A Lost Thong, A Forgotten Brush

Firstly, I want to apologize for slacking as a blogger. I have been so busy and we don't have internet in our rooms. We have to go down to the lobby of the apartment complex to log on. Also, I haven't posted any pictures either and I apologize about that (I'm not really sure how to post pictures on here). And I'm trying not to live this experience through a camera lense.

This week has been fantastic. We had class on Monday and I worked with two fellow students to put together a radio show package. We interviewed six Murdoch University students and asked them if they were the other sex for one day what would they do. You could imagine the responses we got. On Tuesday we only had a half day of classes so a few of us went to Scarboro Beach. It was a hot day, we spent a lot of time in the water. I tried skim boarding and fell right on my butt. I swear it won't ever be the same again. Then on Wednesday we woke up early for a class trip down south. We started the day at a lookoff point, where we saw the city of Busselton. We boarded a dolphin excursion boat and got close and personal with some dolphins. It was a beautiful day (but then again every day is gorgeous). In the afternoon we walked along the second longest jetty in the world (it was long...). At the end was an underwater observatory. It went as deep as an 11-story sky scraper. We were able to see some awesome sea creatures. It's a whole 'nother world down there! On the walk back my good friend, Will went ahead on the jetty to scare the rest of the group. When we passed, he came up from behind and was successful in scaring me (and some others) but in the meantime stepped on the back of my flip flop, which they call "thongs" in Australia. I turned around to put it back on and I saw it floating in the water (it was a windy day). I exclaimed "My flip flop's in the water!" Everyone laughed. I had to walk 3/4 of the second longest jetty in the world barefoot. Good thing I wear those cheap Old Navy flip flops. Will owes me $5 now.

That night we stayed overnight at Bunbery at a campsite. It wasn't hardcore camping but we did sleep in tents. We cooked dinner together and it was nice for all 30 of us Ithaca students to be together. The next day we woke early (after a fun night on the beach) and went to this awesome cave. I learned a lot about the formation of the cave and the stalagmites and stalagtites (ummm...I think that's what they're called). In the afternoon we went to a Eagle Preservation place where we saw these birds that have been taken in because they're injured or couldn't survive in the wild. It was a burning hot day. We then boarded the bus for a 3 hour ride home. I passed out that night.

ON FRIDAY I WENT SURFING!!! There aren't words to describe how freaking amazing this was. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I loved every minute of the weekend. We departed from the city at 7am and arrived at the beach house at 8:30ish. Now let me describe the beach house. It's one of those houses you see in the movies with two stories with wrap-around decks and as soon as you enter the second floor there is a pool table, a huge couch and bean bags, a plasma tv, and a long table with a dozen chairs. In a sense it was a dream bachlor's pad. The six of us bunked together and shared the house with about 20 other people from around the world, including Germany, New Zealand, Holland and France. After setting our stuff down and getting a short demonstration on how to surf, we shimmied into our wetsuits and applied our sun block and hit the beach. The day was perfect- the sun was shining and the waves were calm. After several nose dives and wipeouts, I surfed my first wave in before lunch. It was all uphill from there (or you could save up wave...). We surfed for about 6 hours that day and when we returned to the beach house we filled up on cheap wine and beer- most of us drunk before 5pm. What a great day!

The next day, Saturday, didn't bring the same weather. It was cloudy and the waves were a bit stronger, but we still headed to the beach around 8am and surfed the day away. I rode a ton of waves in and worked on my technique. The sun came out in the afternoon and the surf camp ended perfectly. Our instructors were so enthusiatstic- they were so excited when we were successful! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It's one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I will never ever forget.

I forgot my brush in the bathroom of the beach house (oops! but I had baaad surfer's hair). I like to think a part of me will always be at that house, surfing those waves.

Sunday I woke up with a fat lip, bruises and sore arms. I felt like a true surfer girl. We took the day easy, just walking the city and shopping around. I got my haircut- about 4 inches off. In this heat I couldn't stand the mane of hair I was growing out to donate. So the donating will have to wait.

Today was a "Media Frenzy day" and we learned how to put together a television show. It was fun. After class we took a two hour bike ride around King's Park (Central Park equivalent). So the reason I'm rambling now and this blog isn't making much sense is because I'm exhausted.

I will end with what the main surfing instructor told me. "There are three things that make a surfer a great surfer- passion, opportunity and stoke. The passion to want to surf and the opportunity to surf are pretty clear. Stoke isn't something that can be defined, it's just a feeling that only true surfers can understand."

I totally have the stoke.