Surf's Up

Surf camp this past weekend was one of the best experiences I’ve had during my time in Australia.

Australian Surf Tours picked myself and nine other UT students up from Central Station and we traveled about 4 hours south of Sydney to Bendalong Point. When we arrived the sky was pitch black and we were greeted with the most stars I’ve ever seen in my life.

When I say surf camp, I actually mean the camping part. We slept on cots in tents for two nights and embraced the nature that was around us. We even had a campfire on the beach one night.

Our weekend included three, two hour surf lessons with awesome instructors. I knew surfing would be hard, but I’m pretty athletic and figured I’d get the hang of it quickly. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t stand on the board until the second session, and I didn’t ride a wave until the third. Major props to professional surfers because it’s a lot harder than it looks.

Interacting with the wildlife was the highlight of the trip for me.

When I was younger I envisioned kangaroos to be everywhere in Australia. Kind of like squirrels in America. To my dismay, when I arrived in Sydney the closest place I could find a kangaroo was at Taronga Zoo. Sydney is like the New York of Australia, and if you want to interact with wildlife, you have to take a trip along the coast a few hours.

Bendalong is far enough from the city to be vibrant with wildlife. We practically shared a campsite with kangaroos. We fed them sunflower seeds and pet the ones who seemed friendly. We also got to feed stingrays that afternoon.

One of the best parts of the trip was being away from my phone for a whole weekend. With the exception of updating my mom, I tried to stay off my phone as much as possible. I have been spending so much time on my phone and the internet recently due to my internship, so I knew a weekend fully immersed in nature would be exactly what I needed to recharge.

After the weekend I’m nowhere near being a pro surfer, but I’ve gained a new interest. If I ever find myself living in a city close to a beach, I hope to improve my skills and pick up a new hobby.