Surf Camp

So to continue yesterday's story, at 8am on Saturday I made my way to the Byron Bay busstop to be picked up by the Waves Surf School bus. To my surprise there were only six other people going on the trip. Two English girls, Georgie and Emma, an english guy actually called Simon but nicknamed Cambridge as that was where he was from, two Swedish guys called Henrik and Jonas, or more affectionately Team Sweden, and one Austrian girl who lived in New Zealand called Chris. There were also a bunch of helpers and teachers on the tour with us.



That first day we drove to a beach somewhere south of Byron Bay, where our teacher was Scott. He tought us the basics of paddeling, catching a wave and standing up while we were on the beach, and it certainly didn't seem too difficult. Until we hit the water that is. Just getting on the board in the "sweet spot" was difficult enough, let alone paddeling for a wave and standing up. That first day is now a blur of seawater and rain, but by the end of the day I could get up (but not stay up). When we wanted to go to lunch a senior citizens tour had just arrived at the covered lunch area, but they didn't take long and they donated some jolly good sandwiches so we didn't mind. After a morning and an afternoon session of surfing we drove on to our accomodation for the night which was in the middle of nowhere, where we just relaxed with a few beers and then had an early night since we were all absolutely exhausted from the surfing.



The next day we drove to another beach for more surfing, and unfortunately it was still raining. While we were on the beach before we went in the water someone spotted a snake, and the surf rescue lifeguards had to come and catch it. It wasn't very big, but it was the first snake I had seen in the wild in Australia, so that was pretty cool. We spent another long day in the water, but the difference with the first day was that we were all standing up more often and staying up for longer. By the end of the day we all were starting to feel quite good about our surfing abilities. At this beach, since it seemed to be a slightly more public one than the last beach we were on there were, thank god, showers. They were just posts outside and only had cold water, but at least we could rinse off before having to get in the bus for 2 hours this time. After the busride we arrived at "surfcamp" where we met the rest of the staff, had showers and settled into our room which was to be our home for the next 3 nights. That evening after dinner we all pitched in for some of one of the instructors special fuitpunch, and played the card game ring of fire or kings cup. Since it was still only our small group plus the helpers that evening we really got to know each other quite well, so it was a lot of fun.



The next day we drove to a new beach and had a new teacher. Seal Rocks beach was our destination for the day for more surfing, and luckily it was only half an hour from surfcamp. Our teacher for the day was Dylan, a funny hyperactive little dude who was very enthusiastic. With some help and a lot of encouragement from him we were all riding waves all the way to the beach in no time, and the boys decided they wanted to go out the back to catch some unbroken waves in stead of starting out in the whitewash. Unbroken waves are a lot harder to catch, and it is extremely exhausting to get through all the waves, so the girls decided to stay in the whitewash and improve our technique before tackling the big stuff. Unfortunately playing it safe didn't really help me all that much. I caught one particularly big wave, and just after I had stood up another one came from behind me and litterally swept me off my feet. I was knocked around a lot in the two waves that had joined to form one really big one, and when I finally came up my right hand really hurt. When I looked down, I saw that my thumbnail had been knocked off completely! I have no idea how it happened, I suppose it hit the board or the fin of the board, but I'm not sure. Luckily there was a first aid kit in the bus, and I was bandaged up well enough to keep me going until we got back to surfcamp. When we got back to surfcamp noone really seemed to think that it was neccessary to take me to see a doctor, or perhaps they just couldn't be bothered since we were out in the middle of nowhere, but the camp manager was a nurse so she patched me up. That afternoon the tour going in the opposite direction to us had arrived, and it was a much bigger group (21 people) than ours, so after dinner we played some drinking/get to know each other games. I did meet some people of the other group, especially with people asking me what happened to my finger, but there was quite a clear separation between the two groups.



