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Published: January 11th 2009
2nd January 2008 - SURF SCHOOL BEGINS
I didn't sleep too well despite being exhausted. I think I was scared that my alarm wouldn't go off so i'm sure I woke up at least every half hour. I got out of bed at about 5.45....way too early to be up and about!!! I showered, dressed, packed the rest of my stuff and made my way to Kings Cross Station where I caught a train to Central Station. So hot and humid even at 6am and carrying the bag wasn't fun........it's times like this that I miss the van!!!
Once at Central Station I wandered around trying to find the pick up point. After half an hour I still had not found it so I phoned the surf camp who explained exactly where I needed to be....woo hoo......I made it on time. There were a few others waiting when I got there and the bus arrived not long after. Hannah - one of the instructors - gave us a brief chat about what would happen before setting off to surf camp. I was excited and nervous. Some people had brought their own boards with them and that said to me they
could surf!! I hoped I would pick it up quickly!! The bus journey was fairly long and I slept for some of it as well as chatting to the other campers. When I get home I am going to trace my family tree because once again I was asked if I was Swedish by around 9 people and if I was Danish by around 3....including Danish people!! The day someone asks if I'm from England I am going to buy them a drink!!
Once at camp we were shown our cabin. Basically 22 beds crammed into one wooden building with one shower and toilet.....nice!!! The water was all brown too as we were in the middle of no-where....I so couldn't wait to get washed in it later!! I grabbed a bed, said hi to people I hadn't met yet, grabbed my stuff for the beach that afternoon and went to the pool area for lunch. Lunch was edible and thats about it. Processed meats, bread and something that resembled egg mayonaise. I prayed the rest of the meals would be better! We were then spilt randomly into 2 groups, put on different buses and taken to our first surf
lesson.
Our first lesson was at Elizabeth Beach. Not very busy and so we had plenty of room to learn. Our instructors were Harley and Reece for that afternoon. So funny as they all speak in surfer language and I felt as if I was in Finding Nemo with the turtles........'totally dude' 'awesome' 'sweet as dude' 'it's sick ay'!!! Made me laugh!! We had a lesson on land and then headed to the water for a practice. It was 'sweet as dude' and I really got into it. I managed to stand up on my board a few times which was good for the first lesson but I did get a few painful friction burns from the board. Worth it though!! 2 hours later we got dried off and headed back to the bus and set off back to camp, calling at the shop for snacks on the way.
Back at camp I didn't hang around.....first in the shower!! One has to look after ones self in these situations. Not a bad shower either if you ignored the brown colour of the water...hot and powerful!! Once ready we went back to the pool area, had tea, had some
drinks and played a few games including 'I have never never kissed a pig.' Embarassing game especially when not drunk and most people ended up shamefaced!! I didn't come off too badly compared to most thankfully!! Following the game it was more drinking, chatting and dancing. I went easy as I wanted to do well on the water tomorrow so after an hour or so I took myself to bed. It had been a good day!
3rd January 2008 - MORE SURF, MORE FOOD & MORE DRINK
We were woken up at around 8am this morning. A few people had bad heads but I felt ok. We got our stuff for the beach and then headed to breakfast....the food is slowly getting better as the meals go on. Everyone is so laid back at surf camp yet on the go all the time if that makes sense. So much for me needing some recovery time after christmas and new year!
Our bus was fuller today as some self-drive people joined us. All Aussies so the phrases and surfer lingo was becomeing even more prominent!! I even started saying some of the phrases myself without thinking!! No Harly today
but instead we had Ecca, James and Reece again.....all cool enough!! The sky was grey and it was pretty windy. We checked out a beach in Pacific Palms but the conditions were too tough for beginners so we went back to Elizabeth Bay. We had another lesson on land and then took to the water. The waves were pretty big and it was tough but I managed to stand again and got up more times than not. The instructors gave loads of encouragement when you rode a wave in and the feeling was awesome.
We stopped for lunch - sandwiches toasted on a bbq (nice) and had a rest. Much needed as my arms were killing and my friction burn on my left elbow didn't look too hot!! Following lunch we headed back to the water. I had a good go even though the waves were massive and the sea was rough and cold. Eventually I turned blue and was made to get out of the water and get warm. Slowly but surely, others followed and we were all dry and back on the bus by 4pm. We called at the shops on the way home where I finally
warmed through with the help of a hot chocolate and then we stopped at the pub as well for a couple before heading back to camp.
