Year 8 Geography Trip

On the 21st of October, we got to school in the drizzle with all our gear ready for a rainy beach day. We were all hoping that the trip would go ahead in the bad weather, but many of us also knew in the back of our minds that there was a very low chance of it actually happening. 

We were all checking our iPads and chatting with each other in anticipation, waiting to see if the trip would still happen. Some of us actually asked Mr Hlophe if we were still going to the beach and there was a ripple of disappointment as they reported back that the trip had been cancelled. 

After a mixed tutor session, one Yr8 class had geography as the first lesson. We spent about 15 minutes complaining about the cancellation of the trip, before Mr Hlophe told us that he would make the final call at 8:30. Of course, we still had to make sure we did all we could for the trip to go on, so we kept trying to convince him to let us go. Some suggestions were: ‘We’re a creative group and can find a solution!’; ‘It will be good for our problem solving’; ‘It will make it more memorable’ and of course, ‘Look, the sun is coming out!!’

Eventually, Madame Mason came in to talk with Mr Hlophe’s class. She said that she hated to be the bearer of bad news. With a slight pause, where the whole class let out a disappointed “awww”. Of course, there was a ‘but’, because she then said, “So I’ll give you the good news. We’re still going on the trip!” After she finished talking, the whole class screamed with excitement (as I’m sure many of you, dear readers, heard).

So, we started heading toward the buses, armed with umbrellas and rain jackets. A little bit of rain wasn’t going to stop us! After an eventful bus trip, we arrived at Camps Bay beach. When all the occupants of the small bus got out, the weather looked fine – cloudy and a bit windy, but no rain. Of course, when the big bus arrived, it started drizzling. 

There we completed activities such as measuring the wind speed and temperature, assessing natural and human features of the beach and various other activities. After a damp, but fun couple of hours at Camps Bay we got back on the bus and started the scenic trip along Chapman’s Peak to Noordhoek. 

When we got to Noordhoek beach, it was time to be a bit adventurous, walking through water and climbing over rocks to get to the actual beach. The wind there was wild, though there was no rain, but it left many of us with windswept, slightly frizzy hair.

During our time at this beach, a group of boys got ‘stranded’ on a rock when a wave left them surrounded by water, until Mr Hlophe heroically saved them. As well as this, while measuring wave distance, an unfortunate soul got soaked by a wave almost up to their waist! We also kept leaving equipment in the waves. A big wave would come, and everyone would drop everything and run halfway up the beach, until someone shouted ‘the poles!’ or ‘the tennis ball!’ Then someone would run in to go get it.

After that dramatic experience, we got back onto the sandy bus and drove to Noordhoek village, where we stopped for ice cream and had some interesting theoretical conversations. Happy and windswept, we got back on the bus for the final chaotic trip back to school, where we arrived back safely, a bit sandy, a bit wet, but overall happy. Most of us agreed that despite the weather, the day had been great fun, and, in all, a complete success!

– Mia