Oi !Oi! Oi! Punk party! Riley had a punk party to celebrate his ninth birthday. It was Awesome! Punk is is a vicious vulgar society of people who are anarchists.

On the Monday after Papamoa we climbed Mt Maunganui. The veiws from the top are so beautiful. The horizon stretched out before us. On one side is the great wide ocean and on the other the sprawling city of Tauranga.

This week we were off to the Sundaise music festival with the whole Extravaganva. Hipsy called up on Monday saying we have to get onto the grounds early because of the forcast for torrential rain. So we went in on Tuesday. It was a quiet rainy week helping set up for the weekends festival. On Friday as the people started arriving the heavens opened and it started to rain hard.That night we went to sleep never expecting what was to come…

It was midnight when Mum and Dad woke us up saying that the river had broken its banks and we have to get to safety! By that time the river was already rushing past our truck. We hopped aboard the adults backs as they took us to Ange and Thornys truck which was safe… for a while. All the other kids went there too, we were all white faced and wide eyes shivering from the shock of it all. Then we evacuated to a hay barn on the other side of the river. So many families were squished into that one barn it was unbelievable, while outside it was raining hard.

We stayed there for about three hours, then the river retreated back into its banks. We were able to go home. When we looked at the clock it was 3am! We had a big toast feed then went to sleep at last.

In the morning we woke up, opened the curtains and looked shell-shocked out the windows at the floods devastation. That was so so so scary.  I have never been in a disaster before.