Phenomenal Surfing in Byron Bay!

Thursday May 12

Wow what a cool day here in Byron Bay! I slept in until ten and slowly got started on my day! Had a small breakfast and then made penne with cheap sauce for lunch before setting out for my surf lesson! I forgot to mention but last night I also met a Belgian guy from Antwerp named Stefaan. He told me he was going to take a surfing lesson at black dog surf school today so I decided I would join him and luckily for me there was an empty spot.

So we went to the surf place which was right around the corner for 145. After a brief introduction we set out to the beach in the van. We spent a good chunk of time going through safety and technique and also just stretching which was all very helpful. I technically did try surfing two years ago on Vancouver island, but it really didn't go very well.

After much instruction we hit the water. I volunteered to go first, but I rushed my attempt at standing up and fell almost immediately. After I got some feedback from the instructor my second attempt was great and I stood right up! It felt so amazing! From there it just got better and better 😊

It's hard to explain it all, today was just phenomenal! And we got some epic photos!

After surfing Stefaan and I decided we would give it another go tomorrow as well 😊 We went back to the hostel and ordered pizza for only $6. It was domino's and I was starving so I ate my entire pizza. Then we went and got some cookies and beer and I ate my whole pack of cookies and a beer too. The surfing really built up my appetite.

Around ten we winded down for the evening, but I wasn't quite tired enough to go to sleep so I took a walk to the beach. The waves were crashing really hard and I'm pretty sure it was high tide because there wasn't too much of a beach left. I walked down the beach a fair bit until it was pretty much entirely dark. The stars were beautiful and the night was so clear. Truth be told I was so scared because it's Australia and there are so many things that are dangerous so when I heard this loud bird noise I just ran back to the edge of the beach with light. I'm certain there was nothing that would put me into immediate danger, but I wasn't going to chance anything.

After that I went back to the hostel and fell asleep almost instantly.

Friday May 13

I slept in pretty late today until almost eleven. Had a pretty relaxed morning. Around two Stefaan and I headed out surfing again!

This time there wasn't as much of a lesson so we got a lot more time in the water. The day before Dom the instructor was giving us pushes and kinda finding the waves for us but today we were all on our own, paddling and all. This proved to be a lot more difficult but after about an hour of learning the waves and a better paddling technique it became a lot more fluent. I had a few waves that I rode probably at least 50 meters and it felt incredible! On one of the waves, without even planning it, Stefaan, myself and the instructor were all simultaneously on the wave! It was so cool! Also there was this little five year old with his dad who was surfing and getting pushes and he was killing it! He literally high fived stationary Dom as he was surfing the wave. Such an adorable sight!

When we finished up Stefaan and I got our photos from the day before which look awesome! When we got back to the hostel I met Kyle who was my new Canadian roommate. Stefaan had met a Dutch couple and the five of us all went out for a cheap meal at the local bar cheeky monkeys. They had a deal for anyone in a hostel which was 50% off any food order a complimentary small beer. So for 7.50 I had a burger and fries with a beer. What's even more crazy is happy hour was on so I had a pint for $4. Yeah it doesn't stop there. So it's Friday and they have this body paint theme night going on so there are legitimately topless waitresses walking around with body paint "covering" their boobs. One came to our table and offered to buy us all a round of drinks. So for 11.50 I had a burger and fries with 2 pints and a small beer. Pretty crazy!

But as the night went on the place turned more into a club and anyone who really knows me knows that I don't much enjoy clubs. There were drunk people everywhere and apparently the great thing about this bar is that they encourage you to dance on tables. So yeah by about ten I left because I wasn't really having too much fun at that point.

When I got back the English girls were I'm the room relaxing. Had some fun chars with them about making necklaces out of tv remote buttons, which I thought was the weirdest thing, but still so funny. Just imagine going to value village and buying like six broken tv remotes and the look youwould get at the counter haha.

And that was my time in Byron! Tomorrow I'm off to Noosa for a few days! Nighty night!

-Terrence out (pictures to be loaded later)Read more