The Eruption.

My name is Victoria and on 10th June 1886 I was living beside Lake Rotomahana near Mt Tarwera. I have just been offered a job at Mcraes Hotel.

In the morning the maoris weren’t peaceful. They seemed to be tense. I spoke a bit of maori so I asked a man what was wrong. He said that a ghost canoe had been seen and that everyone reckoned a great disaster was going to happen. I was shocked to hear this but I still cleaned my house as I normally would. I had two days to get settled in then I had to start work. I started to make my bed when I heard someone call my name. I went out and a little girl was sitting there. She had fallen over and got her foot stuck and needed my help in getting out. I started talking to her and asked her why everyone was worried. She said we were all going to die. I got her foot out and she went home.

That night I was asleep when I was woken up by a big bang. I rushed outside with the ground shaking and saw the mountain blow up. Stones were falling on my head and a great big fireball swept over the top of my hut. I screamed as my hut caught alight. I ran and fell over and pulled myself up. I was crying as stones hit my head .More fireballs flew over I saw a tree hit the ground and I ran. I ran to the next hut but it was on fire, I saw the hotel lights. It was really close but my feet were sticking in the mud. It took ages to get them free. I ran to a spot under some trees. My face was all cut and bleeding. Something whacked into my head and I fell to the ground. I was nearly unconscious. The stones were still hitting me and I could barely breathe. I wiped the mud off my face and crawled under the trees. As I hid I heard a whimper. I looked around and saw a shape. Suddenly I realised it was the little girl I had helped that morning. Her face had a big cut and she was crying. I picked the girl up and ran. Suddenly I saw a light and I knew it was guide Sophia’s house. I could just see people going inside.
I yelled in the girls ear and went inside the hut. I sat down and a lady came up . She was the girls Mum and took the girl away.

Later I found out that the girls name was Sophie and she was alright. I was given some stuff for my cuts. Just when a man went to rake stones of the roof I realised I was sitting on a boot. That’s why I was so uncomfortable. Then everyone came in from Mcraes Hotel. I saw two little girls come in. I went to sleep for a long time. I was awoken by bread being pushed at me. The stones were still falling but the fireballs had eased off. I needed to leave. My Mum had be going to move here that day and I knew she would be coming to look for me. I stood up and went to the door. I went out and heard a horse neighing. I went towards the noise with stones hitting my head. It was a big horse. It’s ankles were covered in mud and it was in pain as the stones hit it. I managed to get out. The stones suddenly eased off. So I decided I would go and look for my Mum. I heard someone calling me. I rode towards the noise. It was my mother. We decided that we would ride back to Rotorua together. We stayed at Mum’s house that night and had a good ong bath. In the morning after a good long sleep we heard people coming in from Tarawera. The eruption was over.