Surfs Up Dude

catchin awesome waves on the boogie board...brah'

So this week was my mid semester break, which marks the midway point in the academic career in Sydney.  Of the many things I'd like to do with my time in Australia, surfing was definitely on the checklist.  So yesterday (courtesy of Clay and Bec), we headed to one of the northern beaches.  It was a little cloudy, with a hint of wind.... just the way I like it.  Well, i've never surfed before (despite Californian stereotypes), so I was anxious to give it a go.  So... when we first stepped onto the beach, it was pretty chill.. except for a couple noteworthy observations.  I was made aware of 'blue bottles'.  Contrary to the cute name associated to coffee chains from Nor-Cal, these small little jellyfish, about the size of teaspoon (or tablespoon), deliver a little sting and seemed to be in bunches (as they were washed up on the beach).  Luckily, there were some people in the water and if they weren't afraid, I wasn't gonna wuss out cause of some faceless rubberbands.  Well, we strolled along the beach to set up camp.. meanwhile passing through some lifeguard training. 12-year olds practicing saving lives? alright cool, but I didn't see any other 'adult' (read: proper) lifeguards around... so if something were to happen, my life would be in the hands of some pre-pubecent youngsters.  Luckily, I'm fairly confident in my swimming abilities.  We headed out to the waves.  As the water is pretty clear, we could see the sand for a while.  Pretty far out, I spotted some dark patches below... suddenly, i panicked.  All those news reports and tv shows (River monsters) flashed through my mind... oh god, i could see the headlines now: "Foolish International Attempts Surfing, Ignored Warnings From Internet.. More News at 6".  Luckily, Clay comforted my fears and determined I was tripping out cause I saw some seaweed or rocks, rather than sharks or rays.  Anywho, after some boogy boarding and body surfing, I decided to pull the trigger and do what I set out to do.
So we headed out to the break and patiently waited for some good waves.  During this time, I was constantly drifting away from where the waves were breaking so i was continuously paddling horizontally back to the 'spot'.... I can't emphasize how tiring paddling is.... also my balance is pretty bad already, but the board has wax to keep me from sliding off.  Unfortunately the wax is also pretty unfriendly against bare skin... watev.  Eventually, I saw it... the wave I wanted to catch.  I paddled, caught it right after the break, and stood up..  .  (even though when I got to standing up, the wave had almost died down).   It was magnificent... for all of 2 seconds.  then I 'wiped out'.. and found myself in flurry of sea and sand.

before

after

Somehow I got back to the sand (probably washed up on shore) and called it a day.  I was so exhausted.  Caught a wave, stood up,.... .  Finished off the day with some hot chips and chicken salt.  yep mission accomplished

donezo