Big Wednesday

With all the children orientated activities on offer at the Big 4 campsite it was high time that the adults got to have some fun. A 'phone call to Harpo's Surf School and we were all set with surf lessons for 4 adults organised.  Big Wednesday here we come!

We met Harpo at Woolgoolga, a small town just a couple of miles up the road (where we had visited a beachside market a few days before), feeling a little nervous. We eyed the (gentle) waves with suspicion.

We needn't have worried. Naomi and I had the first one hour lesson, and after covering necessary safety issues mostly concerning the rips or under tows, which are common and strong on most Australian beaches, we worked on the technique of hopping onto the board.  We now know that if we get caught in a rip we should stay calm, and either swim across it, or let them carry you out into the sea from where you can swim back in safely (given the 2 shark attacks on the gold coast recently I wouldn't have fancied the latter option).  We also know how to grab the sides of the board, and hoik ourselves up to a standing position that looks like a passable surfing pose. Sounds simple, but there is a lot to think about. Going from lying on your tummy to standing up with your hips and body facing in one direction while looking straight ahead is not quite as easy as you might think, even on the little tiddler waves we were 'catching'.

Naomi, who was outwardly the most nervous amazed herself by managing to stand up on the very first 'white  wave' and I managed to stand up on the second one I 'caught'.

Saying 'caught' makes it sound like we actively selected our wave, paddled out in front of it, then grabbed the 'rails' (we know all the lingo now) and pulled ourselves up all of our own accord....but no, the first few we managed to 'ride'  were more a case of us lying flat on our tums while Harpo pushed us off in the right direction when a suitably tame broken wave was coming our way. We did have to stand up on our own though.  Only one proper wipe out was suffered by Naomi, but as much time was spent falling off the board as it was riding the 'gnarly' waves.

It was fantastic fun, made even more enjoyable by the fact that Naomi and I had grasped the basics easily and were able to find our balance and ride one white wave after another, even managing towards the end, to paddle and catch our own waves. Harpo was impressed and said that we had set quite a high bench mark for the boys to reach......awesome!

Hannah

P.S.  Harpo, our instructor, was a great teacher and was encouraging and helpful all the way. How he can tell that the reason you fell off was because your foot was facing the wrong way etc I can only guess is because 10 years as a pro surfer means that he knows a thing or two. Highly recommended.

OK so now it was the boys' turn. Andrew and I had patiently watched the girls' lesson while minding the kids and were very impressed with their success. Two parallel thoughts ran through our heads: the first was "that looks easy!", so settling our nerves a little, but then the other thought was something along the lines of "oh crap, they're really good at this, we'll never match that!" - which made the nerves worse. So, we donned the too-small, soaking wet, rash vests that the girls had just used, and went through the safety issues and technique points on the beach, before 'hitting the waves' (man).

We soon discovered that this surfing lark probably wasn't quite as easy as the girls had made it look - standing up on the board on the beach was easy, but once in the water Andrew and I both had a tendency to forget all that, compounded by what must be for both of us a natural lack of balance. After inventing my own move, known as the Woolgoolga washing machine, and practicing it several times, I did eventually manage to stand up and travel a short distance towards the beach, and repeat this feat enough times to allow Hannah to get at least one photo to prove it.

Andrew meanwhile was having less luck, although he did manage to get up and stay up a few times, but not enough for Hannah to get a decent photo to prove it. For both of us, continually over- or under-balancing, then flopping into the shallow water, was getting quite tiring, but it was still enormous fun and Harpo remained encouraging and helpful throughout.

At the end of the lesson we thanked Harpo before Hannah bounded up to me and practically demanded that we have another lesson before continuing our drive south towards Sydney. Fortunately Harpo was free at 10am the next day, so we booked it immediately. Big Wednesday was thus followed by Medium-size Thursday (because there were only two of us doing the lesson, not four). Hannah continued to do well, and even I managed to improve, graduating from the Woolgoolga washing machine to the Woolgoolga belly-flop manoeuvre.

After that we left Woolgoolga and headed south, with a vague plan to stop somewhere before Sydney when we got tired. To be continued...

Robin