Australian Surf Tours

Right now I can probably say without a shadow of a doubt that last weekend may have been the best of my life. A couple weeks ago, three friends and I decided to sign up for a weekend long surf camp thinking we would have a fun weekend learning to surf and camping on the beach. Little did we know that the weekend would end up being the most amazing experience in Australia so far. On Friday we embarked on a 3 hour bus ride (that of course ended up taking 4 hours) with the camp to a camping site South of Sydney. And of course we ended up sitting in the very back of the bus--but don't worry, the weekend gets better. When we arrived it was dark so we couldn't see the amazing view of the water right from our kitchen area, but we were greeted with freshly cooked hot dogs and a few beers. The tents were all set up for us, and it's sad to say but the cots we slept on were actually more comfortable than the beds provided by my apartment at home. So after a great night of sleep, we woke up early to the amazing view of the sun rising over the ocean. Our camp site was on a cliff right over the water so it was absolutely breathtaking. With breakfast hot and ready for us, we quickly ate up and headed off to the beach for our first surf lesson. Our head surf instructor's name is Billy and he was absolutely amazing! I learned so much more from him in just the first 30 minutes of our lesson than I did after 2 full lessons in Costa Rica.

By the end of our first two hour lesson, we had learned how to paddle, ride the wave in while laying down and steering, and finally how to stand up and catch the wave. We of course were exhausted at the end and our arms were so tired we could barely cary our boards home. However as soon as we got home we all got a second wind because we were heading off to feed sting rays on the beach. I've seen sting rays before in theme parks but I've never experienced anything like this. There were tons of them, all different sizes, and they would swim right up to the shore to your feet. We had a bunch of little frozen fish that they would suck up right out of the palm of your hand. A few of them also tried to suck up my toes in the process haha! We got to pet them and even write our names in the sand stuck to their backs. While I was a little nervous at first because they all still had their huge stingers on the back (don't need to pull a Steve Irwin), but the fear immediately went away after feeding one my first fish. 

After a quick lunch we hiked down to a bunch of rock pools formed during low tide. We got to dive in the pools and swim around for a while before going back to get ready for our next surf lesson. For our second lesson we drove to a different beach that was incredible! From where we parked we had walk down a trail for a bit, and right when you thought you were almost there, you noticed that it was about a five minute walk from where the sand started to where the water was. The beach seemed endless and we had it all to ourselves! I did really well in this lesson and was even catching waves myself and getting up almost every time. After mastering the art of standing up on the board, I think the hardest part is getting the timing right to make sure you catch the wave and maintain your speed. I was having so much fun out in the water that I never wanted to leave. I'm pretty sure I could just sit out there on my board for hours without getting bored. When our instructor yelled 10 minutes left I was so sad and I tried to stay in the water for as long as possible.

That night after the sun set, we headed down to the beach carrying piles and piles of sticks to have a bonfire! We all brought a few beers and blankets to sit on, and sat in a circle around the fire playing drinking games, telling stories, and even going around the circle singing our national anthems all night. It was also one of my good friend's 20th birthday the next day, so we counted down at midnight and all sang her Happy Birthday loud enough that they probably heard us in New Zealand. We ended up staying up pretty late on the beach which was great because we had to get up at 7 am the next morning to go surf. Let's just say that I am not a morning person, however it was pretty easy to get up that morning knowing that you're heading back out to the water! Surfing on Sunday proved to be much harder than on Saturday because our arms were so tired and sore. However when you're paddling as fast as you can with a wave coming behind you, the pain in your arms is usually the last thing you think about. After a 2 hour surf lesson that felt like 20 minutes, we headed back to camp to pack up and eat lunch. I was so sad while packing up because I never wanted to leave. It's hard to express in this blog how amazing the weekend was. There was so much more to it than just surfing or petting stingrays. Spending time with people from all over the world, as well as our instructors who worked at a coffee shop during the week and did lessons on the weekend, really made you feel like you could do anything. The vibe of the weekend was so inspiring and made you feel invincible. Right now in my life I feel like I'm constantly being asked what I want to do with rest of it. As if I'm supposed to know at only 20 years old, what I want to do for the rest of my life. I always want to answer by saying that I want to see the world and experience as much as I can, but of course that's not the answer most people are looking for. They want to know what kind of job I want or what graduate school I plan on attending. Spending the weekend at the surf camp really made me feel like it's ok to only know that I want to travel in the future.
 That afternoon we went out for our last surf lesson before driving home. Our bodies were so tired from the past two days which made it really hard to actually catch a wave. Regardless, we all had the time of our lives out in the water and were so sad when our instructor yelled "10 more minutes!" The past weekend was truly an inspiring one and I'll never forget it. I'm hoping to buy a surf board soon and continue living the dream and catching the waves for the rest of my time here.

