Yesterday my teacher Koka Rosie and Koka Ngaire took us down to Hamanatua stream so that we could see where it started. We walked down along scarlys way and down the road to a rusty old gate leading down to a small stream that fed into the Hamanatua awa.
There were three people in front of me and they all walked through the knee height stream tripping and stumbling. Then when it was my turn I spotted a plank of wood and I lept to the other side without getting wet. I don’t mind getting wet but being wet for the whole day while walking all over the show would be annoying.
The others behind me cheered and yelled as I landed safely and when the others tried to copy…. Well that was a bit harsh: Trey belly-flopped in the water and Keylaine lost her shoe in the mud. So many people fell in the mud and I was glad I wasn’t too muddy but then: Koka Rosie handed me the toilet paper so she could put away her jacket, and… I didn’t have laces on so I got stuck.
To make it worse my shoes fell off and I had to go down on my knees and search through the mud. My whole body was covered with mud: I couldn’t even eat because I had soooo much mud on my hand. I was cold, uncomfy and hungry but I was determined to find where the awa started.
On the way back across the stream, Neko fell in the water. With all the eyes on him he decided to pour some swamp water on his armpits and pretend to wash himself. And back at class he wore no pants, just undies.
P.S: Also, if you are wondering what happened to the toilet paper I gave It to Josie who dropped it on the ground, later we gave the brown, sticky, muddy roll of paper back to her...
