I think it was Dec. 15th that I left Sydney for Melbourne and was picked up by our friend Brendon, who had his Landcruiser bursting the nuts and bolts holding it together. Topped off with boards on the roof and a ski in tow we would've fit well as a Central American bus minus the chickens.
From the airport we drove a lot of hours to catch the swell hitting N. Victoria/S. NSW. We arrived sometime around 2 am and it was pitch black, we were in the middle of nowhere, and I'd only been in Aus about a week so I was definitely still paranoid about animals. We pitched our tents and went to bed immediately in order to be up at the crack of dawn to get as much surf time in as possible. I'm not sure how long after I started dozing off that the "freaks came out at night", but I was jolted awake by major screeching right over my head. I lay frozen in my tent that started to feel less and less a protective body of armor and more like a house of toilet paper. There was all kinds of rustling, grunting, screeming, and a million other terms for sheer horror in Aaron's book. Needless to say I lay there rigid with chills running down my spine - needing to pee - and trying to not breathe but still breathing in gasps. I figured that I was laying on a T Rex nest and Jurassic Park was deciding whether to eat me or not and was fighting off some other creatures that were interested in me as well. Daylight couldn't have come any sooner especially since there were some fun waves coming in off the point and it wasn't very crowded. We hung around that spot all day just surfing, eating, sleeping and surfing. It was cool and once I saw the authors of the noises from the night before my paranoia began to diminish. I slept well that night and the next day we took off for more adventures along the coast.
We ventured out in the ski one day and attempted some tow surfing at a beach break. It was a lot harder than I had anticipated. I've been nervous to continue on with tow surfing, but now having had a break from it I'm ready to conquer my nemesis and become a proficient tower and towee. In regards to towing being a lot harder than anticipated I had no idea how nerve racking it would be to drive the thing as well. Basically the first month I was in Australia I was way out of my comfort zone in every aspect and have felt like I had three left feet. Now that I've had my initial experiences and am becoming accustomed to life here I'm starting to become more and more comfortable in everything.
As the swell dropped me made a desperation decision to camp at a beach that might have waves in the morning. The campsite we stayed at was insane. There was nothing around. A long beach came to a short cliff. The campsite was on the cliff and was very spread out. There were open grassy areas and clumps of bushes and small trees. There were Roo's everywhere! It was an amazingly peaceful setup. In the morning I woke and looked at the waves for about 3 hours deciding if it was worth it or not. Brendon got up checked it out and came back pumped up. If I'm ever lagging all it takes is for someone else to be more excited about surfing and then I'll forget about the last three hours I wasted sitting and pondering the crap in front of me and became the most enthusiastic gung ho surfer ever. So, we paddled out in the dismal 2 foot mush, but had a great time. I was out there marvelling at the landscape and working on my mind to change it's apprehensive timidity towards animal life and to just enjoy each day and to approach all circumstances with common sense and not to limit my enjoyment because of my apprehension. I think it was working when suddenly a massive shadow comes into my peripheral vision. My heart turns to stone which makes me top heavy and I start to go face first over my board. Just then the shadow is underneath me and it is the hugest ray I have ever seen. This thing would blow the discovery channel out of the water! I suppress a quick nervous chuckle and realize that I still have a ways to go in convincing my mind!
Sorry this section does not include Melissa since she was in Sydney working and taking care of supporting me while I was out being adventuress.
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