And... I'm Going to Face Plant.

This past weekend I got out of Sydney and headed up north for Mojo Surf Camp.  My roommate, another friend, and I took a six-hour bus ride north to Crescent Head, which is about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.  We had no idea where the bus was taking us and when we realized, with a little over two hours left that we didn't have phone service, it was going to be an interesting weekend.  Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best I've had here, even though it rained the whole time; I guess it turns out that surfing in the rain is pretty fun!


When we first arrived a camp, we were in awe at how there was nothing around us; we were in the middle of the bush.  We also couldn't see or hear the beach; that worried me just a little bit.  Now, I will be the first to admit that I like nice things and the fact that I was in the middle of the woods, with lots of spiders, other bugs, and possibly large snakes could have freaked me out, but it didn't.  Even when I saw a giant spider in the bathroom late at night, I managed to ignore it and run away.  I think the reason I loved it so much was how the camp was set-up.  There was a main house, where the instructors live, an outdoor kitchen, a bunk-house for us, and bathrooms.  It was the perfect place for a surf retreat.

In order to get to the beach, we had to take a path back through the woods for about five minutes.  I've never felt so secluded.  There seemed to be no other form of civilization for miles.  It was very peaceful and very very green.

Once we walked out of the jungle, one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen was right in front of us and we had it all to ourselves.  The instructors called the beach Big Hill Beach, because of the big hill on the right; we thought that was really creative. :)


Throughout the weekend, we surfed three times.  We woke up early Saturday morning for the first go and we were out on the water for about two hours.  We were all so exhausted after it that we thought we had been out there all day; it was only eleven.  I struggled a little bit standing up in the morning because I kept grabbing the rails which really messed with my balance on the board.  We went back for lunch and hit the waves again in the afternoon.  Despite the fact that my lats were killing me from paddling, I actually surfed all afternoon; it was so much fun!! All of us really started to get the hang of it and didn't have a problem catching the waves and riding them in.  The waves, by the way, were way bigger than we thought they were going to be.  Considering it was a camp, where a lot of people haven't surfed before, we thought we'd be at a beach where the waves were little and easy; apparently not.

That night we had a great barbeque in the kitchen and then we went back towards the beach and took another remote path to this awesome clearing with a fire pit.  We all hung out all night and had a blast getting to know each other around the fire, with the stars finally coming out behind the clouds.


The next morning, it was raining again but we still headed out for our last chance to catch a few waves.  The winds apparently changed because our instructors had to warn us to be careful with the undertow and that the waves were much more powerful.  Now, I'm not a very good judge of size, but let's just say the new waves were HUGE.  First of all, it was almost impossible to get past the breakers.  Second of all, it's a little intimidating when you try and drop into a wave and end up vertical with the ocean.  Quite a few times I fell face-first into a wave and accidently ended up body surfing with my board somewhere behind me until the wave smashed me into the sand.  In fact, probably half of the morning was spent watching person after person face plant and wipe-out with boards flying.  I was definitely nervous after quite a few disaster dumps; good thing I can hold my breath for a while.  I'm not sure any of us quite got the hang of the waves that morning, but we still had fun attempting the monsters!!  We had been planning this trip for a while and I'm so glad we finally got our act together and went!!!

Feels like Home... Almost.

Living in Sydney is finally starting to become routine.  I'm not sure if I'm sad that it's becoming so familiar or excited that I'm starting to feel apart of it all.  The good news is that even though I finally have a set schedule, I'm still in awe when I remind myself to look out our kitchen window every morning at the bridge and Opera House; this view will be one of my all-time favorites.  

The weather here is starting to get a little cooler because we are transitioning to fall.  The temperature now is in the 60 to 75 degree range depending on the time of day and sun.  All of us are realizing that we are definitely sticking out as Americans now because on the 60 degree days we show up to class in t-shirts and shorts and the Australians are in pants and jackets. Hopefully when their winter hits, it will actually be cold enough for us to wear jeans and sweatshirts because if not, they will begin to think we are crazy.  It has also been raining quite a bit more, even if it's just for 10 minutes every day; the first few weeks we were here there was no rain, so the majority of us are in a little slump because we miss the clear, bright-blue skies.  I'm aware that that sounds spoiled compared to everyone suffering in the freezing winter/spring at home, but I was convinced Australia was the most perfect place ever and now it may have a tiny flaw. Oh wait.. after it rains here there are always beautiful rainbows!!

This past weekend I got to experience my first rugby game.  We went to the Waratahs v. Chiefs game and it was actually really fun!  The stadium was huge but even though it was Friday night it wasn't very crowded so we found some good seats.  As cool of a sport that rugby is, it is difficult to follow any game when you have no idea what's going on.  There are two types of rugby in Australia: League and Union.  The game we were at was Union, and I'm still trying to learn all of the differences between the two.  Thankfully, one of my friends played in high school so he was able to give us enough of an explanation to be able to watch the game.  We cheered for the Tahs because we had signs and they were the home team; they won, so it was pretty fun with the crowd!   It was nice to experience something different after being here for so long.

Some exciting news for me, besides still having a blast in Australia, is that I'm going to New Zealand for 9 days for fall break!!  I just booked everything and I'm really looking forward to it.  Two of my roommates and another good friend are going as well in the big group through our program, so we should have an amazing time!