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Published: October 29th 2007
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G’day everyone (don’t worry, I haven’t established some false-Aussie identity or anything)!
Here is the first third of my mid-semester break, hope you like it!
Conception Day
Break didn’t start out as exactly as I’d planned, which was a great thing. First off, Macquarie showed its true colours by giving something BACK to the students - for a change. With five stages hosting dozens of top (Aussie) hip-hop, rock, and techno groups; tons of novelties like bull-riding, bumper cars, and giant slides; a dozen bars serving up $3 dollar pints; ‘Conception Day’ turned out to be the best day I've had at Macquarie! Starting at 10am and going until around 9pm, campus was, for the first time, rampant with Aussie’s ready to party. The MUV was lively at around 8am with a jumping castle, free food, T-shirts, and loud music. My friend Alison - who I mentioned in previous blogs - and I ventured to the festivities to greet Milo, our Australian friend, who introduced us to plenty of other Aussies. We had fun (even when a surprise thunderstorm drove everyone inside for a little while) and ‘kicked on’ all afternoon.
(Fun Fact: I found out the reason
they call it ‘Conception Day’ is because the birthday of Captain Macquarie (one of the country’s founding fathers) is during their summer break. In order to pay homage to their title, the school came of with the day he was conceived as a day worth celebrating...so backwards...!!!!).
Exhausted earlier than we intended, we left the 10,000+ person event and rested up for a few hours, eating meat-pies and skulling Redbull. While Alison and Milo retreated to their beds for an early night, good old Steve Ellem had other plans in store for me....
Picking me up in his stylish Holden Ute (which is like an El Camino in the states), we rode to his buddy’s place where I was greeted warmly by his circle of friend’s that collectively adopted me as the ‘funny American.’ I guess my sense of humour fairs well out here...! We landed in a nearby pub and celebrated one of Steve’s buddy’s birthdays with shots all around (Australian Birthday Cake). As fun as it was, I couldn’t wait to get some rest!
Break seemed so abstract and far-off until my friend, Sean, and I realized we’d only left a week
to prepare for two (or three, but who's counting?) weeks away from school. Since he already knew how to surf, I decided that I’d follow suit and finally get on a board. I did a little research and came up with Surfaris, the only surf company that didn’t seem like a total rip-off from its advertisements. Plus, they offered surfing in remote places, camping, campfires...and it would take six days. Perfect, we thought, then the rest of break would just fall into place.
Steve dropped me off at the MUV for what would end up being my last night there for 3 weeks...
Surfaris
Sean and I took a six-hour train to a dilapidated town called Kempsey - after several cruel encounters with public transportation that I’d rather not get into - and got picked up by a 4x4 towing a massive blue-boxed trailer from the Surfaris company. Our driver, Kyle, who epitomized the ‘surfer style’ with his board shorts and long unkempt hair, introduced us to the seven other people on board. We drove along a dirt road for about an hour until we got to “Plomber Point” - a very remote national park
south of Coffs Harbour along the Pacific.
The sun was starting to set, so Kyle gave us instruction to set up camp, change into wet suits, and get in to the water. That’s it? I thought. I didn’t even know how to surf! I grabbed a 10 ft board, picked out a wet suit and jumped in the water, not having any clue as to what was going on! The sunset was beautiful though - as it would turn out to be every night we were there - and getting up on the board was a lot easier than I thought it would be!
Being in such a remote part of the world was easier than I thought it would be, too. Every morning we would go surfing (in fact, on our second day in the water, a school of dolphins came about 20 feet from our boards!), then we would eat a big meal, surf again in the afternoon, take cold outdoor showers to rinse the salt out of our hair, and eat another huge and delicious meal before relaxing by the campfire, telling stories, and ultimately retiring to our tents. Since we were so far removed
from civilization, it didn’t matter much how we looked, just how we surfed.
The group got larger and better when another busload showed up on our second day. Planko, one of Surfaris’ 45 year-old founders, made himself ever-present with his 2-cent humour and endless knowledge of surf history. He took a particular liking to the girls, so his instruction was more for them, which was fine by me seeing as my instructors were the guys I’d gotten to know better and better around each campfire.
Hadleigh, a 35-year old physiotherapist had an endless sense of humour, ghost stories, and an unbelievable history. Originally from the UK, he currently lives and studies in Amsterdam (or “Amsterdamage” as he put it), and even though he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or M.S., a few years ago, he vacations annually with Surfaris in search of a ‘perfect wave.’ Another interesting and boisterous guy I met was Marcus, an Englishman with a smile a mile-wide and the attitude to match. He’s a self-employed ship deliveryman who deals with multi-million dollar ship transfers anywhere between Africa and England. He built his own sailboat and has won several races in the English Channel
with it...hung over (as he jokingly liked to emphasize).
Ripe with interesting people, great food, perfect beaches and all the time in the world, this was by far one of the best trips I’ve been on in my life. It was a great feeling knowing that the only thing I had to do each day was get better at surfing - nothing else.
When the group decided to move North along the coast to another national park, we were allowed about an hour in a nearby mall to load up on ‘provisions.’ It was so peculiar to return to civilization and not just notice, but FEEL the contrast against average people. Our showers were taken while we surfed in the Pacific, and we didn’t have much use for more than one or two pairs
of shorts - let alone a wardrobe. The fluorescent mall lighting made us dread civility, so it was more of a godsend for us to return to the wild and sit around some great campfires - not to mention surf.
We didn’t see any sharks (thankfully), but we did see dolphins (like I said, they swam right up to us!), whales, stingrays, brown snakes (one of the most poisonous snakes in the world!), and huge lizards! Sleeping in tents and sleeping bags was an excellent alternative to the cushy college lifestyle....
After those six days were up, we were dropped off in the famous ‘Byron Bay’ at a unique hostel called “The Arts Factory.” Originally started by a bunch of free-loving hippies in the sixties, beds were situated anywhere from a hollowed out double deckered bus, tipee, hammock, or just regular old bunk rooms!
Well, I’m tired now so I will write more on that next time!!
-Colin In Oz
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