Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Last weekend I took surfing lessons in Byron Bay. Phenomenal experience, for sure. My instructor was a cool guy, of course, because no surfing instructor can be uncool. There were 6 of us in the class and we had lessons on the beach and learned about rip tides and waves and things to look out for prior to entering the water. Then we pretended to be in the water and practiced jumping up on the board as if catching a wave. While it looked rediculous since we were on the dry sand, it was an effective method to prepare for actual waves.
We went into the water maybe 200 meters from shore (I’m starting to think in metric terms) and he would push us, one at a time to catch the wave. It was amazing. I stood on my first try and it was a fantastic feeling to be standing on a wave. I caught the wave on the next try too and it carried me all the way up to the beach and then I finally fell off after holding on for a while as I tried to maintain my balance. So cool! I guess the trick to it is not to look down. Even when jumping up on the board from laying down and paddling, one is not supposed to look at the board. Just look at the horizon or beach or whatever and I guess it helps maintain balance. It worked.
When I fell off the board after surfing for a while, the wave knocked my earplug out of place. Water didn’t go down my throat (I have a hole in my eardrum if you didn't know it, and when I get water in my ear it can go down my throat. Yummy.) but it was a good indicator that I needed to be finished for the day. So I parked myself on the beach and watched the others surfing one wave at a time. Everyone caught a wave and rode it. Good teacher.
I’m so excited that I finally did it and was able to get up and stand on a wave. Walk on water. So amazing! I hope to have the opportunity to do it again and since I'm in Australia, it's entirely possible.
The following day, I went whale watching. It was great in a completely different way than surfing.
The humpback whales migrate north from the frigid waters around Anarctica along the coast of Australia to the warmer waters nearer the equator to give birth. As it happens, Byron Bay is right in the middle of the migration path.
While it wasn't exactly a National Geographic special where the whales are doing acrobatics and leaping out of the water 20 feet from the boat, it was still cool. We were just close enough to seem them spouting and just coming up and down for air and got to see a few tail flips and apparently there was a baby with one group. Not that I could tell but whatever. So we chased them around a bit, then followed another group for a while, then a third before heading back and watching the sunset from the boat. It was a good day and a fantastic weekend.
