20 years ago

Today Mrs C and I went to Weston super Mare for a day out. It was foggy with very little wind. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It was very calm with lots of families enjoying Boxing Day.

20 years ago at around 9:30 all was not calm.

For some reason we decided to visit another town further down the coast in Sri Lanka rather than going swimming. We were waiting for our taxi when our hotel was engulfed by the sea due to the Tsunami.

For the next couple of days it was a nightmare. I took no photos and destroyed a video I had taken when the sea rushed in.

My extras over the last couple of days has left me to reflect on memories of events long past. The image of the train was taken a few days before Christmas. On Boxing Day a train was travelling through Hikkaduwa at the same time as the tsunami struck and around 1800 people perished.

The hotel next to ours was destroyed. We met up with two English Teachers ,who were staying there, as we fled inland. One of them taught my niece.

After a couple of days my son was able to commandeer a lift for us back to Colombo Airport. The journey along the coast was horrible. So much devastation.

So today was a good day and the sea was not cruel and we felt safe.