A Beach of My Own

For the past 2 weeks, I have been attempting to surf.  I emphasize the word "attempting" because up until this week I have been quite unsuccessful.  Every time I went, I just got frustrated.

The beaches in Sydney and in Newcastle are all quite crowded, which means the places with good surfing waves are full of people.  This makes it extremely difficult for a beginner.  I spent pretty much the entire time paddling around trying to find a gap in the people where I could try and catch a wave.  Then I would be so tired from paddling that when I tried to actually catch a wave I would be unable to get up the necessary speed or someone would have moved in front of me so I was too afraid to ride the wave for fear of hitting someone.

I kept this up for almost 2 weeks, determined to get the hang of it but becoming more and more frustrated.

Then I discovered Glenrock Beach.  I had checked it out once before, and it was full of kids from the nearby Scout Camp, so I didn't bother trying to surf.  But on Monday, I went back after seeing more people at the major beaches than any previous day.  There wasn't anyone at Glenrock.  It was just me and a small family (not surfing) on the whole beautiful beach, and perfect waves rolling in just asking me to ride them.

Excitedly I threw on my wetsuit grabbed my board and jumped into the ocean.  I paddled out to where the waves were breaking, spun around and waited for the next wave to break.  Then the unthinkable happened.  I actually caught the wave, and stood up.  Just like that.  I rode the wave almost all the way to the shore.  Then I paddled back out, and did it again.  I was actually surfing!  I couldn't believe how easy it was.  For almost 2 hours I caught one wave after another.  Half the time I was laughing out loud, overcome with excitement.  Surfing is just too much fun.

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