When you think of surfing in Australia, you think of gorgeous sunshine and perfect waves rolling onto white sand. Now imagine the complete opposite. Rain, wind, thunder and lightening. Big choppy waves bringing onto shore parts of fallen trees and a drag that goes out for 50m. My instructor said it was the worst conditions he had ever taught in… in 33 years… brilliant.
Today I had my first surf lesson… in a cyclone. All the beaches around the Surfer’s Paradise area were closed (ironic really) and I was sure the lesson would be cancelled but nope, we drove 30 minutes south to Palm Beach and I surfed in a cyclone swell.
Mia and I had never surfed before. Pihla, the pro, had taken lessons in Bali but we were all clueless as we stood on the beach looking at waves which could only be described as ‘dirty’ by a passerby. They were bigger than me and the fact there was nobody else in the sea (or even the beach) was a bit disconcerting.
Apparently, surfing is a sport for short people so being only 5ft I thought I was in with a chance of not being totally pants. And I actually wasn’t too bad. I managed to catch wave after wave and stood up for what felt like ages but in reality was probably only a few seconds. The hardest part was getting out far enough to catch the wave; because the waves were so big and choppy this meant that the drag was extreme. It was definitely a workout and after 2 hours I was exhausted and ready for some dinner. So leaving with a bikini full of sand and salty hair (I felt like a proper surfer) we dragged our surfboards back to the van. All in all it was a success and I will definitely be hiring a board to practice more as I travel!
Annabel x
The Blonde Backpacker 