Camp
There was so much that happened this weekend. There is no way I could possibly think I could ever recall and retell everything. But here goes most of it. We had to meet at the downtown campus at 745 SHARP. We didn’t end up leaving for Surfers Paradise until 830. After arriving we were told that we had to be back on the bus at 1215 and if we arrived at 1216 or 17 we would need to take a cab to Couran Cove our final destination on our trip. So Jay and I have begun to realize that there is a certain amount of “Australian Time” that you have to factor in. But lets get on with the weekend shall we?
Friday
After getting underway and making it to Surfers Paradise We got to spend some time at the beach. I was at the same beach a week earlier on a saturday, and the crowds were un-beleiveable. But this week it was the waves that were un-beleiveable. These things were huge, It was incredible to feel the force of these waves crashing down on top of you, and then the currents and rip tides that came with it. I still have not gotten over my shear terror of the water, with the crashing 8 foot swells, 20 foot long sharks, and jellyfish with their stinging tentacles. But we hung out in the water for about two hours getting tossed around in the waves.
We soon headed out to Couran Cove and straight into our first activity of the weekend, a natue walk. It was all talked up by the staff, telling us not to wear sandals and the brochure making it sound like it was going to be this hardcore three hour hike through the bush. But it was a 20 min boardwalk through the “rain-forest” all and all it was kinda cool learning a little bit about the area, Aboriginals as well as the native plant and animal life. We had a 7:00 group dinner scheduled were we had a host of group activities designed to help us meet as many people as possible.
Saturday
Early Morning Surfing Lessons were first up for the day. That was an incredibly humbling experience. I thought that my years of experience with wakeboarding, and snowboarding, my good balance, and growing up on the water would have proved to be more useful while trying my hand at this sport. But I was completely taken back. I respect surfers so much more now after this experience. Aside from being generally difficult, it is ridiculously exhausting. No wonder all surfers are super ripped, and in amazing shape. Even on the relatively small waves that we were catching, they would still knock you around and hold you under water tossing you around until the point of almost drowning you, then finally letting you reach the surface just before running out of air. All and all very demanding both mentally and physically.
But soon the fun was over, Jay and I decided to skip our Kayaking event, in favor of hanging out on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. My face decided this was a bad idea, I didn’t even think it was possible, but I burned my lips as well as my eyelids. We missed the last bus home, and had to run the mile back to our cabin from the beach to our cabin to make it in for dinner in time. In which we partook in some more “meet and greet” activities, before heading back to one of the cabins to party for a few hours with all of our newfound friends.
New Friends
I did end up making quite a few new friends which is cool, because I will have some people to hang out with here in brisbane. There were quite a few people from the US, tons of Germans, and surprisingly a bunch from Scotland as well. I ended up hitting it off with two kids who wakeboard from the us, one from Florida (who I had actually met before at Collegiate Wakeboard Nationals Last year, and one from Northern California. As well as a kid from Norway, Sweden and Portugal. The guy from Norway is having a BBQ at his house Thursday this week, so a bunch of us are going to get together here real soon which should be cool.
Sunday
Sunday we just decided to hang out at the pool until it was time to leave, and ended up involved in a two hour game of water polo with like 50 people. We said our goodbyes before heading our separate ways and I began the longest walk of my life. I had forgotten my map, could not remember what buss route went past my place, and my phone was dead. I have since learned that when you phone dies in a big city, it is much more dangerous then when it does at home. I ended up walking all the way from the southern most tip of brisbane all the way to the northern suburb of Herston which I call home. I was absolutely hating the city by the time I got home. I had found all the worst parts of the city, as well as probably the worst route home, because there were so many highways, and parks and areas I could not cross but instead had to walk around, turning a 5 min buss ride into a 2 and a half hour walk. I learned my lesson, and I will never do that again.
All in all it was a great weekend I met a lot of cool people from all over the world, and had a great time learning to surf and spending time at the beach. And I learned my lesson to always make sure my phone is charged, and I have a map!