Surfs Up!

Crescent Head Beach

So sorry for the delay in posts! I know it's time for a new one when I get a nice reminder email from my mom :)

Alice rehearsals finally began! We had our first read through a couple of Monday's ago, and it was so nice to be with a group of theater kids again. It's impossible to explain unless you've experienced it before, but I'm glad I chose this group of people to consume my time outside of class and traveling.

On Wednesday the Musical Society (Macms) went to Strike! which has lazer tag, bowling, and karaoke. I had a blast getting silly and competitive with everyone, and I even saw my first huntsman spider! Spiders in Australia are MASSIVE. There's one that is literally called a "mouse" spider, because it's about the size of a mouse. The huntsman is a bit smaller, and not poisonous, unlike most. It crawled across the windshield of the car I was in and I screamed at the top of my lungs and started to hyperventilate  I don't think my brain could compute that it was on the other side of the glass! Everyone in the car had a good laugh at me about that one :) I'm always happy to entertain! We played a couple rounds of bowling, a couple rounds of lazer tag (in a very small lazer tag arena, might I add...) and, of course, spent some time singing along to karaoke!

On Friday afternoon, Courtney and I made our way to Sydney to meet up with the other students heading to Crescent Head for the weekend with MojoSurf! I was pumped for this trip because it meant meeting tons of people outside of our school. Almost everyone on the trip was a part of GlobalLinks as well, but they all went to different schools around the area. Of course the very first person I meet when we get to the busses is from where? Ohio. Courtney and I made new friends and got ready for a very long 8 hour bus ride (including stops). When we finally arrived at the camp grounds, we picked bunks and headed to bed. There was no way I was sleeping in past my 7am surf lesson!

At a rest stop

By the time we got down to the beach in the morning for our first lesson, the view of the sun halfway up over the pristine beach, blue water, and majestic mountains was enough to stop me in my tracks. Views like that leave me in amazement that I've been presented with this incredible opportunity. I could not be happier with my choice to come to Australia.

Crescent Head Beach

We all quickly grabbed surf boards, went through a 10 minute (if that) lesson, and then went to body surf the waves to get a sense of the timing and feel of riding them in. Before I knew it we were paddling our boards out to the waves and making our first attempts at standing! Our instructors were so helpful. They made sure to help one of us at a time with lining up for the wave, getting momentum, and timing everything just right. Having them there helped me stay motivated to keep trying, even after I had nose dive, after flip, after wipe out, and my sinuses were thoroughly cleared. I managed to stand and ride a few waves in, but I never stayed up longer than 5 seconds or so before losing balance.

After our first lesson, we had a pretty big span of free time before lunch while the other two groups surfed, and we decided to hang out on the beach for a bit.

I took full advantage of the empty early morning beach and I practiced a bit of yoga to stretch out my muscles before our afternoon session. In the 9 years I've been practicing, nothing has come close to being on this beach.

Bliss

Eventually we wandered back to camp and had one of the mojo guys take us to a little remote cafe that was run by a different instructors wife. I plopped down in a hammock, ordered a smoothie, and lounged by myself in silence, soaking in the paradise. We then went back to camp for lunch (and reapplying sunscreen, of course), before heading down to the beach to go exploring. There was a series of rather large rocks that lead out to a huge rock with grass on top, and a group of us wanted to try to get out to the furthest rock. I'm always down for adventure, but growing up in my brother's daredevil footsteps has taught me to always keep safety and 'worst case scenario' in the back of my mind. After hearing that we had three lifeguards and multiple first-aid trained people going out, I decided to join (Mom, aren't you proud?).

The rocks (see the grass, waaay in the distance?)

We had to do a bit of swimming, and a lot of climbing sharp rocks, but we made it pretty far out. It was getting close to the time we were supposed to start our second lesson, so we decided to head back. Somehow, the lifeguards were split from the rest of the group, and I managed to get stuck in a rip current. After about a minute of trying not to panic, someone managed to pull me out, and I made sure to give my friends a piece of my mind about splitting off! It was all fine in the end though :) It was so great to find people who are as into going off to explore as Courtney and I!

I found some Ohio friends!!!

My second surf lesson was not as successful. I hardly rode any waves in, and I was getting exhausted  The instructors were being really great and pulling me out past the waves on my board, so I didn't have to fight against them :) After getting smacked pretty hard with a board to my back, however, I decided to come in a few minutes early. Everyone hung out on the beach for the rest of the afternoon, soaking in the sun and loving the views. After dinner we went back to the beach for a bonfire and beach party. Relaxing, star gazing, and dancing in the sand with all my new friends was the perfect end to an amazing day.

Beach Party!

Since we had the earliest surf lesson on Saturday, we were able to sleep in a bit longer for the latest lesson on Sunday. I was pretty anxious getting to the beach, after my less than grand second lesson, but as soon as I took my board out the anxiety washed away with the waves. I was still having some issues timing the waves and getting the momentum to pop up on them completely on my own, so the instructors were helping a few of us for most of the session.

At first I was thinking I wanted to do it all on my own, but then I realized I just wanted one really great wave, whether I was helped or not. So after getting adjustments and advice, and continuing to nose dive over and over, I finally went out and told my instructors "look, I just want 5 seconds, on a wave, standing, looking straight ahead, and I'll be ecstatic for the weekend." I set up for the next wave, listened to his timing instructions, popped up, and rode it in for what felt like an eternity. I even stepped off my board instead of the usual flailing jump! I was beaming! When I took my board back out for another go the instructor that had helped me swam up to me and said "12 seconds. you rocked it." My weekend was officially a complete success.

I can't help myself.
I'm well aware this looks more like the bicentennial Ohio than the TBDBITL Script Ohio.
Go with it.

I couldn't get enough of the water, even after I had to give my surfboard up, so a few of us went out into the waves and body surfed. Well, I more floated in the water in complete bliss, but I did body surf a few in :) I don't have any pics of me surfing because I was always facing the opposite way on my board from the photographer, so I decided not to buy the photo package. The drive home wasn't quite as long, only 6 hours (this time in the daytime to watch the breathtaking views of the country, mountains, and rivers), but I was so sad to leave Crescent Head.

The beautiful scenery, incredible friends, and personal victories over the trip made it one of the best weekends I've had in Oz. I'm not sure I'll find a way to top it! I returned to the village with sunburn, board rash, sandy hair, sore muscles, and a massive smile.

Cheers!
Bethany

ps. Photo credit to Emily Calandra, Brian Boyle, Brent Grundman, and Kate Ashcroft!

Time and Change Will Surely Show How Firm Thy Friendship OHIO