Catching waves

I had the best sleep last night.  I fell asleep shortly after I went to bed and woke up on my own at 7 am. Felt like a million bucks. My first full night sleep in four nights.

We had b-fast in the lodge at around 730...I just had toast again...At around 830 we walked up a long path from our lodge to a lookout point where we took a 20 minute yoga class looking out over the ocean. It was awesome.

Then we headed up the hill a bit further to what looked like a large empty warehouse of sorts. There we all took a dry-land lesson on how to surf. They taught us how to paddle and how to stand up. After that, we boarded the bus to the beach.  The drive was only about 10 min or so but the views were incredible. We drove down a winding road all along one of the largest and most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. It seemed to stretch for miles.

At the beachfront, we were fitted with wet suits, did another dry run and off we went. There were 4 or five instructors and about 18 of us so they took turns coming around and helping us "catch waves". At first I was a little frustrated.  I really wasn't sure when to paddle, when to stand, and the waves were knocking this little body around!  Gradually I got the hang of things and was able to stand up and ride several waves on my own. It was a lot of fun but also a ton of work. I defintely think I lost a few pounds...and swallowed about 5 litres of salt water!

After the surf, we took the bus into town and spent about an hour there. We had a bagged lunch which a few of us ate by the water  it was a gorgeous day. They say it was about 22 degrees maybe but the sun is sooo strong. It was HOT.

At 130, I headed out on another adventure...paddle boarding.  I had a guide all my own which was nice and the guide was an interesting character who had a lively career...he was a crazy surfer who now has his own rental shop and also is trained as a carpenter and spent some time as a stunt man for movies! He described himself as an adrenalin junkie.

Basically, paddle boarding involves standing up on a large surf board and using a long paddle to paddle around. Its a lot easier to master than surfing. I basically did that for about two hours. The scenery was beautiful but  I was reaching my fill of sun for the day. After all that activity,  I returned to town and then back to the lodge.  To say I was tired would be an understatement!  After chatting, showering and then packing up some bags, I finally had some time for blogging.

The beach where I surfed:

Update:  This evening we had a BBQ at the lodge, prepared for us by our surf instructors!  These Kiwis take their BBQs seriously. It was delicious. The three guys that came made orzo salad, garlic bread, green salad and grilled chicken, sausage and lamb chops. Lamb is big in NZ so I tried some even tho I have never enjoyed it before and have something against eating baby animals.  Anyway, I think I confirmed that I still don't like it!  Nevertheless everything else was delicious.  After dinner we all sat around chatting for a while and then me and one of my bunkmates decided to call it a night. I can hardly believe I'm writing this in bed at 930 at night. this is so not like me.  Anyway, time to rest. Another big day tomorrow. We leave this town and head to a new place so I may not have internet access for a couple of days.  Tomorrows adventure: tubing through caves and exploring glow worms!

Night all...or good day wherever you are.

T