The next morning all the girls got put in one group and I was put in another. I was bummed out at the time, but it was probably a good thing in the end. My group went straight to the beach for our first surf lesson after breakfast. The instructors gave us all wet-suits to put on, and I have no shame so I just dropped down to my compression shorts right there. I struggled with the wet-suit for a bit, because it is basically like you are vacuum sealing yourself into it. Eventually I got it on and we went to the beach to do some warm up exercises. We warmed up and they split us into groups of eight. My group was international. We had four Americans, a Swiss-Italian, a Canadian, and a Czech Republican. Leading the pack was my surf coach, Ethan.
Ethan is a stereotypical Australian guy that is apparently nineteen but would fool you into believing he is at least twenty-five. He went over the basics of the surfboard with us and how to go about standing up, and then he gave us boards and put us in the water. It is important to remember that this is a completely new thing that I had never done before. For the entire first two hour session I could not stand up one time. I kept trying and kept failing. It was really discouraging the more I fell. There were several close calls where I almost made it, but none came together. The coaches made me get out of the water at one point to practice my balancing skills. It was all very frustrating. Time eventually ran out and we had to swap with the other group. So much for learning how to surf.
Next up we stripped off our wet-suits and headed off to our next adventures of feeding stingrays. I figured that the stingrays they were talking about would be smaller like ones in aquariums. I was wrong. The inlet we went to had several types of rays, but the main one was easily as big as a dining room table. The people gave us fish and I hesitantly headed towards the thing that killed Steve Irwin. Slowly I put my hand underwater and very quickly he came by and sucked up the fish. That was it. It was a very quick process. He took the food and went on. It wasn't nearly as frightening as I would've expected. The drivers then took us back to camp to eat and we swapped again with the other group to start our second surf lesson.
They threw us back into it immediately. The surf coaches led us in another warm up and Ethan gave us a lesson on ocean swells and rips. After our "class time" we headed back out into the water. Ethan was good about telling you exactly what to fix when you would fall off your board, and he would yell when to stand up. They wanted surfing to be a fun experience and for everyone to have a great time at their own pace. If you wanted more help you would stay closer to Ethan, and if you wanted less help you would try and surf yourself. My big moment came at some point in the second session and I managed to surf! I rode a nice-sized wave all the way in to the sandbar. I was very proud of myself, because surfing was something I had never done before. I even managed to do it several more times before the session was over. It was an extremely euphoric feeling.
We soon left the beach and headed back to camp to see what would be the highlight of my trip. Most people went straight back to their tents or to the showers, but out of the corner of my eye I saw something jumping. I went to the back of the campsite to discover an entire family of wild kangaroos. I have never experienced kangaroos in the wild, so I was in shock. I found some peanuts and attempted to feed the majestic creatures. As I lowered my hand a young joey hopped over and ate straight out of my palm. He even grasped my hand for more when he ate it all. It was a moment I will never forget.
When the other group came back we ate dinner and discussed our days. Abby Bower and Catie were naturals apparently, and Haley was smitten for her surf coach. When it got dark they aired a slideshow of all the pictures of everyone surfing. I was saddened because no one got any pictures of me...or so I thought. The final part of the slideshow was called The Wipeout Award. The photographer showed several pictures of the best wipeouts of the day. Guess who was in the mix...Me! She captured the moment when I accidentally did a forward roll off my surfboard. I have to say, it was pretty unique. Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles probably couldn't even replicate it. It was voted on by the campers, and needless to say, I won. Hip hip hooray!
Everyone was having a jolly old time socializing with each other, and the surf coaches suggested that the party move down to the beach. I didn't want to go initially because I had showered and didn't want to get sandy again, but my gut said to go because I knew I wouldn't be back there. So I went. The beach at camp was on a private cove. The water was at low tide, so I walked very far out onto large rocks. The sky was as clear and full of stars as I have ever seen it. The scene was very picturesque, as if it was out of a movie. To top off the natural beauty I even saw a shooting star. There's nothing quite like a star exploding and hurling itself through the cosmos to really set the mood for an exciting night. I stayed for awhile but eventually headed back to my cozy sleeping bag for a warm, sleepless slumber. Seven AM comes early after all.
The morning sun quickly arose and the kookaburras loudly chirped. I was awake. I ate a brekkie of champions and then was off for my final session. Before we began we did our warmups and Ethan went over wind direction and board review. We then were back in the water for our chance to shred some gnarly waves. But there were no waves. Every now and again one would come in, but mostly it was flat. Ethan blamed the weather for the low wave turnout. When waves would come I definitely caught them though. I learned the surfing basics very fast. By the end of the third session I was already working on my 180 jump. Just like any sport, surfing takes practice to master it. We went to trade with the other groups and Ethan said he was proud of how well I did in my short time. What a guy.
Our last stop before departing was a trip to some rock pools. I had never seen rock pools before and was instantly amazed that you could dive in and swim around in these pools and get out and then jump into the ocean right next to it. I got some excellent GoPro footage of the little fish that were swimming in the pool with me and sliced my big toe on a sharp rock. Nature can be cruel sometimes, but I'm tough. We chatted with some locals and then voyaged back to camp for lunch.
After eating a hearty lunch of food I didn't recognize, we had to pack up our tents. Mine was already taken down, so I felt like the right thing to do would be to assist my star-crossed tent-mate Yumjin. Together we briskly disassembled the nylon domain and said our goodbyes. What could have been. Our last session before heading out was a brief lesson in surfer etiquette. All the coaches explained how to behave if you choose to surf in the real world and some slang to act like you know what you are talking about. Then it was done. We boarded the buses and headed back to Sydney.
This trip meant more to me than just learning to surf. Yes, I am 100% thrilled I can surf now. That has been something I have wanted to learn my whole life. However, I gained so much more from surf camp--unforgettable experiences. I got to feed kangaroos and see them in the wild, feed gigantic sting rays, swim in mesmerizing rock pools, saw a shooting star at a bonfire on the beach, and I learned to surf! All the while I got to meet some pretty incredible people from all over planet Earth. Me and Ethan even added each other on Instagram and have plans to hang out next time he's in Sydney. This crazy weekend will go down as one of my favorites weekends ever and it allowed me to make a new friend as well. I would recommend Australian Surf Tours to anyone and hope to one day do it again! Surfs up brah!
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