Lancelin Surfing Trip (out of song lyrics)

...click on the photos to expand them...



A few weekends ago we went to a weekend surfing camp up to Lancelin, which is about 2 hours north of Fremantle/Perth. For only $180 we got two days of instruction, all meals, and even sunscreen. 8 of us US students went in a group, 6 domers and 2 girls from Sacred Heart who live in our dorm. There were also a collection of Brits, Irish, Swiss, and a German. We had to get picked up at 6:30am saturday morning, which was terrible as some of you know i am by no stretch of the imagination a morning person. we arrived at our destination after picking up the europeans in Perth and driving for around 2 hours. The drive was fun, as we finally were out in the bush. It was a mix of completely brown dead looking grassy pasture, and exotic looking shrubbery. We may or may not have seen our first kangaroos, as it looked like a herd of them were in a field off in the distance but they were so far away that they might have been farm animals instead. actually on the way back we saw one for sure, but it was roadkill. Apparently kangaroos are pests, the equivalent of deer back home, getting hit by cars and eating people's gardens.
Anyways we finally got there roughly around 9, applied sunscreen and zinc (a very aussie form of sunscreen... it comes in neon colors in a stick and you put it on your nose for extra protection), got issued our boards and rashies (rash guards) and wetsuits to those of us who wanted them and hit the beach. There was a really bad smell around the whole area which was most likely due to the mounds of seaweed washed up on shore but luckily we walked about a mile down the beach to get to the sandy non-smelly part. We got some instruction, some of which i knew already from surfing in hawaii, and some of which was actually very helpful. We then went out to try our skillz and then the fun began. With the new tips that i got combined with my prior, albeit brief, experience i found it to be so much easier than in hawaii. I stood up on one of the first waves i caught and i think i was the first one in the group to get up. After that we had morning tea, which was just a snack of fruit and granola bars to keep our energy up. The main instructor came over to me and had me switch to a shorter board bc he said i needed to challenge myself more, which of course made me feel special. He took me and another guy (an Irishman who surfs in Ireland a lot, go figure) out to the back of the lineup (past where the waves were crashing) to try and get the really big waves. It was a lot harder but it was cool to get a wave right when it was cresting and surf down the front of it. But then i would wipe out and get thrashed around underwater which wasnt cool. Then we had lunch, a classic Aussie sausage sizzle.
That afternoon they drove us inland to a massive sand dune area where we attempted sand boarding, which was basically snowboarding but with sand. The scope of the area was just massive, there was acres and acres of massive dunes like the one in the picture and they formed a sort of bowl in the middle of them all. people were riding dune buggies and motor bikes all over them. apparently scenes from the famous movie Gallipoli were filmed there. also, further down there is a section fenced off that the aussie military uses as a bombing range and also for war games. our instructor, Phil (one of the coolest guys around), told us that when US aircraft carriers come by on their way to the port they launch jets that are allowed to bomb there also. i really hope i get to see an aircraft carrier, he said its so big it looks like its own island city out on the water. the rest of the day was ours to do with as we pleased so while most of the europeans stayed back at the camp we went back out surfing to get our money's worth and came back right as the sun was setting. we all pitched in to make a dinner of spaghetti bolonese and salad which was amazing. after that we sat around and hung out, drinking a few beers and looking at the stars which were absolutely incredible. i've been out in the country in ohio and thought there were a lot of stars there, but that can't hold a candle to what we saw that night. I really can't describe it but it was just incredible to see millions of stars, it was more intense than a planetarium. there was a certain part that was packed more tightly with stars that ran across the whole sky, it was like we were peering out into the galaxy. we slept outside in swags, which are very aussie; they are traditionally what workers out in the bush slept in, basically just a canvas sack that you put your sleeping bag in.
sunday we got up early around 8:30 and surfed until around 2 with breaks for morning tea and lunch. i did really well that day, riding a few reallly far in; one i got out in the back and took it literally all the way in, it had to be around 100 yards. one time murph and i caught one and rode it standing side by side for around 60 yards, which was sick.
that's about all ive got on the surfing trip, it was a great time altho my feet, knees and hands got really torn up and i screwed up my elbow. we got back to freo around 5pm, ate dinner, and passed out from such a tiring weekend.

originally i was going to post about surfing last week but i never got around to it (oops), so now ive gotta throw in a little about this past weekend. there was a huge concert in the esplanade (the park across the street), the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival. it was a 2 day deal with multiple stages but the tickets were 125AUD for a one day pass, so i passed on that. luckily we could watch from the roof so i got to see OAR saturday morning and then sunday night we grooved to John Fogarty of CCR. it was exciting to have music and people around all day, and since we are so close you could hear it no matter where you were in the dorm, but its nice to have some peace and quiet for once.
this past sunday the our RS's organized a bus trip to caversham wildlife park. it was great, we got to feed kangaroos, pet koalas, and hold a big fat wombat. i'll post pictures eventually but as of right now it looks like there is a 5 pic limit.
thursday morning we are taking off for our easter holiday trip to the ningaloo reef and coming back monday so my next post will be all about that. sorry its been so long between posts, i know you are all craving to hear from me haha