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Blog 18
Saturday turned out to be a computer day: wrote my blog, did my Dutch taxes and talked on skype with family. Saturday evening I went out for dinner with Ash, Ask's brother Nathan, Shaun, Ernst and Suzan. We went to a Tex Mex and had a really nice dinner. As there were hypes of props there we dared each other to use those in some pictures (check pictures!!). After that I had a good night sleep and I slept in a bit, since the surf wasn't going to be great on Sunday (the first flat weekend in a year!!)
Sunday was a very lazy day. After my sleep in, I finished my computer stuff and went to the supermarket and then to the beach in Cowes. As I got home, ready to make dinner, Ash came in with a mate, Peter, and asked if I was up for a surf. Since I didn't surf the day before, I was very keen for one although the waves were still a bit crap. After that I made the boys some dinner and Ash had a delicious chocolate pudding (we would call it chocolate cake with lots of sauce, they all it pudding) that his mum made that day: yummy.
Monday morning another (small) surf with Ernst and Ash. When I wanted to put my pictures on my computer afterwards, the computer refused to turn on… well, that was kind of annoying! I knew the battery was empty, so it could be the charger.. I went to the 'computer repair centre' and, as we found out that it wasn't the charger, I nearly cried. Then the guy just took the battery out of my laptop, put it back in and that did the job! Lucky me…
As it was going to be my last day on Philip Island, I had to visit some 'touristic' places, so I went to the Nobbies first. The Nobbies are just to pieces of rock in the ocean. Hypes of birds live there. 1,5 Kilometer from the coast you could see Seal's Rock, the home of lots of seals. That's also the reason there are so many sharks around. Luckily they are well fed because of all the seals… After the Nobbies I went to Flynn's beach, where I did my yoga en went for a swim afterwards. I still had time left to visit the Koala centre. That was actually really cool!! I saw hypes of koala's and that close that I could have touched them, if that would have been allowed… I do have some nice pics though!
When got back 'home', Ash was (again) keen for a surf and I followed him and Peter to Woolies. Later on we had a barbie (and some table tennis) at Suzan's with Ernst, Liz, Shaun, Ash, Peter and Jack (Suzan's son).
Tuesday morning no swell, but Ash invited me to come snorkeling with him, Peter, Nick and a school group. The snorkeling was really cool! I saw hypes of fish and the reef and the plants and everything is so pretty under water. Definitely going to do this again!
I left at 2 pm and drove all the way to Sorrento, where I took the ferry to cross over. Someone told me the ferry was going to be quite cheap… well it wasn't… It was nice though: just love boats. I arrived in Queenscliff 40 minutes later and drove till I found the supermarket Coles in Ocean Grove. Did some shopping and afterwards, as I followed the signs 'great ocean road' I got distracted by the sign 'surf beach'. I couldn't resist and just had to follow that sign. I ended up watching lots of grommies surfing mini waves.
A man, with a really nice Volkswagen kombi and a stand up paddleboard in there, was just getting ready to get out there. I started talking to him about how great is to have a longboard when the surf is so small. We had a small talk and when he heard I was going to sleep in my car that night, he invited me over to stay with him (Matt), his wife Rita and his daughter Savannah. That was an offer I couldn't resist, so after he had a paddle, I followed him to his place. That evening, after a home made pizza, I was again lucky to sleep in a bed.
The next day I was quite tired from the long drive the day before, but Matt and I had 2 surfs anyway, although the waves were small. First of all we surfed Cylinders - Beacon at 13th beach and later on we checked out a very small Posso's (impossible) and surfed Sign Posts. In between there was some lunch and I had a go on their piano (how lucky am I?!). Afterward Savannah and I had a go on the WII Fit: that's really a great computer game! I had hypes of fun. That evening another home made Italian dinner: spaghetti with fresh made pesto, pine kernels and parmesan (Rita's parents were both Italian, but emigrated to Australia when they were young. After dinner, Matt, Savannah and I went for a stand up paddle on the river. It's actually quite fun. Will definitely give that a try in Holland when the waves are crap
On Thursday I got up early for a drive along the Great Ocean Road. I left at 7 pm and started my trip checking the waves at Winki Pop and Bells beach. It looked all right, but, since it was just the beginning of a very long day and it was already pretty crowded, I didn't go in, hoping there would be a nice break a bit further… Well, that didn't really happen, but I filled my day with chilling out on the beach in Apollo Bay (powernap) walking through a rainforest: beautiful!, visiting Cape Otway's lighthouse and of course the twelve apostles.
