My body hates me after spending the weekend at Seven Mile Beach Gerroa with Surf Camp, but it was one of the most fun experiences I've had so far. I'm still amazed at how the staff at Surf Camp got almost every single person to at least stand on the board.
September 18th, 2013
Okay, let's try this again. I got distracted after writing the first couple sentences of the post.
We left for Surf Camp on Friday night outside the Wake Up Hotel. First of all, it was a bit chilly outside, but we figured it was night time, so that was to be expected. Second, the bus was probably 45 minutes late. We were supposed to depart at 6:30pm and they told us around 7pm that the bus was in bad traffic and would be another 10 or so minutes. We were getting restless, but still excited for the weekend ahead! When the bus finally arrived, we hopped on and took off. About 45 minutes into the ride, we stopped in a small town to buy dinner. I got a cheeseburger and chips (fries) from the place. I have no idea what it was called, but they must have a deal with Surf Camp because over 70 people poured into an otherwise empty restaurant. The burger was pretty good, especially because I was starving, but the chips were DELICIOUS. They were freshly fried so they were still steaming hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside--yum! After we ate, we re-boarded the bus and were on our way.
I'm not really sure when we arrived at the parking lot near Surf Camp, but I want to say it was around 10pm. We got out of the bus and realized it was raining! It wasn't fun to walk to the actual camp while cold, wet, and in the dark, but we made it and duck for cover underneath their main congregation area. They gave us a brief orientation and we saw a large spider, which was terrifying. However, they did tell us, if we see a spider bigger than a 50-cent piece, they are harmless--good to know. After that fiasco, we divided up into who we wanted to stay with and were assigned rooms. I roomed with Denise, Kendrea, Kunchy, Mary Ellen, and Georgia. The room was simple; there were three bunk beds and a small heater, which barely warmed the room. We made our beds, went out to brush our teeth, then called it an early night.
The next morning (Saturday), my room was scheduled to have breakfast at 9 and start surfing around 11. Similarly to the night before, it was raining/misting and chilly. After breakfast, we donned our wet suits, which were damp, so I was even colder than I had been before. The group walked about 5 minutes to the beach, where the instructors were waiting for us. Each person grabbed a board and half the group (my half, of course) had to walk down the beach so there would be enough space for everyone to be in the ocean at the same time. The instructors introduced themselves and we learned that they are actually from California. They taught us how to catch a wave and just push up on the board. We went out in the ocean to try this a couple times and surprisingly, the water felt much warmer than the outside air. After a few minutes, we had to return to the beach and learn the different ways of standing up on the board. Once this lesson was done, off to the water we went!
I tried so many times to stand up on the board in that first lesson, but I just kept falling over and over. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. My arms started to feel like jelly from all the paddling and pushing up, that I could barely do those two things anymore, let alone stand on the board. Luckily, it was lunch time, so we walked the boards back to the entrance and went back to camp for lunch. After lunch, we put on the wet suits again, but this time in the hot showers so we wouldn't freeze, and headed back to the beach. This afternoon was pretty much for practicing what we learned in the morning. Of course, I still could not figure out what I was doing wrong and to top it off, the waves were increasingly more violent as time passed. Finally, near the end of the lesson (and getting submerged countess times), the instructor came over to help me figure out what I was doing wrong. As it turns out, my feet were positioned incorrectly. He helped me catch a wave and then I was standing! It was so exciting but also so defeating that I spent all that energy doing it the wrong way. I caught one more wave before it was time to head back to camp.
That night, we ate dinner and then watched a slideshow of pictures and videos from the day's surfing. We had the option of going to a bar, but my friends and I decided we were too exhausted and cold, so instead we just spent some time chatting before we hit the hay.
The next morning, my group was scheduled for the earlier surf lesson, so we were eating breakfast around 7:30 and in the water around 9! Luckily, it was warmer and sunnier than the day before, so we felt better about getting up, though the wet suits were still damp. I thought about the corrections from the day before and actually managed to catch waves and stand on the board all by myself! It was an awesome feeling. Even better, the girl who was photographing us happened to catch me at the right time, so I managed to have a couple pictures of me riding the waves. After our lesson, we returned to camp for lunch and some free time before we left around 4.
All in all it was a pretty exciting weekend. I can't say that I definitely want to go back to Surf Camp, but I'm glad I went and I really want to try surfing again later on. If I don't do it again while I'm in Australia, then I guess I'll have to take a trip to California and catch some waves there. Like I mentioned earlier, I am thoroughly amazed that I managed to stand on the board. As always, I know I write a lot, so thank you for reading! My week is filled with work, so my next post will probably be about my journey to Melbourne. Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment