Surfing...

Today marks the one week mark until I leave Australia and return home.  Before I leave I knew there was one Australian thing that I wanted to experience firsthand.  Surfing – one of the most popular Australian hobbies and pastimes.   Etienne has access to a surfboard, so we went down to Alexandra Headlands Beach, also known as Alex Head which is a popular place to go surfing.  Supposedly when learning to surf, you should use a long board because it is easier.  Unfortunately, we only had a short board so of course my first surfing experience was pretty rough.  First off, the current was really rough today.  The lifeguards even had a red flag up on part of the beach that said “no swimming” but there were plenty of surfers and swimmers out in the water anyway so we joined too.  The conditions were definitely not good for beginner surfers, but we tried anyways.  Lets just say that I drank a lot of salt water and wore myself out completely just trying to fight against the harsh waves.  I mainly just ended up using the surfboard as a boogie board since every time I caught a wave I could ride it for a little while but not stand up without losing my balance and falling off almost instantly.  I managed to get up on my knees a few times but even that didn’t last long.  So I find it safe to say that I won’t be becoming a professional surfer anytime soon, but it was a good experience.  I mean how many people can say that they first tried surfing in the surfing country of the world, Australia?  Today was definitely a great day, spending time relaxing on the beach and in the water and even trying some surfing.  I’m sure going to miss living so close to such beautiful beaches.  Australia really is such a paradise. 



Getting pulverized by the waves







Failing at surfing