Surf Camp

This past weekend myself and three girls from our dorm went to an overnight surf camp. We got up at 5 am and took the train into Perth to catch the shuttle to Lancelin, which is a beach community about 1.5 hours north of the city, and well known for its waves.

When we met the shuttle we were suprised to be picked up by the quintessential hippy. Hydrogen peroxide dreadlocks, hemp shoulder bag, no shoes, etc.

As soon as we got up to Lancelin, we got wetsuits on and immidiately headed to the beach. There were 13 total students. The beach waas Edward Island Point Beach. This part had relatively low waves and was a good place to start. There were two instructos, and we got onland and in the water instruction. We surfed from about 9 - 11:30 when we had a break for some snacks, and then continued again from 12- 1:30. I could get up on the first day and take waves a little bit, and was the only one of the four of us that could do that.

At 1:30 we headed back to the camp site for some lunch, and relax after a tiring session. We grabbed some food and then took a little nap. Following we sent up our tents, and we decided that all four of us could sleep in a tent designed for two people.

We went to the nearby and popular Lancelin sand dunes. They are off of the water, and they are very large. They are the begining of a desert that stretches to the east. At the dunes we watched large 4x4s trying to get over the hills, and we sandboarded down the dunes (much like snowboarding but with sand). It wasnt too bad and was a lot of fun. There was a full moon and a sunset simultaneously while we were up there and it was very picturesque.

We headed back to camp and had a good dinner and played cards with the other people in camp. Following we went to bed, and realised that four people in that tent may have been a stretch. I had a good nights sleep, but noone else seemed to.

The next daywe got up early and had a light breakfast. It was cool in the morning and took some motivation to get up and into it. We headed to a different beach with much larger waves. We worked with the instructors with much the same schedule as the day before. The waves and the rips were much stronger and you took a pounding, but you could also get a better ride with more force behind you. There were a lot of really good surfers out also farther out and we could watch them getting thrown around as well.

It was a lot of fun, and I am really glad that I did it. I might be able to rent a board and work on some beaches around here for some more surfing. It was one of the things that I really wanted to do while I was down here, and really thought it was a good time.