Bryon Bay

Having arrived in Bryon Bay we made our way to our Airbnb for the next 4 days. This one was with a couple who were from Italy and Brazil who seemed very nice and did tell us that there is not much to do in Bryon Bay when its not sunny. Luckily for us it was sunny so after a quick run to the supermarket for some essentials we went for a cheap Thai meal down the road and walked around the town for a bit. The first thing we noticed about the town were the hippies and stoners who seemed to mix well and embrace the many backpackers who visit the area.

The next morning we got up for our first surf lesson at Black Dog surfing. We arrived at the shop to be suited up with our “rashies”, which are essentially wet suit tops. We then headed out with 8 other people for the lesson which was to take place at an area called “the pass”. The group was split into two, those who had never surfed before and those who had, including those who were on the 2 or 3 day course. There were 5 newbies in total, including us, and Dom, the instructor, went through the techniques of surfing and looking at the different types of surf to look out for. We also practiced jumping up on the board which was pretty fun. Just before we were going to head out into the water the other group came back as it was too rough so they decided to call off the rest of the lesson and try again in the afternoon. We headed back to the pass in the afternoon to try again and this time it was a lot calmer. The lesson involved the instructors lining us up for a wave and pushing us on to the wave. This allowed us to stand up and both Rich and I managed to get up on our first time. Then over the next hour and a half we perfected our techniques and even rode a couple of waves into the beach. We were knacked by the end of the lesson but we decided to go out to a local hostel where they had a couple of offers on so we had some cheap tacos and beer and even joined in on a ping pong tournament.

Lesson number 2 also took place at the pass but this time we were in the second group meaning we hit the water first. However this time there were only the 2 of us in this group and 8 newbies in the other group. Our instructor took us out into a fairly deep bit to show us about paddling and the first few waves he helped us get by pushing us while we were paddling and telling us when to get up. However this was a real struggle as the current was really strong and knocked me off my feet a few times. After a few pushes and talks the instructor went to help with the other group and we kept trying to catch a few waves. We managed to catch a few waves ourselves and learnt a few things that you shouldn’t do. Towards the end of the lesson the tide was going out which made it a little easier and the instructor gave us a hand a couple of times, Dom even managed to get me to ride a back wash wave meaning I was surfing it out to sea, rather than to the beach which was fun.

The final day of our course took place at a new beach called “the wreck” which was along the main beach. Again the class was split into two and Rich and I were the only ones in the more advanced class. We went out with one instructor to work on our paddling again. This time the current was far less severe but the waves were a lot bigger. We managed to get several waves and the instructor gave us some more hints and tips to improve our techniques. We carried on catching waves for the whole class and really improved but we did probably fall off more in this one lesson than in the other 2 combined because the waves were soo large and powerful. It was loads of fun though and we didn’t want the lesson to end.  The next day however we woke up battered and bruised from 3 days of surfing and we have decided to give it a few days before we jump back on a surf board so we are heading to Brisbane to pick up our campervan for the next 5 days to drive down to Sydney with a few stops on the way.