CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

March 11, 2023 — It was a little tough — though not nearly as hard as I thought it might be — to wake up for my 8:45am pickup time for surf camp after such a late night — certainly one of the latest and absolutely the most active I have had since arriving in Australia.

I had sorted out quite a few things the night before, so I just had to put my bathing suit on, toss a pair of shorts and a shirt over top, grab my towel, and sling my backpack over my shoulders. I had granola bars on tap for breakfast because I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of (a) time or (b) ambition to have much of anything else.

Wake Up! was the first pickup of the morning, followed by Backpackers by the Bay and Art House. Once those were all complete, we headed to the Soul Surf storefront just across from the ocean. We didn’t actually surf in Byron, though — we headed to Lennox Head, a beach about twenty minutes from Byron, where it was much quieter with lots of space for everyone to work and learn.

On this first day, we had three instructors — John, Andy, and one other whose name I can’t quite recall. We also had the store’s surf photographer with us! I was really pleased with the way this worked: we were able to purchase photos if he was able to catch good ones of us. We got 5 photos for $25.

I was part of the beginner group (duh) and we worked on the whitewater waves. These are waves that have already broken and are some of the easiest to surf as beginners. We did a quick safety talk, stretched, watched the waves and identified where the best spot would be to set up shop, practiced standing up on the sand, and then filed out in a diagonal formation to start catching waves.

I started the day with a wetsuit because I didn’t know how scuffed up I might get along the way. About halfway through the lesson, I ditched that because the zipper kept falling down.

It’s crazy how much harder it is to stand up on a moving board than one that is stationary! Although it makes sense that it would be more difficult. By the end of the day, though, I was able to stand a few times (key is to go more downward dog for me, then step one foot to the back before swinging the other around to the front) and when they called one more wave I actually managed to catch one by myself.

I purchased my day one pictures so, cur the montage!

It was a lot harder to stand up than I thought, though, and I was somewhat discouraged at the end of the lesson because I’d really only managed to stand a few times in the two hours we were on the water. Like anything worth doing, though, practice makes perfect.

On the way back to the shop, we stopped at the tea tree lake. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a lake which has tea trees all around it such that the oil leaks into the lake and imbues it with the natural, good properties of tea tree. It’s really good for your skin, your hair, and is really relaxing and refreshing after spending a couple hours in salt water rife with currents and crashing waves.

We made it back to town shortly after one p.m. I checked Google Maps for the walking time to the main bus terminal and figured that I would probably miss the shuttle bus back to the hostel. Instead, I decided to take some time to air dry and also to do a little shopping. I poked into a few shops and even tried a couple things on at Roxy but didn’t really have enough luck to shell out money. I stopped by the Aldi grocery store and picked up some things I needed before I walked to the terminal and got the shuttle bus back to Wake Up! Byron Bay.

I made a couple of sandwiches when I got back to the hostel and ate them, then curled up in my bunk and watched a couple movies. Eventually, I dropped off into a nap, which made perfect sense considering my late night the day before and the intensity of surfing.

After waking up, I made some dinner, then did some writing and blog work. I called home after this and then went to sleep.

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