Surfing, Day 3

The best yet! I'm glad I decided to book a three-day trip - I was a bit nervous about the prospect of three days after the initial exhaustion of one day's surf, but it was definitely the right way to go.

Day 3's instructor was Phillipe, from Tahiti. Phillipe had graduated from UNSW only three years ago with a degree in Finance, so he knew all about the campus, the classes, etc. We had the same surfing truck, but managed to fit two girls from Canada, a girl from Staten Island (with a *wonderful* accent...), a group of four from Germany, and an au pair from France. I chatted with the au pair a bit, seeing as Sandra is about to do the same thing in the U.S. I was really glad to hear she was loving her experience so far - she had spent some time in Perth with a family there, and was now living in Sydney.

When we got to the beach, we met another instructor, since the group was a bit bigger. The other instructor took all of the first-day surfers, and Phillipe took the four of us from UNSW (one of the UNSW students left for Tasmania since Day 2). He gave us an overview, but again went over some (relatively) more advanced concepts, including catching waves before they break (as of that point, we had only caught the waves after they crash and turn white). So I was really keen to catch a "green" wave, or ride "greenwater," as they call it.

The morning of Day 3 consisted of more practice - riding the waves and getting better at standing, turning, etc. I had gotten pretty good by then, so I started having fun - I managed to stand at the front of my board with my feet together in a T shape! The instructors paid more attention to those students who weren't having as good fortune, particularly the students who couldn't stand up on the board yet. So I didn't see a lot of personal attention, as I was doing pretty well.

Phillipe, in between helping students, would occassionaly go out and catch a giant wave. Well, these guys have been surfing their entire lives, and even though he's probably only 26 or 27, he's been surfing 20 or more of those 26/27 years. So I had a good time watching him surf. One of my favourites was a mega wave that he caught real early, much before it broke. He comes riding in, stands up and turns around, then turns back. Then, he stands on his head and takes his hands off the board - so he was touching the board only with his head! It was unebelievable! Then to make it even more impressive, he grabs the board again, somehow manages to stand back up, and rides out of the wave as if it's nothing. So amazing! Really cool to watch.

Well, after lunch, Phillipe said he was taking me out to ride the bigger waves. He noticed that I was doing pretty well riding the smaller whitewater, and he wanted to try some greenwater. It meant paddling way out, though, as anywhere in between the beach and 200 feet out or so meant you'd have the waves crashing on you, which makes it impossible to ride. So he taught me how to paddle out, and I sit up on the board and we wait for a wave. A few giant waves come, and he says, "Get off." Now I can't see behind me too well because I'm focused on the shore, ready to paddle and get going. About three seconds later, this wall of water smashed down on the board and sprays salt all up in my face! So I learned to trust Phillipe real fast.

Well, it took a lot of waiting and three tries before it worked, but I rode a green wave! It was excellent, so much faster than the little guys, and way more thrilling. Harder to balance, but so worth it.

So the three days of surfing culminated in a great greenwater wave.

What an awesome time.

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