Masters of the Sea

Don't worry, dear readers. R is warding off technology, but M is not. I'm still here for you, as diligently as ever.

We've had a lovely couple of days. The weather has been perfect. No clouds, sun shining all day, slight breeze blowing.

Yesterday, we went sea kayaking. Sea kayaks are particularly long, and heavy. It makes them sturdier when in the waves. I'm glad of it, because I would have gotten trashed a few times had it not been so. But it was so much fun. We were out for over two hours, including a lovely stop at a beach for cake. It was just the two of us, and the couple who runs the business. They had the technique, Robert had the strength. I lack both of those, so I was by far the slowest in the group. I mean, it could have been much worse, but I did struggle to keep up a few times. And my rudder kept coming out of the water, making steering impossible. Robert and I each fell in once, but he tries to say that I failed more than he did, of course. Maybe he just fell in to make me feel better about it... but probably not. Kayaks have a tendency to fall over, let's be serious. But overall, it was a lot of fun. We got to see the harbour in a whole new way, and explore. We went through this tunnel covered in oysters, and saw some birds. We had some good conversation, and got quite a bit of sun. Someday, I'll invest in a kayak.

Today, we finally got to go surfing. The weather was beautiful. The sand was warm, and the water was perfect. The denizens of Newcastle have commented many times that they're sorry for the bad weather lately, which just boggles my mind to imagine it being any nicer here. Yeah, there have been a few rainy days, but it's been gorgeous overall. And the water, compared to the other times I've been in the ocean, is plenty warm. These people would die in Logan.

So we got to the beach, and wandered about a little until we found the guy. We got in our wetsuits, and walked down the beach, past the area designated for swimmers. There, we got our boards, and went over paddling and saftey stuff on land. I felt silly pretending to paddle on the sand, but it had to be done. We practiced going from laying to standing, but it's something you can't really practice. It's completely different when you're in the waves, and the ground isn't stationary. But he didn't keep us on land for too long. We got out on the water pretty quickly.

Robert got up on his first try, but it took me a few more. I think I had about 5 good runs. Robert had more than that, and the teacher commented how good his balance is. I wasn't surprised. He was pretty surprised to find out that I'M the one that snowboards, not Robert. Haha. But neither of us were particularly good at it. It's very difficult. It's about timing, and balance. And it's just plain hard to stand up, and stay up! But on my very last run, I actually felt like I was carving on snow. It was solid. It's not the same as snowboarding, but there are similarities. Once you actually stand up, you have the same stance, with a straight back and bent knees. But you can move your feet, which resulted in my slipping off the board many times. And when you fall off, you have to just let the waves have their way with you, and wait for it to calm down to gather your board again. Good thing it was strapped to my leg... It's also surprisingly hard to get out far enough into the ocean. The waves just grab you and your board and try to take you to shore.

So we were successful, overall. We treated ourselves with ice cream after lunch for standing up on surf boards. And the teacher said we did very well, and there are people that come time after time, and still can't even stand up, which we were doing within a half hour. So now that we have the basics, we can just take boards out and give it a go on our own. The hostel we're staying at has boards we can use for free once we've had a lesson, so hopefully we'll find time to do that a few times before we leave.

We came up with a plan for the next week. We're leaving here next Tuesday morning, and heading to Port Macquarie. We'll stay there for 3-4 days, then head to Coff's Harbour, where we'll actually be staying with an older couple that a friend I met here hooked us up with. They live right by the beach, and love to have visitors apparently. It'll be nice to have a real house, with good showers, a home cooked meal, and laundry!

Sorry this is short, but I wanted everyone to know that we conquered the sea. Kinda. We kayaked in a harbour, and stood up a few times on baby waves. But hey, that's not too bad for two kids from Utah, right?

M.