escape to the North

Spent most of the Monday at the airport...

As I arrived in Australia I soon realized I will be packing my suitcase again. My aunt and uncle took me to the Gold Coast for my birthday week and I wasn't really complaining due to the »cold weather« we had in Melbourne (14 degrees during the day!). Also, on the day of our departure (Monday, 6.1) the smoke from the bushfires reached Melbourne and it was indeed really bad. The air was as polluted as smoking 8 cigarettes and you couldn't stand outside and breathe normally. That was also the day when I woke up at 4 am (jet-lag) and had a whole day of travelling ahead of me. I was already so tired in the morning but of course, our flight got delayed for 4 hours and the bus was an hour late so we reached our hotel in Surfers Paradise late in the evening.

Getting to know the city on Tuesday...

On Tuesday we didn't have anything planned yet because my surfing lessons started the next day. So we ended up shopping and chilling on the beach. Kilometres and kilometres of white sandy beaches with a light air breeze and 30 degrees – finally, it started feeling like summer. That was also a day of another cultural shock that caught me off guard. During the afternoon I was chilling and reading a book on the beach. Out of nowhere an Aussie guy sat next to me, put his surfboard by his side and start to make a conversation. He left me his number before leaving and then headed back to the water. Yea, have you ever heard this happening in Finland? Me neither...

Try, Fail, Try, Fail, Try... and succeed somewhere in late Wednesday afternoon

Let me tell you something – surfing is hard! You drink a lot of water and swim back and forth a lot of times. And maybe sometimes in between, you manage to stand up and ride a wave all the way to the mainland. I did that couple of times on my first day already, but more than not I was somewhere below the sea surface or trying to fight my way back to the deeper water. I struggled a lot and after two hours I was done. Cold cider has never tasted better in my life.

In the evening we went to see a comedy show. Even though I am not a huge fan of stan up it was fun. However, I will need to work on my Aussie slang & vocabulary because I rely too much on American English (thanks Gossip Girl and Hollywood movies).

surfing, kayaking, snorkelling on Thursday...

The second day on the waves I was already feeling the difference. It wasn't as exhausting as the first day, yet still really hard. I rode some really nice waves and tried to learn how to paddle and manoeuvre left and right – emphasis on learn because I still begin to paddle too late and don't really know how to read the waves. Everyone says it takes a lot of practice – the more time you spend in the water the better you get (which totally makes sense). After surfing I did some snorkelling, kayaking and exploring around the islands of Gold Coast. The great barrier reef was unfortunately too far from us, but I still saw colourful fish and dolphins many times. When I came home that evening I was so done and fell asleep instantly. My whole body was burning thought, because (smart me) I didn't use any sun cream (in my defence, I couldn't take it with me because it exceeded the amount of 100ml. Didn't think of buying a new one just for a week - whoops) and got a bit of a sunburn. It wasn't as bad as I would have expected it to be, considering I spent the last 6 months in Finland where we barely see the sun.

slowly getting the hang of surfing on Friday...

Do you know that feeling when you ride a big wave all the way to the mainland and manage to manoeuvre (a tiny bit)? No? Well, you should try it because it's totally worth being smashed by the waves many times. On the last day, I still struggled with reading the waves, but I was quite confident in standing up. With help from instructors I managed to catch some really nice waves and that's when you forget about all the struggles that got you there. It is funny, before starting the first lesson I was like »oh those are really tiny waves… that's gonna be easy«, and I couldn't be more wrong. Sure, the waves don't look that big from the mainland, but when you are in the ocean they can get quite big and scary, especially if you get caught of in one of them gasping for air – not fun, not fun at all. So yea, for people who know what they are doing out there at the sea, these waves might have been a piece of cake. For me, they were anything but easy.

I went clubbing that night, only to realize I am too tired and would much rather get enough sleep and have more energy to surf tomorrow (am I getting old??). So I left the bars before midnight (whops) and went straight to bed – best decision ever.

missed surfing because of Jetboat on Saturday... not worth it

I was supposed to borrow the board and rashie for surfing (because I was already a badass and could practice on my own :P) in the morning but then they rescheduled my jet boat ride to an earlier hour. Sadly, I didn' manage to make it back in time before the surf agency closed and that made me really, really sad. Sure, jet boating was fun but if I could choose between that and surfing I would choose to chase waves every time.

We were really lucky with the weather. It was around 30 degrees every day and only lowering to 22 during the night. But the best thing is, that you don't really feel the heat too much because of the constant ocean breeze. So you can lay on the beach, fall asleep and get really red without realizing (whops again). It was one of the best »vacation trips« in my life and I got so hooked up on surfing, that I am already planning to go back when I finish work. Because after all, that's what I came here to do – work, work, work =)

Highlight of the week:

- Surfing

- Surfing

- Have I already mentioned surfing?