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Simon the Surfer!
Byron Bay, 28th to 29th January 2002
This morning we decided to change campsites because the one we were
in is a long trek out of town. Luckily, as yesterday was the last
day of the 'Australia Day' holiday, the campsites nearer to town
should have vacancies now. We got packed, hopped in the van and
drove to a fantastic camp site called 'Clarkes on the Beach'
campsite. It is, literally, on the beach. We camped less than 100m
from the beautiful sandy beaches of Byron Bay...this is the life!
For our whole stay in Byron Bay it was a little cloudy but still
sunny. This meant that although it was mainly dry and hot, there'd
be a 10 minute shower at least twice every hour. But it didn't
bother us because when the rain stopped, the sun would quickly dry
everything! When we asked about this uncharacteristically Australian
weather, we were told that this was the first rain they'd had for 9
months, and it was going to last a couple of days. Great. We're
carrying the famous English rain bug!
Not letting the rain get to us, we headed down to the beach. It was
so hot, that a dip in the sea became necessary. The temperature of
the water was fantastic! Just cold enough to cool us off, but warm
enough to stay in for hours. No wonder there were surfers everywhere
in Byron Bay. The combination of brilliant waves and a warm sea
makes ideal conditions!
Of course, we spent most of our time in Byron Bay on the beach. It
was too beautiful not too. Byron Bay has miles & miles of almost
unbroken sandy beaches. We only left them to eat, sleep and go to
the shops.
Byron Bay is an amazing place. It's a small town, with just the
right amount of shops and life revolves around the beach and the
surf. The two main things we noticed about the shops were: (1) There
were no big 'chain' stores or major fast food places. Only a Subway
Restaurant. That's right, no McDonalds. (2) Every shop had a deal
with one of the many surfing schools. They'd advertise their chosen
school, saying things like "Book a lesson with Black Dog Surf School
here, and get a free kebab, or T-shirt or curry or something!
After spending the first day lazing on the golden beach and playing
in the surf, I realised, I just HAD to do it. I HAD to have a go at
SURFING. There was no way I couldn't! It'd be like going to Paris
and not seeing the Eiffel Tower!
After lunch on the second day, I took the plunge (no joke intended).
I phoned a few places, and decided to go with one of the more well
known (but more expensive) surfing schools. But, it still only cost
A$33 for a 4 hour lesson!
When I arrived for the lesson, I was greeted by a surfy looking guy.
Wait a minute. Everyone here looks 'surfy'! Um...so, I was greeted
by a...well...normal guy. I paid the money and half an hour later, 5
other guys & I were standing on the beach, wearing swimming shorts
and bright yellow wet-suit tops. We all stood in a group listening
intently to the female instructor we had.
After going through the theory bits and the fun of lying on surf
boards while in the middle of the beach, we all picked our boards
and ran to the water. Our first task was to catch & ride a few waves
while lying down on the board. Fair enough. Pretty straight forward.
We all managed to ride the waves.
Our instructor soon called us back onto the beach and she showed us
a few ways of jumping to our feet on the boards. Looked easy enough.
Until we went into the water that was.
After countless attempts at standing on the board, most ending up
with me going violently under the water, I was glad we were using
'training' surf boards. These boards are slightly larger with a foam
outer. This means it didn't hurt as much when the board bounced of
my body...a few times.
My first problem was speed. We were using smallish waves near the
shore which meant we had to quickly jump to our feet as soon as
possible. I'd make sure I was going at a nice speed, then think
about standing, then try it. By which time it was too late, and the
board would slow to a stop on the beach and I'd been lying there
looking like a beached fish.
The next problem was balance. First I'd flip one way, then the
other. Eventually, after lots of goes, I managed to stand up on one
wave. (I've got photos to prove it!) Then by the end of the lesson,
I'd ridden a number of waves standing. Yeay! I'm a surf dude!
Afterwards, I met up with the others and told them how unbelievably
immense it was (I'd had LOADS of fun). Or as Stinge has started
saying, the surfing was GNARLY MAN! (By the way, I don't think any
real life surfers actually say 'gnarly'!)
We'd already decided to hire boogie boards tomorrow to use on the
waves. After my lesson, I decided I was going to hire a surf board
as well tomorrow. I could ride some waves standing, but I wanted to
get better, which means one thing, PRACTICE!
After dinner, we had a quiet night before heading to bed. I'm
knackered! Surfing is hard work! The hardest part is carrying the
huge board around on land. I've noticed you can't be a surfer if
you've got short arms...you can't fit the board under your arm then!
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