Sore nipples, Limbo, and Surfing at Mojo Surf Camp

Hello my lovely followers. I sincerely apologize for the lack of blogging, but it has truly been a crazy couple of weeks. I want to bring you up to speed on my latest endeavors here in Australia.

• I had my first Australian exam.
• As I was up late studying for it, and came back late from studying, I almost overslept it and missed it. Luckily, I have a trust friend that came and woke me up for it, and I think I did fairly well.
• I got back my first real Australian assignment.
• And did FABULOUS!!! I got a mark of Distinction, border line High Distinction, and my tutorial leader (?) told me I was very close to that higher mark and would be there in no time.
• I learned how to surf!!!!
• Read below!

So as my Friday, February 18th, approached and I anticipated surf camp all day like a child waiting on Christmas, I didn't expect it to happen like this. A hot pink, Mojo bus pulled up and a guy named Linton jumped off yelling "Who's ready to get crazy!?!?" If that wasn't enough excitement to get me going, I don't know what else could have added to it. On our way to Spot X in New South Wales, we stopped at a convenience store and perused through the candy aisles to see what Australian wonders we could find. I got a Crunchie, which was absolutely AMAZING! and we should totally get in the states, and some other type of chocolatey wonder. Australia's main chocolate manufacturer is Cadbury, which in my opinion tastes like cheap chocolate. I guess that's what I get from having Gramma Carolyn's annual Christmas and Easter gifts of Fannie May Chocolates.
After reboarding the bus, and listening to some very interesting Australian Hip Hop and lame Australian jokes, we continued onward. We switched drivers to a very funny Mate named Al who told us "This is my first time ever driving one of these things. If anyone wants to try, come on up!" Al also told us we would be on our way, but we had to pick up his dog first. Thinking he was joking we continued to watch the very inspirational movie "Blue Crush" (Thanks Tierr and/or Julie Swigert for letting us borrow this back in the day!). Next thing we know we are in a small, quiet neighborhood when our bus stops and Al runs off. Next thing we know, Al's little puppy, which was actually quite fat, climbed on board and made his way to the back every now and then introducing himself.
After we arrived at Spot X, "Sexy Dan" got onboard to introduce himself and give us a tour of Camp Mojo. Camp Mojo is a small campground that has a mess hall where we got our meals, outdoor seating, a fire pit, a makeshift stage with a stripper pole, and a movie room. We were led around and shown to our cabins, which were actually trailer homes that had been gutted and filled with bunk beds. We all claimed a bed, headed down to the beach to see the absolutely astounding full moon, and then called it a night.
After a very early 7 a.m. wake up call, we went to a hearty breakfast and then went to our first surf lesson. We learned the "Love 'N Safety" of surfing, which included: Always look cool, Don't wee in your wetties, and Tickle your nipps for good hand placement.
Then we grabbed our boards and headed to the beach to continue our lesson and work on Pop Ups. You know when you see people learning to surf in the movies and they practice paddling and figuratively jumping up on their boards? Well, it is true! Except we did it like 15 times...after he was semi confident in our popping up skills, our instructor Fister (it's last name) sent us out in the water. Surfing is no easy feet. You paddle your little heart out, attempt to pop up and then forget everything you have been taught. This happened a few times, but once you got the hang of it you feel pretty cool!
Note to all the men out there...DO NOT WEAR A CUT OFF WHILE SURFING! My nips had a great deal of chafing and took a long while to recover. The salt, sand, foam board, and friction of a T-Shirt did quite the work on those boys.
After our first lesson, which had many failures and many successes, me and my mates took some kayaks out into the water and had a look at the estuary, and then messed around until our next surfing lesson. Same instructions as last time, except this time Fister wanted us to practice some tricks. He wantes us to try a "Switch Foot" which entailed completely switching directions on your surf board. Let's just say easier said than done. While I had some pretty good runs, I had my fair share of bad runs. Regardless, I was satisfied with my surfing debut.
After some relaxation, a much needed meal, and another trip to the beach as we watched the harvest moon rise, we decided to engage in some Mojo Surf Camp night activites. For some reason or another, this included me doing Limbo. Me, a 6' 3" white American, beat out heaps of people! Yes, I won the limbo contest, beating out short, skinny little girls. I guess Toohey's Dry has some limbering effects! We then met some very lovely Norwegians and fellow Americans and played drinking games (Learned a new one!). That night I went to the beach with a few lovely people and we sat by a fire, took shots of Smirnoff (don't ask why!), and then went swimming, for some...clothing optional. (Mother my clothes were on the whole time! I swear. It was only the crazy Irish guy that wanted to flaunt his goodies!)
Then I had one of the most amazing showers of my entire life! The next morning, slightly hungover, we braved the waves one more time. This time we tried paddling out, through, and under waves. This was so difficult! Trying to grab onto your board and flip over, an Eskimo Roll, under a wave and then come out on top of it was quite difficult.
Regardless of my once again sore nipples, my weekend was amazing and I can now scratch surfing off of my Bucket List. The photographer got amazing pictures and they will be posted very soon. Other than that, nothing new. We are planning a trip to New Zealand very soon, and we are going to Sydney for Mardis Gras this weekend. Hope all is well back home!

Until Then,

Wilson