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Published: August 12th 2014
Just checked my blogs and realised that I didn't post one AFTER my surf lesson!
Well dudes, I can tell you that my lesson was amazing and it turns out that, rather surprisingly, I am an excellent surfer!!! It was such a great day and loads of fun, even though it was physically pretty tiring. It started off badly as the instructor didn't show up and so the lady in the surf school had a major freak out - she said it had never happened to her, in 10yrs, and she was literally shaking with panic! Anyway, she offered me a full refund and a free lesson the next day but I was leaving that night so I couldn't take that, so she rang her good friend and asked him to squeeze me into his class with a different school... That was a bit worrying as I had chosen her school based on reviews and I had no idea who the other bloke was, but it turned out to be cool.
We got driven to the beach, had a quick check that we could all swim and then donned wet suits and headed to the sand. We had a safety talk and found out about the directing of the waves, where the rips were and what to do if we got stuck in one (answer = just float on it until it drops you off, then swim parallel to the shore and come back in when you find the edge of it!!). Then we spent 20mins practising how to stand up (which I thought was a bit pointless as it was our first lesson) and went into the sea. Then we had to wade out with our boards (which was bloody hard as the waves were quite strong), turn around to face the beach, then the instructors hold the board straight whilst you jump on (lying face down), they tell you which wave is best for you and then basically shout 'banana'! Which is a yoga-style move that gets you up onto your feet in 4 steps (which we had practised on the beach with Gaz yelling 'no, too fast, again, again' like Mr Miyagee)...and it worked! I stood up straight away and glided in to the beach! It was so easy!!! Some turns were better than others, or lasted longer, but I basically just kept going back out to the instructors, getting back on the board and surfing back in to the beach!
The instructor said I was doing a great job, just needed to be less rigid when I stood up, so I tried that for a few more turns and managed to stay up for longer, and it was great fun! We were out there for about 3 hours and I have the bruises and rash to prove it, but I was so impressed with the whole thing. I can't believe I stood up every time! Most people did as well, there were just a few less flexible people that found it harder, but overall everyone was pretty good!
Right, now I'm getting late so I better go - I'm thinking of taking up surfing professionally though!
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Papa
non-member comment
Surfing in Nottingham
Just getting the hang of this new fangled travelboggy thing! Sounds like you are having a fantastic time in the Antipodes. Could have done with your newly acquired surfing skills on Friday night when Mum and I, Uncle Paul and Lisa were trapped in Fothergills with rising torrents cascading passed the door and down towards Castle Boulevard!! Have fun.