As you know I am terrified of water, I don’t like being in it or the things in it. Surfing is the one thing I said I would absolutely not do. Well this weekend I claim temporary insanity... I got talked into surf camp! Friday night we traveled into Sydney to meet up with the bus that would take us 3 hours up the coast to Seal Rock where we would experience the intensity of surfing. We were greeted by 2 tan, beach blonde boys on a shabby old bus packed with other brave people. We cranked up the tunes and partied all the way there!
Soon I realize that there is nothing insight but trees and dirt roads, we have arrived. First thing I notice when I get off the bus is how many freaking stars there were! Never in my life have I seen so many and there were "heaps" of shooting stars! Amazing. Surf Camp consists of a cabana that is made up by a bar, patio and, pool. All exposed to the elements, no need for doors here, but bug spray was a must! I got eaten alive! We partied way into the night meeting all the other wanna-be surfers and all the surf instructors. Then it was announced that we had to be up at 7:30 for breakfast (aka brekky no joke) so we all dispersed to our cabin full of bunk beds with the blankets we rented for 5 dollars...good thing I was so tired or I wouldn’t have slept in fear of bug attack!
Up at 7:30 and ready for brekky...which was cereal that tasted like cardboard yumm! then we split up into groups and met our instructors. Naturally our group was the coolest and we had the hottest instructors :) We were nicked named team tough crowd because we weren’t laughing at any of their jokes because most were too hung over or asleep on the bus on the way to our surfing beach. When get to our beach, (Booti Booti Beach) we get our surf boards and carried them down to the water. This was the most un fun part of the trip because the board was double my size heavy and awkward to carry. We practically had the beach to ourselves and it was totally secluded from everything. We had some on the beach instruction of how to catch waves. We then headed out and just attempted to catch waves without trying to stand up, baby steps. I was so proud of myself I just walked right into that water like I do it all the time and didn’t even think about how scared I was. While learning how to catch waves I took many nose dives into the sand. The surfer term for falling is "eating shit" and that’s what I wanted to title this post, because thats basically what I did all weekend, but I know Dad wouldn’t like it. Later we attempted standing up and this was difficult let me tell you! I probably drank half of the ocean and got sand in every where possible and got nailed by my board about a dozen times. Wow this is fun! But finally I got the hang of it and got up! now these waves were nothing to write home about, but I was proud it was a good start until my surf instructor Donny told me that his three year old daughter stood up on her surf board when she was 2! We spent the whole day at the beach from 9 am to 4pm we had a small picnic in the shade but that was the only shade of the day. Dont worry mom we applied ALOT of sunscreen
We repeated this the next day after another long night of fun with the instructors and team tough crowd. This day I actually paddled out past the breaking waves, which was insanely difficult because they kept crashing on me! But when I got out there with the help of an instruct and with a little push I felt myself rise up on a huge wave and down the big slope, I dont even really know what happened because it was so fast but I stood up and rode down the wave and then it cras
hed on me and I whipped out hardcore!! and that was my last wave, but it was a successful one!
We said our goodbyes to our instructors that we all developed massive crushes on and got on the bus for the three hour trip home. Unlike the trip there the bus was completely silent. Everyone was passed out and exhausted for one of the best experiences of our lives! I didnt leave camp with out any souvenirs to remember it by. And they are, 1) A large scrape on the inside of my arm thanks to the coarse surfboard 2) A sweet wetsuit tan and board burns on both knees 3) a mini sharkbite ( not really but it looks like it) on my finger that is now looking very gruesome 4) sunburnt feet 5) and heaps of sand and dried saltwater (because we didn’t shower all weekend...fresh)
And to conclude I just thought it would be fun to let you in on some surf lingo...a wetsuit is called a "wettey" a rashgaurd is called a "rashey" your leg rope is called a "leggey" sunglasses are called "sunnys" and of course breakfast "brekky"
Sorry this is so long but it was an action packed weekend and it was the most fun I have had to date in Australia!
