We arrived at Surf camp at 6:30pm on Sunday night (just north of Coff's Harbour). The drive was surprisingly straightforward, strictly on the freeway for the
most part. They had dinner ready for us, and a warm campfire (not to mention beds in a cabin that had a heater!) We spent that evening trying our best to stay awake past 9:30 pm, meeting people around the campfire. We roomed with Emma and Gary from Scotland, who had been travelling together for nine months already, and were going for another four or so. Most others were European or British, and travelling whimsically from place to place with no solid plans for tomorrow or when they were going to go home. What a crowd!
The crew at surf camp were SO friendly, and our instructor was fabulous. We were pretty much labelled as the fun Canadian girls who shouted a lot on the waves whenever we caught one. Kaurie was up on her first try! Surfing is so much easier than it looks - but still quite frustrating while fascinating too. There's a lot of science involved; to the places on the beach where you choose to surf, what waves to catch, and when to stand up. We were up at 6 am on in the water practically by 7:30 in the morning, and surfed for a couple of hours. In the afternoon we were on the water around two until no later than four. It is quite tiring when you don't know all the tricks to avoid those dumping waves that send you tumbling, and we didn't learn that until the last day when our arms were already in agony from the paddling.
We were sad to leave surf camp not only because of the wonderful people but also warm beds and meals made for us! We set off on the road by 4pm on the sixth of May and made our way for three hours to Byron Bay.
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