Surf's Up!

This weekend, I decided to try my luck at surfing with Surf Camp Australia. On Friday night, we all piled into a bus and headed to the South Coast of Australia to a town called Gerringong. The place we stayed was not so much a "beachside cabin" as much as a lakeside shack, but we made do. I figured the first step in becoming a surfer was to learn to rough it and go with the flow.

They woke us up at 7 am Saturday morning and we were disappointed to find that it was pouring rain. After a quick breakfast, we all reluctantly pulled on cold, damp wetsuits (also known as "wetties") which were rather unpleasant.

Our instructors led us down the road to Seven Mile Beach, where they distributed surf boards and split everyone into groups. Mitch, my instructor, gave us some quick tips on land and we were in the water in no time. The wind and rain on the beach was similar to that of a cyclone and made it difficult to control the board in the water or even keep myself standing upright on two feet! I was determined to learn though, and I tried to feed off of that motivation in the water.

All the energy and frustration was finally worth it when I stood up on the board for the first time. It was truly a rush that i'll never forget. I rode a few waves and suddenly the 2-hour lesson was over. We headed back to camp for lunch and went back out to the beach for another 2-hour lesson. By this point, I was exhausted, but tried to make the time in the water worthwhile.

I slept like a baby that night.

The next morning, we had our last lesson. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were the same as the day before. We enjoyed the rest of the time in the water before heading back to camp, where we watched a video of compiled surfing clips from the weekend. I was disappointed to find that the photographers didn't catch any pictures of me actually standing on the board, but they did manage to get a few of me anyways. I give surfers so much credit -- my arms are going to feel like jelly for days and I have a couple very dark bruises on my hips from carrying the board against my sides.

They drove us back to Sydney that afternoon. As luck would have it, the sun came out just as we were leaving and beamed on a gorgeous blue ocean. There was not a cloud in the sky. I'm still bitter about it.

It's great to be back - I was a little worried I wouldn't miss it, but for the first time, I was homesick for Sydney.