was still evident. The town itself was very small, consisting of one main strip of internet cafes, restaurants, touristy gift shops and surf/scuba stores. The surrounding scenery, however, succeeded in enhancing Kaikoura significantly.
Again, it's hard to accurately convey the eerie mood that the entire town had fallen into. Shops and cafes were open, but people were clearly tense and anxious. It was as if everybody was trying to go through their normal routines, yet they were all waiting for something to happen. Or, in this case, something to arrive.
Making what could have been a very fateful decision, the gang defied all reason, logic, common sense and general concern for self-preservation and headed down to the beach.
Reflecting on that day, it's hard to fathom doing what we did. Everything we heard confirmed reports of a tsunami moving towards us. The news warned of being near the coast and even the fire department in Kaikoura attempted to close off the beaches.
Yet the group snuck around all of that and made it to the beach. Proof of how foolish we were?
Yikes. Did I mention that we had confirmed reports of the tsunami hitting at any moment? That I sat there planning on waiting for the tide to recede before I would snap a few more photos and then retreat back to town? And what was going through minds of the rest of the group members while a natural disaster hurtled itself in our direction?
We were clearly very aware of the immediate danger we were all in.
The thing is though... We all really wanted to see the tsunami hit. Yes, I agree that that's a somewhat foolish thing to hope for, but we rationalized it in very simple terms: when would we ever have an opportunity to see something like this again? How likely would it be that any one group member would ever find themselves in a situation like that, waking up and finding yourself confronted by a tsunami?
No, the series of events that got us there were too unlikely, too random to ever transpire again. Not only were we going to stay near the coast for the event, but we were going to have front row seats to a potentially once in a lifetime occurrence.
So we waited.
And we waited.
And after a few hours, reality began to set in to mixed emotions. The tsunami was not coming; the threat of danger had passed. But the opportunity to see such a thing was also gone, and a ripple of disappointment certainly shot through the group. We had been euphoric several hours before, with endless amounts of nervous energy as a result of being thrust into a potentially deadly situation. But once that threat was proven to be empty, resignation soon set in.
To make matters worse, though reports began to come in that the initial warnings were vastly overstated, the fire department still managed to throw us off the beach on three separate occasions.
Finally, at around 1pm on Sunday, February 28, we decided that it was time to head back to Christchurch. Taking one more longing look out into the ocean, we turned our backs to the sea and started for the van. Though there is no doubting that the group was disappointed by the unexpected events of the morning, there was no putting a damper on the trip as a whole.
Slowly unloading our gear at about 4pm, the group gave each other final hugs and headed in separate directions. Showers and bed were in store for some, while an incredible cricket match to be played downtown waited for others.
Gone a little over 24 hours, the gang traveled over 400 kilometers. Along the way, we climbed a mountain, stood on the edge of the world, discovered various car games, screamed at grazing farm animals, made camp in absolute darkness, made friends with every member of the Kaikoura fire department and were nearly killed in a natural disaster of epic proportions.
The greatest weekend of all time? Perhaps a bit of hyperbole.
But the second greatest?
That I have no problem believing.
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