Surf Camp!!!!

Hey everybody! SO its Monday night here and I got back from “Surf Camp" last night around 8pm…I have been in classes all day and am BEYOND sore from surfing so im very very tired but I want to tell yall about my weekend..

SO on Friday night we left Sydney around 6pm on a bus and got to the (gorgeous) town of Gerroa around 9pm. 

Gerroa, New South Wales

When we got there we were all introduced to the staff (all gorgeous Australian surfers)..they all had names like Hayden and Shayno…names you would expect hot Australian surfers to have…

There was one common area where everyone hung out and played music/ate/drank etc. The only rule they gave us was “NO Jack Johnson”..which I thought was funny.

The main area

Napping in the sun

THEN we got put in our rooms… which is where it got interesting...

The rooms fit 6 people max and we slept in bunk beds. It was very cabin-esque. The rooming situation reminded me of "Gwen Valley"...a (nature?) camp mom forced Sophie and I to go to as young children where we had to pick our own food in order to eat. I hated it. We made our own beds upon arrival and hand-washed all our own dishes...so it wasn’t luxurious by any means. However, the porches did have great hammocks to hang out in. 

Relaxing in the hammock on the porch : )

The cabins smelled extremely weird/unfamiliar and the blankets had stains on them and there were bottles under the bed...AND we also had to put our stuff in trash bags so we wouldnt get bed bugs. Kingsley and Crobs, you would have gotten a taxi back to Sydney ASAP.

Ishtar and I roomed with 4 guys. Drew (our senior RA from San Fran) and Peter (newest bff) are on our program and super great. 

Peter and I in our wetsuits..

The other 2 guys were complete strangers, Jason and Elmer….who we met upon arrival....

The first night we were there, Ishtar and I shared the bottom bunk (both curled up in balls) because we were so terrified of Elmer and Jason killing us while we slept…we ended up surviving through the night. Barely. 

It was pretty awkward/hilarious though because when the lights went off in our cabin and everyone was silent Ishtar and I honestly couldn’t hold in our laughter for probably 15 min straight. I know the guys wanted to murder us (specifically Jason). 

Enter Jason. Jason was a middle-aged business man that came to learn how to surf by himself…he didn’t say a word all weekend and stayed up late on his computer doing work (??)..he was extremely creepy and I basically saw him naked and I am twitching even thinking about him. He was very scary and unfriendly.

Enter Elmer. Elmer (who was in his 30s) just moved to Sydney last month from Austria (he misses his longtime gf). He also came alone to surf camp…which I think is extremely weird and creepy but im letting it slide for Elmer (NOT weirdo creep Jason). Elmer also sported a signature brown-colored weenie-bikini that I will never EVER forget.

Elmer ended up being the STAR of the trip and by far the best surfer!! J He also taught Ishtar how to dance the traditional Austrian “Vienna Waltz” (below). I feel very bad for judging him and thinking he was a serial killer the first night...I was very wrong. He was so sweet and eager to make friends/learn to surf!!

Sweet Elmer enjoying a beer : )

Elmer teaching Ishtar how to Waltz : )

We woke up at 7am sharp for breakfast on Saturday morning and then got our wetsuits on (truly my least favorite invention on planet earth) and walked to the beach. 

My particular wetsuit was a huge issue. There was a hole in the crotch-area which made it VERY uncomfortable to walk (im going to spare you the details). Bottom line, I am still limping very badly because of this effing wetsuit. I would rather shave my head than put another one of those things on my body again.

The wetsuits (aka death). 

After pulling those babies on, we spilt up into groups of 8 and learned the basics/got our surfboards.

Lucky for me, I was in the group with the 2 hottest surf instructors you can imagine (Hayden and Christian). The sun was out and it was like 65 degrees all weekend (so lucky!!) and the water was cold at first but you got used to it pretty quickly. I really think I want to move to a small beach town in Australia for at least a few months sometime before I die. They don’t care about anything and just hang out and surf and look hot and smile. They arent very clean though..

Anyway, we were all (for the most part) surfing within the first 2 lessons, which was awesome! The waves were pretty small so it wasn’t that big of an accomplishment but it was soo much fun!!

Ishtar surfing on the 1st day!!
We had two 2-hour lessons a day and they were constantly taking videos and pictures in the water and would put them up on the screen while we ate lunch and dinner which was very entertaining!!

The instructors thought I had a funny accent and couldn’t get my name down so they just referred to me as “Carolina.” We quickly became best friends and I really (truly) did fall IN love with every single one of them. OMG I miss them so much. 

Ishtar and I with (L-->R) Matt, Shayno, Paul, Christian, mustache man and Hayden!! <3

On Saturday night everybody walked up a huge hill to go to the “Fisherman’s Bar” (dad, you would LOVE this bar) to drink and hang out and watch the sunset. A lot of the locals hung out there…The staff told us the first night “don’t be alarmed by the toothless fishermen/women if they want to dance with you…they are harmless!”

"Bevvies" at the bar over-looking the beach/mountains/sunset

Ishtar and Peter (making an awkward face)

It was SO gorgeous and I got tons of great pictures! You could see the beach we surfed on and the mountains behind it and huge bright green pastures with adorable cows hanging out all in one view…plus the sunset! It was soo great!

"7 mile beach" where we learned to surf!!

A baby cow I met!

All in all, it was a ton of fun! The sleeping quarters were a bit rough and I don’t like waiting in lines and I had to do that kind of a lot but I got over it. Oh, and the wetsuits…especially putting them back on when they were wet (Kingsley you would have died)….not a good time. Those are my only minor complaints though! : ) I loved surfing, fell in love with 4 guys and laughed a ton! And met Elmer. 

Ishtar and I are planning to go to a beach 45 min outside of Sydney (Cronulla) in about a month and stay in a hotel/hostel and rent surfboards for the weekend! So hopefully that will work out! 

I will keep you updated with my next adventure in the coming days! I am going to the Sydney zoo (with Pascal!!!!!) and a Rugby game later this week so I will make sure to update the blog with plenty of pictures! Miss you all!! 

Xoxo, Bess

Ps- Hope Irene didn’t hurt too bad?! : /