This post starts at a few minutes after midnight. We had crashed less than an hour later, so we were in pretty deep REM sleep when the earthquake started. I wasn't coherent enough to give you a detailed description, but it seemed looong and strooong. A minute or two of the strongest earthquake I have felt.
We chatted about it for a minute ... heard the confused voices outside, and dropped back off to sleep.
Then at around 4AM, we were awakened with "we have to evacuate". So we threw our jackets on and headed to the bus. It was controlled chaos at this point. What we heard was "get on a bus, any bus" ... so we did. We got on a Stray bus, but not our Stray bus (there was a hop-on/hop-off tour here too).
Of course, there was a traffic jam just getting out of the campsite, but the funny thing was that we only drove 200-300 meters and then stopped. The bus driver ("PacMan") said we could get off if we needed to pee. So Kate got off with nearly half the bus.
I waited there for a short eternity. I was trying to visualise what I couldn't see the night before: where was the ocean, where was the earthquake epicentre, where was high ground, and how would I exit a large bus when the tsunami swept it over. When Kate didn't come back for 15 minutes, I ventured out into the night to find her. Luckily, I found her at the first building I encountered: she was there chatting with 90% of our tour group.
Apparently, we had been told to stay in/near that building until we received the all-clear. A few wandered in/out/around, but most stayed there and either dozed or chatted. We were trying to get online, but I for one) didn't pay the $5 for wifi ... I had planned to buy it in the morning. I was more than happy to pay the $5 now, but I hadn't grabbed my wallet and I could only remember 8 of the 12 digits of my credit card :-(. I figured it was worth it to tap into the 400MB I bought from Bell before I left home, but I couldn't do that either. Talk about an IT nightmare!
Michael offered that I connect to his phone as a wireless hotspot, and I jumped at the chance to contact home. (We have since named him Ariel.) I was able to text Mom, Dad, Liss, Megan, and Sharon ... which put my mind at rest.
When things were looking a bit better, we decided to wander toward the beach and watch the sunrise.
Things seemed OK, so we went on with our day. At 10AM, the AquaTaxi picked us up at the front office and drove us to their office. We signed in, jumped in a boat, each put on a life vest, and got driven to the boat ramp where we were lowered into the water. We were shuttled to Split Apple Rock, and then to Anchorage where he dropped us off for our walk.
The walk was wet. Very wet. Here it is. When we got back, we found out a bit more about the extent of the earthquakes: all ferries, all rail, and some roads are closed. Our departure is delayed by a day, and we're planning to drive down the west side of South Island instead of the east side.
We had some time to shower and nap before gathering for dinner and drinks. Dinner was BBQ steak, sausage, and potato (with side salad) ... just like our first night. Small aftershocks were still happening every few minutes, but otherwise, it was an uneventful evening.
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