So I met a really awesome girl from Germany named Anna and she told me about a surfing town outside of Melbourne! We hopped on a bus, then a train, then another bus and ended up in the quaint surfing town of Torquay. Known as the "surfing capital of Australia", it was a great place to catch my very first waves. We went to a local surf store and rented boards and wetsuits for 2 hours and headed down to the beach! Anna had been surfing before at Torquay and said she would teach me the basics that way we wouldn't have to pay for lessons. She actually was pretty good considering it was only her second time catchin' waves! She stood up on her board a few times and taught me how to stand up to (hypothetically).
I was excited to try surfing but quite nervous! I mean I was swimming in the ocean in Australia. There's sharks and killer jellyfish out there! It was also terribly cold in the water!! But I was brave and I had a wetsuit to protect me from jellyfish and cold, and I jumped right on in! The coldness of the water did take my breath away at first but I got used to it quickly. I started off shaky in the waves...they were pretty big! While we were in the smaller wave zone, the waves were still bigger than I have ever swam in! It was crazy hard trying to stand up on the board but after about 20 attempts I sat up on my knees and rode a wave in! I was thrilled! I did that a few more times before I was finally able to stand up! I stood up for about 15 seconds which was so extremely difficult! I fell off and cheered really loud! I was pumped! I stood up about 3 times after then was so exhausted I needed to take a break! We only had the boards and suits for 2 hours which didn't seem like a long time but after an hour of battling the waves I was dead on my feet! We finished out the two hours and walked our boards back to the shop and called it a day!
The before photo!!
The after picture..can you tell we are exhausted!
It was so much fun getting to try something that has been on my bucket list forever! I may not be a professional surfer, but I'm on my way!! Just give me another 20 years maybe! And skills. And a good sense of balance. :)
Till next time!!
Mackenzy