O-Week

With another week until school begins, my university decided to host tons of events for Orientation Week (O-Week). With everything from signing up for clubs, outdoor movies, foam parties, and a cruise through the harbor, I knew my week was going to be jam packed. Monday started off with free pancakes at 10 am and the rest of the day filled with visiting tons of club's tables and getting free stuff. I even got to take a picture with Ryan Gosling! Throughout the day, the main walkway of campus was completely filled with students. It was almost like going through a maze to get from place to place. I'm pretty sure I've never seen so many people in one place before! After signing up for the wakeboard and waterski club and the outdoors club, we headed off to a free tour of the Human Diseases museum which was really interesting but also made us lose our apetites. Monday night we finally went downtown to a club called SideBar where we had a blast and of course ended up meeting more American exchange students. I'm continually asking myself, where are all of the Australians here? On Tuesday a big group of us took the bus to Bondi Beach which is a very famous tourist spot. The water was blue, the sand was white, and the sky was sunny. The water was pretty shallow so we could walk really far out and still stand. It was so much fun diving into waves...and being knocked over by them. All of the girls and I had quite a few attempts at taking a group photo in the water with a waterproof camera, but this seems to be the best one because we kept getting swallowed by waves from behind right as the camera flashed.

After an amazing day of tanning and swimming we headed off to our first try of Australian mexican food and a place called Beach Burritos! Considering they used white rice in their food, I'm not sure I can say it lived up to anything I've tried in California, but it will just have to do for now. On Wednesday we walked to Coogee Beach for yet another day of tanning and swimming. Are you starting to see a trend here? I feel like I end up at the beach almost every other day! Sleeping in the sand that day proved to be a bit difficult because we were all so excited for that night. We were going to be taking a cruise through the harbor downtown! The cruise was set up by my apartment complex so it was full of students and free booze. So far I have to admit that this night was one of the coolest things I've done here so far! We stood outside on the boat as we sailed right under the Harbor Bridge and past the Opera House. It was breathtaking and so surreal! 

The night was amazing, especially because we had originally been expecting rain all week! We all "skulled" our drinks, as they call it here which means to finish our drinks, as we went under the bridge, and then danced the rest of the night away inside with good friends and good music. Unfortunately it rained on Thursday and Friday, which did keep us from going to the zoo as originally planned, but didn't stop us from trying to go out both nights. The on campus bar, the Roundhouse, was hosting a foam party on Thursday night, so all of my girlfriends and I went shopping to find cheap dresses that we didn't mind getting ruined by the foam. #matching! 

However the party was full by about 8 pm, way before we had planned on going, so we ended up just running around in the rain trying to find a place to spend the rest of the night. Friday night was a paint party hosted by my apartment complex downtown! Again we had to go out and buy clothes we didn't mind getting ruined by paint, but this time we actually put them to good use. The party was so much fun and by the time we left I had paint in my eyes, my mouth, my ears, up my nose, and pretty much everywhere else on my body. Here's a before and after photo so that you get the gist.

Saturday night there was a Mardi Gras parade downtown however we didn't get there early enough to actually see anything. We spent most of the time wandering the streets hoping to find an opening in the huge mass of people but we ended up unlucky. This is the only photo I have, and I only got it by standing on my tip toes trying to let the camera see over the crowd in front of me. 

O-Week was so much fun and I was so sad to see it end because that meant school was beginning. I haven't been in a classroom since the end of December so I was definitely not excited to be ending my "summer/winter" break now. However, it turned out to be a very easy transition week back to school because all of my classes were canceled except two! So again I spent the week at the beach almost every other day, celebrating a friend's 21st birthday downtown, and going to a Circus themed party hosted by the on campus bar. Sounds like a good week to me! Today (Friday) I leave for a weekend-long surfing trip! We're going to camp out on the beach for two nights and surf all day long, while of course pausing occasionally to feed kangaroos and pet sting rays. Hopefully when I get back I'll actually know a thing or two about surfing and can maybe go out at the local beaches! Cross your fingers for me!