The Thunder Storm

The first night on Pom Pom Island, everything seemed to be alright. However that is until we decided to hit the sack. Previously during the  day we had set up three tents and put a giant blue canvas over all.   The other 2 tents were pitched but we wanted to go snorkelling so we left the canvas till later.  Well with the excitment of the day, later never happened so Steve's tent and Jackie and Emily's tent were not protected by the giant canvas. This meant that they were more vulnerable to rain, should it occur. Since we weren't in monsoon season though, we didn't think that, that would be a problem. Little did we know, not finishing the tent construction was a big mistake...

The damp towels drying on the giant canvas which
covered all the tents.

In the middle of our slumber - around 2am - the heavens opened, leading to a tremendous downpour of rain onto our tents. Wind, thunder and lightning worked together to create one of the scariest nights of our lives. The canvas on top of 3 of our tents soared into the air - separating our tents and itself by 6 feet. Water gushed through the open mosquito nets, forcing those awake to get up and close the windows; fighting against the moving sides of the tent. During this commotion, the canvas-less tent belonging to Jackie and Emily was drowning in water; the very target of mother nature's rage. The tent looked like it was going to take off at any moment with the girls inside, regardless of the fact that Steve had pinned down the tent with extra pegs. The opening of the tent was flapping wet against the girls, leaving them trapped inside with no way out. Whilst Emily was really upset and panicking, Jackie was soothing herself with the help of her ipod, constantly telling Emily "chin up"; hiding her own fear.

Just in time, Steve decided to walk to the girls' tent and get them out before collapsing it. With people awake, the girls were taken in to two of the other tents with open arms. The only funny part, arguably, was Emily shouting "I HAVE NO PANTS ON!" whilst frantically running through the rain in front of Steve. Ironically, it wasn't because she couldn't find anything to wear down below - she had a sarong in her hand. Silly girl.

The next morning I awoke to find 8 other faces staring back at me from outside the tent. "Oh look, Louise is FINALLY awake!" The word 'finally' didn't refer to the fact that I had overslept or slept for a long period of time, but to the fact that I was awake for the first time since the night before. I had slept through one of the worst torrential rainstorms ever seen on the island, and still managed to sleep like a baby :)
 Although it seemed exciting, the 3 tents under the canvas remained dry and while J & Em tent looked like a disaster zone, very little was actually wet underneath the canvas.

An hours work in the sunshine and all the tents were pitched under the giant canvas and ready for anything. 

By: Louise Arild, ft. Naomi Hudson

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