13 Hours I was back 'home', exhausted but satisfied.
The next two days there wasn't a lot of surf, but enough to do: playing the piano, preparing my trip to New Zealand that Sunday (I'm on the plain now), doing my taxes (Australian ones), etc. I did check the surf Friday at Bells Beach, but it was as flat as a pancake, so I went to the surf museum. That was actually really good. I had a great time. I had a chat with Craig about the Soul Surfers Foundation and I gave him my card. I got his in return and he told me to send him an email, so he could put the link to our website on his: how cool is that!! So Sabine, I need the icon or the thing to click on to our website by email, so I can send that to him… Friday evening, after a take out kebab (falafel for me and Rita), Rita and I made the desserts for Saturday: tiramisu and trifle and I have to say, that they worked out to be amazing . So yesterday we had some guest over for dinner and it was a really nice evening full of jokes, noisy kids ;-), some wine and good food… and now it's time to surf it all of…
The packing wasn't easy yesterday.. I broke the zipper of my board bag, so that wasn't very convenient, but well, we kind of fixed it.. This morning, after a bit emotional goodbye (really hope to see them again), I drove to the airport, where I arrived at 10am precise to drop of my car. I wasn't allowed to drive on unsealed roads with this car… well… that's quite impossible if you're a surfer, travelling along the east coast of Australia, I can tell you that! But we gave the car a bit of a clean this morning and that was good enough to get my deposit back
Anyway, of course I had way too much luggage. First of all my board bag filled with clothes, towels, a tent… I got rid of the tent (at least 2 kilo's).. still over 22 kilo's (was allowed to have 20 kilo's…). then the steward told me that I had to check in my guitar as well… another 8 kilo's (all my books were in there too)… didn't have to pay for it though… lucky again. But I wasn't there yet. My carry in luggage was just a couple of cm to big and it was way too heavy (max 7 kilo's). As I approached the guys that had to weight it, I just smiled, we made a joke and they didn't even weight it at all…. That's a lot of luck in one day… just hope the plain won't crash now because of all these extra kilo's… on the other hand… I'm not as heavy as the average person on this plain, so it will be fine.
Funny fact: The Matthews (Matt, Rita, Savannah) gave me a t-shirt yesterday which is saying: I (heart) love Ocean Grove and murfs surf shop. And there were 3 stewardesses/ stewards on my way through all the security and all telling me that they just loved the t-shirt ánd Ocean Grove.. how funny is that… that's maybe why they let me through with all my luggage: because I openly showed that I just loved Victoria's coastal area
If everything's fine, Sonia, my old flat mate/ manager Jellyfish, will pick me up from the airport in Auckland and she's got some really nice activities planned I think. Got a text from her the other day: 'you like rafting?' so that will be great. On Wednesday, we'll head for the airport again: Sonia's going to fly back to Australia and I'll pick up my car there and drive to Raglan, where Anne is right now. The surf report doesn't look really good, but we'll see what happens. A new country, a new adventure!
I would like to thank Gary (for the surf atlas!!), Brad, Phil, Suzan, Ernst, Suzan, Ash, Nick, Peter, Jessie, Matt, Rita, Sunny and last but not least Savannah for making my trip along the East/ South East coast of Australia unforgettable. Just know that you'll always be welcome in Holland (or where ever I will end up living) and I really hope to see you again and return the favor!
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