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Today was a MUCH better day because I got to go surfing!!! I had been really looking forward to it but also nervous about it because I am not very balanced! I love the sea though and being in Oz, I was determained to do well. I am pleased to say I am still putting my all into everything I do and not being a wimp. Anyway I will start at the start before I get carried away. Got up and dressed and met downstairs. Some of our group were only doing the 4 night package not 6, so that is over for them. So the only ones of us doing the surfing were me, James and Danielle, Tayo, Mopo (Tom) and Hans. We got picked up by the Mojo surf mini bus by one of our teachers, Owen. Definately how you imagine an Aussie surfer dude to be! There were a few more people on the bus too think there were about 12 of us in total. Mojo surf are meant to be the best surf school and they change their location each day to find the best beach. We had a 40 min drive to our beach, which i think was called Boat Harbour Bay or something (not sure why, there weren't any boats!) which was perfect. Pretty much deserted! We got out of the bus and met our other guide, Rowan (yep, we laughed at Owen and Rowan) who drove us along the beach in a 4WD. Was a pretty bumpy ride!!! Perfect day though, sunny but too not hot. Got to our surfing spot and got our wetsuits on (managed to get it on fine then realized it was the wrong way round which was soo annoying!) Then we each got a surfboard and sat round in a circle. We were using softboards which are quite big and soft (funnily enough), designed for beginers. Owen talked us through the different parts of the surfboard - I listened veyr carefully to everything he said as like I say, I was determained to do well! He then showed us how to stand up on the board and we practised on the sand. Got the hang of it pretty quickly but knew it would be a lot harder in the water so didn't get my hopes up that I would be any good!! We got into the water pretty quickly which was really good, didnt want to spend ages practising on the beach like you hear about. Probably were in the sea withing 10 mins. Anywa, from the beach the waves hadn't looked like much but they were SOO powerful!! I felt like a rag doll! The sand under my feet was moving around the whole time too so trying to get past the waves was really hard, tried to dig my feet in but would always push you back! Got to about waist deep though and practised getting on the board and finding my "sweet spot" which is your point of balance. Obviously balance in crucial if you want to stand up! Even riding the waves laying down was awesome, even if it meant a struggle getting back to waist deep. When you see the wave you want to catch, you get on the board and paddle with your arms. The wave hits and you do 4 more big paddles before you start to get up. Turns out though that I wasnt very good at paddling as my arms aren't very strong. So on my own, I didnt have enough speed to get up. Owen and Rowan were in the sea with us helping people and I was glad when he came to help me! He basically would find the best waves, hold us in one place till they came then give us a big push and tell us when to get up. The push gave me the speed i ddin't get from paddling. So the first time he pushed, I was soo suprised at how quick I went!! It was awesome, the waves are so powerful! Had a few goes without managing to get up but wasn't at all suprised, would have been a shock if i stood up straight away and to be honest i doubted I would stand up at all so i was really enjoying myself. Each time i fell i knew exactly what I had done wrong which they said was the key so I would correct what I knew I had done wrong. I was able to get step one and two out of 4 sussed. Step 1 was pushing on the board with your hands so your chest was up and getting on your toes. Step to was pushing your bum right up in the air. It was hard at first because you had to be completely centered but once I got that I was okay. Step 3 was to then put my back foot in position which is also got the hang of, if your bum was high enough it was pretty easy. Step 4 was the one that was hard! You had to balance on your back foot and bring your front foot up and to the center of the board in the right place. It was hard because I dont think I was really confident anough to properly stand up, the closer I felt to the water, the safer!! But as I built up my confidence I managed to be confident enough to stand up but kept putting my front foot too far to the left so the board flipped over. To be honest falling off was quite fun and I didnt mind, I was already suprising myself with what I could do! Had a few goes on my own, but it took longer as walking back out to sea with the board was hard work! Anyway then Rowan came and helped me out and after watching me he told me what I was doing wrong and it clicked what I needed to do differently. I was facing my body towards the beach when i needed to concentrate on the right hand side of me as surfers stand to the side. Because I was facing forward I wasnt centering my front foot to the board. The go after he told me that, I focused and I stood up!!! Was a brilliant feeling! I was so pleased though I had my hands in the air and my legs straight, forgetting the standing postition haha! Didnt care though as I was stood for a good few seconds :-p Rowan said I had a brilliant attidude as most English girls moan too much that they cant do it haha, but I didnt see the point in being wimpy and I was so determained and it had paid off! After that I was desperate to do it again and managed to :-) Then we had to go in for lunch, which was wraps and cookies! We all felt pretty full after that so weren't sure we would be as good! Went in after lunch and was on my own again. Pretty quickly I found myself out of my depth and was struggling to get back into my depth which knocked my confidence. Like I say the waves are really powerful! Was knackered from struggling agains the waves and the goes I had after that were pants, I was too slow going through step one and too as my legs were soooo tired and missed the waves. It was pretty annoying! Fought through the pain though and managed to stand up on my own which I was really proud of! Had done my best with the paddling and had caught a good wave. That was the only time I managed to ride a wave for a significant amount of time but I got the hang of standing on the board, even if i fell straight off. Good enough for me though! The next time Owen came to help me I had a few failed attempts then my best surf of the day when I focused like crazy and rode the wave all the way back to the beach! A few people headed back to lay on the beach but a few of us stayed in and carried on. I managed to stand up a few more times and caught some really good waves which meant I didnt have to paddle as much. I rode a final wave then went back to the beach. It was soo tiring and I can definatley see why surfers have such toned bodies! My legs felt well worked from fighting the waves and my core muscles were all being used for balance. I loved it though, and even though there were people a lot better than me and I really wasn't great, I had deifnately done better than I expected I would so was buzzing. I can see why people love surfing and want to do it again now! Rowan and Owen were really good and patient and everyone had stood up at some point :-) No pictures of me standing though so you will have to take my word for it! We got the 4WD back up the beach and then got the bus to town. Back at the hostel I got showered and dressed, popped on the computer then we all went up to the rooftop as it was free wine and cheese night. There was Philli and crackers so I was happy! And free wine is always good! rooftop was pretty busy and we stayed up there chatting for a few hours then me, Valerie, Tayo and Andy went to a sports bar down the road to play pool. Valerie showed us all up! After a few games, Valerie noticed her bag was missing and we couldn't find it. She thought back to where she'd put it etc and she remembers some weird guy and she thinks he stole it. The guys went looking for him and I stayed with Valerie, she was really really upset as it had her and Tayo's stuff in it, luckily no passports but bopth their driving licenses, money and cameras. Searched the pub etc but couldn't find it. Calmed Valerie down and took her to the police station where we gave details of what had happened. They were helpful but we are doubtful we will see it again. She has insurance so is going through the process of sorting that out, such an awful thing to happen :-( Shows how careful you have to be. Went home after the police station, must have been pretty late, then went to bed.
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