Surfing

Today was the day I overcame one of my irrational fears (sharks) to go surfing. Yes friends! Me, the person who hates to go in ocean water when it is deeper than my chest, actually surfed at Manly! I decided to do it despite my knowledge of shark attacks on surfers gained through hours of watching Shark Week. In the end, it was tons of fun and I didn't get attacked by a shark! I kid, I kid. Also, I was a total n00b. The instructors thought I was so bad that they apparently felt it necessary to switch my board to something more "stable." I didn't think I did much better with the new board but I guess it made them feel better, haha. I definitely think I would like to do it again with a rental board, though.

The bad thing about today was that it was pretty rainy and COLD. On the way there, I was cursing myself for doing this because I was dreading have to get in the cold water and risk my life and limb against shark attacks. There were about three other guys who were beginners and then two repeat people. One of the guys was from Madrid and when I asked his name he said, "Carrrlos" (the extra r's means he rolled it). Ack! The dreaded r-rolling that I never mastered came back to haunt me. I told him I was only going to be able to say it without the exotic r-rolling, haha. The school provided us with wetsuits and surf boards, and the water was actually pretty warm compared to the outside, I must say. I took a picture of where we surfed:

The total time of lessons were from 11:30 til 1:30 and the culmination of my hard work was being able to stand up! Okay, so it involved having the instructor pushing me with the wave so I could catch it and sometimes holding the board while I got up. But I still got up, damn it! :) Where we were there was a pretty decent "rip" (rip current -- the strong bit of water that can cause drownings .. you can read about them here) and having to go fight through it to be able to "ride" some waves got me pretty tired. I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow morning!

If this picture of me in the ever-form flattering wetsuit doesn't immediately elicit thoughts of hot surfer girls then you must be normal... hahaha. :)