On our second day at surfcamp (third day in total, so as not to confuse you) we went to Lighthouse Beach, for which we needed a fourwheeldrive, and we had another new teacher, Nas. Driving to the beach reminded me of Fraser Island, a narrow sandy track with bushes on either side, bumping around a lot, and we even got stuck and the boys had to get out and push. Even though I was missing a thumbnail I decided to get out there anyway, since noone had explicitly told me not to. That morning seemed particularly long and difficult, due to all the circumstances: my missing thumbnail, of course, the constant rain (again) and especially strong currents. By the end of the morning I couldn't even stand in kneehigh water without being pulled over sideways. Nevertheless, my determination or foolhardyness led me to catch several good waves, standing up and riding them in to the beach! Quite an achievement if you ask me (me being extremely unbiased of course)! That afternoon I decided to give it a miss. If the waves had been good, the currents less forcefull and the sun shining then I would have just taken another painkiller and gone back out there, but as it was I decided to sit out with Henrik. Henrik had cut his hand open on the fin of a board earlier on the same day that I lost my thumbnail, and had to go to hospital to get three stitches. So the two of us hid from the rain and the wind in the 4WD, and we were soon joined, one by one, by the rest of the group who had had enough as well.

That evening was everyone's last night at surfcamp. Our trip would end in Sydney the next day, and the other groups would be starting their tour up towards Byron Bay. Well, the staff at surfcamp definitely encourage drinking. I managed to keep it to a minimal level (I did not want to hurt myself any more than I already had) but it was still a lot of fun. We played a game called flipcup, which is basically a relay race with two teams where you drink your drink, set your cup on the edge of the table and try to flip it until it lands upside down. Then at least one person from each team had to join in musical chairs - the unconventional version - where they had to perform opdrachten and get back to the chairs (one less than the number of people) as fast as possible. The opdrachten included getting a piece of underwear of the opposite sex and putting it on, and the final was who can do the most stupid, most embarassing dance. Our team won of course, thanks to Emma! Apparently, after I went to bed because my thumb was really starting to bother me, just about everyone ended up in the pool, and at least one mobile phone was broken. Since I had both my mobile phone and my camera on me, and my bandage wasn't allowed to get wet it was probably a good thing that I didn't stay until the end.

On the last day we only surfed in the morning, although it was a long morning and a late lunch, because after the morning lesson there was a little competition. I decided not to surf this last morning, because I didn't want to make my thumb, which was by now wrinkly and swollen, any worse. Henrik, the Swedish guy with stitches, gave it a go, but stopped quickly since he could feel that it wasn't good for his hand. So Henrik and I were team photogrophers on the last day, and luckily the weather had cleared up so we could get some nice bright sunny surfing pictures. Jonas, the other Sweed, won the competition, and Georgie, the English girl with whom I am now spending time in Sydney won the most improved prize (although neither of them actually got anything). After lunch we returned briefly to surfcamp to go to the loo and collect our bags, and then hit the road for the three hours drive back to Sydney.

I'm sorry if the surfing sounds a bit boring, but you really have to do it to experience it. Technically you wake up, put on your bikini/boardshorts, have breakfast and take a ride to a beach where you spend about 5-10 minutes dragging on a wet and sandy wetsuit. You then pick up a board that is between 1,5 and 2 times as tall as you (depending on your height), and so wide you can barely get your arm around it to carry it. You therefore end up carrying it on your head, which is also not very comfortable. You then trudge out into the ocean to about waist level, where you fight the currents while waiting for a good wave. When one comes you slide onte your board, into the "sweetspot", paddle your arms off and then have to use them to push yourself into a standing postition. Most likely you will fall of almost immediately, and you repeat this until you finally get a good ride. Doesn't sound too exciting, but when you finally do get that ride all the way to the beach it is AMAZING and totally worth it.

So at the moment I am in Sydney, having lots of fun, even though it is raining, and only a week away from my university starting, and the beginning of my actual exchange. I will update you on my more civilized adventures here in the city soon enough, but for now, surfs up dude!