Australia - Spot X - Time to test my skills on a surf board and receive my introduction to the surfer lifestyle!


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Oceania » Australia » New South Wales
February 28th 2012
Published: March 6th 2012
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Australia – Spot X - Time to test my skills on a surf board and receive my introduction to the surfer lifestyle!

One of the main activities I was very keen to get involved with whilst in Oz was surfing so I booked myself into a surf camp called Mojo's at a secluded place called Spot X located on the East coast. On arrival it was immediately clear to see you needed to be a pretty cool surf dude or dudette to work here, needless to say I blended in a treat. After a quick tour of the camp site myself, Steffi and Anna (the two girls on my bus) were shown our accommodation for the next two nights, I think it's fair to say none of us were expecting what was presented to us, a Tipi! I really was getting involved with this new age life style, be prepared for a photo of me with dreadlocks soon if this carry’s on!

In all fairness the Tipi was pretty comfortable complete with nice comfy beds and so I was later informed they apparently smelt a lot better than the other option which was a converted steel shipping container so I felt pretty happy with my new sleeping arrangements and if I dare say so a little bit smug.

No sooner had I arrived it was time for dinner, the food here was great and seemed endless, over the next two days it felt like I was eating like a king which was a welcome relieve because throughout Australia so far I’ve felt like I’ve been eating like a student, so the surf camp was ticking a lot of boxes for me and I hadn't even entered the sea yet!

I guess the bad news had to come at some point and this is when I realised that surfers are pretty dedicated to catching good waves. We were informed by our less than pleased instructor that our first lesson would be at 7am the following morning, do these people not realise I'm on holiday. Because of this we all crashed quite early after dinner and a few glasses of goon (boxed wine) to ensure we could get up for breakfast at 6am and make it on time for our brief intro to the equipment before giving it a go.

Morning arrived and we all congregated at the surf training area, we went through a few basics, got kitted out with a board and headed down to the beach. To me the waves seemed pretty big, something similar to the perfect storm, but I was later informed the conditions for good surfers were pretty average, but this suited us beginners just fine. The instruction offered was pretty limited it was more a case of get out there and give it a go, so I duly obliged and hit the surf. It was great fun but so tiring, after about an hour of repeated attempts and endless wipe-outs I finally got it and was up on the board, it was a great feeling.

Now I’m not blaming the instructors here because I’m sure any male would do the same thing but it would have been nice if from time to time they actually gave the guys a bit of instruction to and not spend 100% of their time with the hottest girls in the group, they had the subtlety of a house brick but like I said I couldn’t really blame them, I guess it’s a perk of the job! By the end of the two hour lesson I was up and riding, not all that glamorously but it was a good start and it was now time to head back to the camp, get some additional sleep and work out what to do for the rest of the day.

The rest of the day was simple, we hired boards and went back out there, I think I might have over done it because by the end of the day I was suffering with board rash on my knees, arms and chest and it can be pretty uncomfortable I can tell you. With a full days surfing complete we had a good feast in the evening and then the drinking games commenced, after numerous games of shit head and kings we were all feeling pretty wasted and ready for bed to do it all again the following morning but thankfully at a more sociable hour of 9am.

The surf the next day was pretty poor and so were all of our heads, it was somewhat of a more relaxed mornings surfing with most people either hung over or aching badly from the day before. I was sitting midway between each camp but either way it was not as productive as the first mornings surfing, lesson learnt!

The setting at Spot X was beautiful and the surf camp was great fun, I met so many cool people there from all warps of life and the time simply flew by. I could have easily spent another couple of days here messing around in the surf and kicking back with the surf crowd. I think it’s fair to say the surfing lifestyle overall is not for me but I did love surfing all the same and I’m looking forward to doing plenty more of it as I work my way up the coast providing the weather is good. I’ve heard horrible reports of severe floods as you head up the coast, I hope these are just rumours because I hoped I had left all that behind me in Bangkok. Fingers crossed for my next destination which will be Byron Bay one of Oz’s most famous surfers retreats.

Until then, members of the surf school you are dismissed!!


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