Two weekends back I went east to Broulee (just south of Bateman's bay) for my first two surfing lessons ever. I had been told that it was great fun and I should definitely try it at least once. I had always thought it would be a shame to have spent so long in Australia without surfing here.
We headed out at 8am on Saturday, two post docs (Okinawan and English visitors), the Italian PhD student that we have in our group for a growing season here and myself. Three hours of driving, the Okinawan at the wheel, the rest of us controlling the tunes. We stopped for coffee and a stretch at Braidwood. We couldn't stay long though, we had to be at the beach at 11 am for the lesson.
It's a three hour drive to Bateman's bay. We made good time and in the end we were only 5 minutes late. The surf instructors were really laid back and didn't seem to mind at all. It wasn't long before we had wet suits and boards. Putting a soaked wet suit on for the first time is a bit of an uncomfortable experience.
It was all really relaxed. The two post docs had been for lessons previously. Many people were there for the first time. There was a guy called Jeff that had been given the lesson as a 50th birthday present by his son. I thought that was great. In fact, there was something about having got up so early and then being at the beach in the morning that had just put a huge smile on my face. I felt great.
The lesson had four parts. First on the beach some explanation about what to do before you get in the water. This included things like watching the waves for ten minutes to see where it is breaking, where the rips are, if there are any rocks, where some landmarks on the beach are to keep track of where you are in the water, just seeing what is what.
After that it was described how to get on your board to catch a wave. Then straight after that we put our board tethers on and jumped into the water for 20 minutes of trying to catch waves. When you catch that first wave, it is such a great feeling. You paddle hard, feeling like you are going no where, then there is this sudden push and you are moving forward on the wave quite fast. It is strange that something so simple can be so exhilarating. The Italian student later described it as a moment when you are communicating with the sea. Perhaps.
Shortly after that we were back on the beach and being told how to stand on up on your board once you've caught a wave. For beginners it is the 'two-step'. You do a push-up on your board then bring your feet up under you one at a time. If you are able to do that then you are supposed to do the jump up, where you jump up to standing after the push-up. We drilled that on the beach for ten minutes. Foot position is critical for balance here.
Then it was back into the surf to give it a go. I got up once. It is much harder to stand than it is to catch a wave. It was all fantastic though. I was smiling the whole time. We hired the boards and 'wetties' for the afternoon. Then spent more than three hours that afternoon just going over that morning's lesson on our own. The time disappeared. We ended up getting the boards back a little late.
We crashed in Bateman's bay at the YHA. That place is pretty nasty. They have an ablutions block which makes showering a bit uncomfortable. There was a big fat guy who snored like a chainsaw there too, making it impossible to sleep. He later said he couldn't sleep and left at 2 am. I think he must have kept waking himself up. I was getting really irritated by the snoring so I was glad to see him go.
We were back out at the beach for a lesson at 9 am this time. More trying to stand up. Got it right a few times. It's hard physical exercise. Your shoulders and arms feel it pretty quickly. We weren't too keen to stay for the afternoon on Sunday, we had to drive back and we were getting fatigued.
It was a great weekend and I want to go back as soon as I can.
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