18 Mar 2025
A small group of intrepid Moruya High students stared down the explosion of Mount Vesuvius and returned home unscathed. Okay...we went to the National Museum in Canberra learnt a few things, took some snaps, did lunch and came home.
Our team was made up of Senior Ancient History students and a small group of 10 History LEAP students. Expedition leaders were Mr Rivers and bus captain Mr Northey.
The Moruya expedition steered the bus up the winding paths of the Kings Highway in the early morning, overcoming five roadwork stops to be met by our guide.
With packs secured we parted the sliding exhibition doors to be transported back to 79 AD on the Vesuvian plain of Italy.
There were artefacts like fossilised bread from the day of the eruption, household items like makeup jars and gambling dice that were left in the city on the day Vesuvius engulfed the land in pumice, ash and a 300 degrees seething poisonous pyroclastic flow.
Trapped on the day, were animals and people. Replica plaster casts of those bodies frozen in time appeared to be the highlight of the exhibit and then it happened.
On the walls a tranquil scene of the city played out with shadowy figures from the past and present walking the streetscape. A rubble could be heard and the silent mountain projected on the wall burble with smoke. The rumbling grew and the smoke turned to ash and pumice hailing down turning the tranquility of daylight into the chaos of darkness. And whoosh...the superheated earth and rock flowed down the mountain and swallowed the city. We survived at least three such catastrophic events before we exited through a gift shop.
Having thanked our guide and collected our bags we proceeded to our next adventure; lunch in a busy Canberra food court.
All the students were exceptionally mature with the Year 12 Ancient History students winning a coffee cup reward of solving the incorrectly displayed artefact. They were respectful and contained their scathing criticism of museum curators for the indignant conversation on the bus ride home. They also got to see up close some of the items they are studying for their HSC and fully appreciate the gift this site is for archaeologists and historians.