Soon I realize that there is nothing insight but trees and dirt roads, we have arrived. First thing I notice when I get off the bus is how many freaking stars there were! Never in my life have I seen so many and there were "heaps" of shooting stars! Amazing. Surf Camp consists of a cabana that is made up by a bar, patio and, pool. All exposed to the elements, no need for doors here, but bug spray was a must! I got eaten alive! We partied way into the night meeting all the other wanna-be surfers and all the surf instructors. Then it was announced that we had to be up at 7:30 for breakfast (aka brekky no joke) so we all dispersed to our cabin full of bunk beds with the blankets we rented for 5 dollars...good thing I was so tired or I wouldn’t have slept in fear of bug attack!Up at 7:30 and ready for brekky...which was cereal that tasted like cardboard yumm! then we split up into groups and met our instructors. Naturally our group was the coolest and we had the hottest instructors :) We were nicked named team tough crowd because we weren’t laughing at any of their jokes because most were too hung over or asleep on the bus on the way to our surfing beach. When get to our beach, (Booti Booti Beach) we get our surf boards and carried them down to the water. This was the most un fun part of the trip because the board was double my size heavy and awkward to carry. We practically had the beach to ourselves and it was totally secluded from everything. We had some on the beach instruction of how to catch waves. We then headed out and just attempted to catch waves without trying to stand up, baby steps. I was so proud of myself I just walked right into that water like I do it all the time and didn’t even think about how scared I was. While learning how to catch waves I took many nose dives into the sand. The surfer term for falling is "eating shit" and that’s what I wanted to title this post, because thats basically what I did all weekend, but I know Dad wouldn’t like it. Later we attempted standing up and this was difficult let me tell you! I probably drank half of the ocean and got sand in every where possible and got nailed by my board about a dozen times. Wow this is fun! But finally I got the hang of it and got up! now these waves were nothing to write home about, but I was proud it was a good start until my surf instructor Donny told me that his three year old daughter stood up on her surf board when she was 2! We spent the whole day at the beach from 9 am to 4pm we had a small picnic in the shade but that was the only shade of the day. Dont worry mom we applied ALOT of sunscreen
We repeated this the next day after another long night of fun with the instructors and team tough crowd. This day I actually paddled out past the breaking waves, which was insanely difficult because they kept crashing on me! But when I got out there with the help of an instruct and with a little push I felt myself rise up on a huge wave and down the big slope, I dont even really know what happened because it was so fast but I stood up and rode down the wave and then it cras
hed on me and I whipped out hardcore!! and that was my last wave, but it was a successful one!We said our goodbyes to our instructors that we all developed massive crushes on and got on the bus for the three hour trip home. Unlike the trip there the bus was completely silent. Everyone was passed out and exhausted for one of the best experiences of our lives! I didnt leave camp with out any souvenirs to remember it by. And they are, 1) A large scrape on the inside of my arm thanks to the coarse surfboard 2) A sweet wetsuit tan and board burns on both knees 3) a mini sharkbite ( not really but it looks like it) on my finger that is now looking very gruesome 4) sunburnt feet 5) and heaps of sand and dried saltwater (because we didn’t shower all weekend...fresh)
And to conclude I just thought it would be fun to let you in on some surf lingo...a wetsuit is called a "wettey" a rashgaurd is called a "rashey" your leg rope is called a "leggey" sunglasses are called "sunnys" and of course breakfast "brekky"
Sorry this is so long but it was an action packed weekend and it was the most fun I have had to date in Australia!
looks like such an amazing adventure in paradise! glad you are back safely and that you managed so well on the board. great photos too. love you, sweets! xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteHi MoMo,
ReplyDeleteI read your Mum's blog and I live in Sydney. I am loving reading about your adventures. You are making the most of what we aussies take for granted.
I hope you keep writing about your time here in Oz.
(I laughed when you were writing about how we shorten the names of everything- sometimes we forget that we do it)
Have a happy day!
Jenni