Surfing Bootcamp

I woke up early; the jet lag had not worn off yet.  That at least gave me time for breakfast.  Breakfast was the same every morning; it consisted of porridge, bread with various spreads (peanut butter, Vegemite, butter, etc.), fresh fruit, and cereal.  It was a sort of grab-what-you'd-like basis. 

Time for the lesson.  We walked to the area with all of the surf equipment.  It was a very chilled out area.  There were hammocks and picnic tables to sit on.  On the wall in front of the picnic tables there was a painting of waves and a list of safety rules to follow.

Colin was my first instructor so I already felt a bit more comfortable.  After going over the rules, we put on wet suits, grabbed our boards and headed out to the beach.  

There we traced our surfboards in the sand and began practising our pop-ups a little bit at a time. We were told repeatedly to to start over and try again.  One instructor, Josh, even said, "Welcome to boot camp."  I think repeating the motions and steps to popping up on your board really helped a lot when it came time to get in the water.

We all struggled right away.  You had to get used to the movement and the way the waves took you.  Eventually, though, even if it wasn't pretty, just about everyone was able to pop-up and ride the wave.  It was definitely an exciting feeling because surfing just seems so exotic, especially to a girl from Wisconsin.

We finished with our morning lesson; it was time for lunch. Every day lunch was the same, like breakfast.  You were given a plate with either a tortilla, 2 pieces of sandwich bread, or both on it.  Then you were given 3 pieces of cheese--every time--and your choice of lunch meat.  At the end of the line was a table covered in ingredients to make your own salad. Along with potatoes.  I'm not sure what kind they were but they tasted amazing. It was a sort of tangy potato salad with mustard seeds in it.  I almost always got seconds.

After lunch we had another surf lesson, which really gave you confidence with each small improvement you made.  After your second lesson of the day, you're pretty worn out and are ready to just relax.  And wait for dinner.  Dinner Tuesday night: Moroccan chicken with vegetables.  It was just as good as the meal the night before.