Big party night on camp tonight. Split into teams according to your surf bus and each person paid $20 for unlimited beer and sangria jugs. Not too bad. We had a bbq for tea which was very tasty and then the game commenced! I was nominated as our teams female representative. The game was a little like musical chairs...we were given an instruction to get something and as we went to get it one chair was removed so the last person back was out. I made it through teh first couple of rounds easily despite my teammate failing. On the third round we had to go fetch a cup of pool water. We all got to the pool at a similiar time and I looked to be losing....oh dear!! My competitive edge came out and I saw my opportunity and pushed the girl from another team into the pool before strolling back to take my seat!! She would have done the same though...right?!!! I failed at the 5th round when none of the
males on my team were quick enough to get their underwear to me. I didn't feel bad at being out as it was out of my hands. Men......never fail to let you down!!!
After the game more jugs were passed around and more drinking and dancing was done. Turned a little seedy though with instructors and surf camp helpers picking girls out and expecting them to fall at their feet. They got short shrift from me though and I had none of it. Quite funny to watch really especially when they lied about their age....one guy claimed to be 32 but looked older than my dad!!! I know the sun ages you a little but if it ages you that much then i'm Mother Theresa!! I danced some more before heading to bed on my own....unlike 90% of the others the next morning, I would not wake up shamefaced!!!
4th January 2008 - MORE SURFING & WAY WAY FOREST LODGE
Up at 8am this morning again. I had slept well apart from falling out of my top bunk in the middle of the night and thinking I had broken my pelvis!!! Surely they should have bars on...make them
child proof and all!! It hurt and I was a bit stiff when I woke but hey thats rock and roll...or should I say surf camp!! After the rounds of gossip were over and breakfast was had we all headed out on the bus to the next surf stop. We were sleeping at a different place that night further up the coast so we had to take all our stuff with us.
Both groups merged now and Dylan (the 32 year old pensioner), Harley and Hannah came with us on the bus. We stopped at Crowdy Beach for the day and Dylan gave us another lesson on the land about turning on the wave and catching unbroken waves. This was the first lesson he had taught for our group and he was by far the best teacher...learnt a lot!! I did well on the water again and managed to catch an unbroken wave or two despite not quite getting the hang of turning. It was good fun and by lunch time I was starving and ready for the sandwiches up on the grassy bank. Following lunch the afternoon contained another land lesson about ocean knowledge and some more surfing.
I was very tired and didn't surf all afternoon as my friction burn on my arm was beginning to weep and get worse!! I did manage to get some good wetsuit tan lines though.....so attractive!!!
Once the surfing day was over we got back on the bus and headed to Way Way Forest Lodge calling at a pub on the way for Pizza and a few drinks. I stook to soft drinks today.......too much rubbish had been put into my body over the past few weeks. Sure I had put on about a stone at surf camp with all the drinking and eating!! We also played 'spot the bogan' which was like 'spot the chav' which was good fun!! Following the pub we made it the rest of the way to Way Way Forest Lodge located in the spider capital of Australia. We arrived in the dark and although the rooms were ok (bunks had saftey bars on), the showers were disgusting!!! Free choice night tonight..some stayed out and drank but I went to bed...so so tired!! Not sure how the instructors do it...drink, surf, drink, surf, drink, surf...and still stay so lively!! They are better people than i
am thats for sure!!!
5th January 2008 - GOODBYE SURF CAMP!!
Once again we were woken up early, got our stuff together, had breakfast and headed out on the bus towards Byron Bay. We stopped at a beach for the morning along the way for our final surf lesson. I cut my finger open on an Oyster shell when we paddled our boards down the river to get to the beach. It hurt!! The surf was really good and I was just starting to grasp the turning as well as catching a couple more unbroken waves. Shame it was our last lesson as I just felt that I was getting to grips with it but also glad it was the last lesson as I needed some relaxation time.
Following the morning surfing we had fajitas for lunch cooked by Hannah on the bbq and then headed back on the bus for a 3 hour drive to Byron Bay. I slept for most of it!! Once in Byron Bay we were given a tour of the town and then dropped off at our hostels. really good as the surf school guarentee hostel places for each person so I was
happy in the knowledge that I had accommodation for 4 nights in Byron Bay until I met up with Nat again. It looked like a nice touristy town and I was looking forward to exploring it!!
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