Surf Camp

So after being chucked out of Wakeup hostel on Sunday morning we easily managed to sneak back in during the evening and slept in my old room for the night. My bed hadn't even been taken so I slept in it again, free of charge this time! 

Monday morning we got on the coach to surf camp. 2 hour drive south of sydney to Seven Mile Beach, one of the best locations for learning to surf (literally 7 miles of shallow, rock free sand with easy waves). Surf camp is literally a camp of around 12 cabins with a covered breakout and dining area, nestled within an Australian holiday park. 5 minute walk to the beach. Plenty of sandwiches and BBQ food included as well as tea and juice, so making sure I'm getting my money's worth  as per the usual. Had lunch and an introductory surf lesson in the afternoon.  Very windy and cold rainy weather. Not impressed. Managed to get the hang of surfing pretty quickly and stood up on the board a few times. Looking forward to the rest of the week but really hoping for some sunshine. Since 5pm its been heavy rain and stormy winds!

Tuesday and Wednesday

Heavy rain all day and night. No let up. Surfing in the rain and wind but technique getting better. Improving with each lesson. Aching arms, multiple injuries and getting repeatedly slapped in the chest and face by huge waves starting to take its toll by late Wednesday.

Thursday. Mother Nature 1 -  Adam 0 

Sunny all day bit still very cold in the shade and still windy. Going out in to the sea a lot further back and catching bigger waves before they break. Additional injuries and now more than aware of how my clothes would feel as they are being tumbled around in the washing machine. It's not so much fun when you have a crushing force 10x stronger than you battering you every 5 seconds.

Surfing is actually a lot easier than I thought but also more frustrating and dangerous than I thought. And that's not even adding in the risk of sharks to the equation. Its best just not to think about it and stay in the group but my eyes are always wandering and playing tricks on me, making out shadows in the water! 

In summary...a lot of perseverance and practice needed but the thrill you get from catching the right wave is very enjoyable.

Friday

Quick morning session. In the water for 8:45 am. Caught a few decent waves from the back. Landed a 180! Had last lunch and set off back to Sydney. Checked into our new hostel for the night which is so different compared to the last one. Smaller, cheaper, quieter, friendlier, and free Internet. Just what we need for the night

as I write this post. Me and Tom are so exhausted from the surfing that we are hitting the beds soon. Just trying to book a hostel for tomorrow night. We are flying up to Cairns tomorrow afternoon which signifies the start of our east coast trip. We can't wait for some warm weather! Too cold and windy in sydney! Feels too much like home haha.

Surf Camp Injuries list:

Small Chunk taken out of right toe. Saltwater stings!

Long toe of left foot possibly fractured. Extremely bruised. Purple.

Multiple bruises on knees and waist from surfboard smacking into me.

Left tricep still not recovered from gym session. Strained.

Chest muscles strained. Stinging pain when breathing and coughing. 

Cocksicks badly hurt from play fighting on the beach with Tom. Landed badly on them. Can't sit down properly without horrible pain.

Cough/cold/flu/sore throat going around

Sore head after being crushed by a wave and had the fins and surfboard cracked me on the back of the head while tumbling in the water.