Surfing in Australia!

April 1, 2011

­­­Whenever I used to hear the word Australia, the first thing that came up to my mind and still does is Surfing! I had always wanted to surf, that was actually on my list on “One of the things I want to do before I die.”I am glad that I finally did it. Before letting you know about my super exciting experience I want to give you more information on surfing. Surfing is a water sport in which the surfer rides the board on the crest of the wave and carries him/her to the shore. The best time to surf is in the morning, because besides not having too many people on the beach, that’s the right moment when the waves are at a perfect speed and when the wind isn’t strong. A very interesting fact that I learned from my surfing instructor is that, local wind conditions affect wave quality, since the surface of a wave can become choppy in blustery conditions. Ideal conditions for surfing include a light to moderate offshore wind, because it blows into the front of the wave, making it a barrel or a tube wave. I have told you enough about this sport; now let’s talk about my experience. Today I woke up super excited at 6:00 AM because our coach was going to be waiting for us at the wake up hostel at 7:15 AM. He drove us to Manly Beach, so it took us about 30 minutes to get there. We finally got to the beach put on our wet suits, and practice our surfing, but in the sand. He made us practice how to paddle, control and stand up on the board. I find it very interesting that it only takes 3 steps to surf which are: paddling, getting up and standing. First you have to paddle, but not too fast because then you will get to tired. To get up, you have to put your hands on the edges of the board under your chest and do a mighty push up. Let’s say you made it up on both your feet. You always ride the board sideways not facing the nose of your board, your feet should be on the stringer, knees slightly bend and arms out for balance. I memorized these steps and finally after practicing 20 minutes on the sand, we finally got to surf on the water. It took me two hours to finally stand up on the board, but gosh I have to say is the best thing ever! I felt incredible. There is no other feeling like standing up on a surf board. After four hours of surfing we all felt very exhausted and hungry so we headed for lunch and back to our house. I am definitely surfing again, once you do this sport it becomes pretty addictive.