A beginners guide to surfing.

I recapture the board and paddle back to Dun Dun
'Paddle a bit faster this time and get up quicker' and we wait for a suitable wave - the board and I bobbing together in an uneasy truce.

'This one' Dun Dun calls

Paddle, push, feet .. ok kneeling .. kneel surfing this is fun and I surf the wave .. on my knees Yippee at least I wasn't thrown off!

I paddle back to Dun Dun who is not impressed with my kneel surfing techniques
' you will not go fast unless you stand, do not put your knees on the board.'

Suitably reprimanded we go into waiting mode again and I run through the process in my head mentally practising the moves...

Then go ...
Paddle, paddle, push, foot, foot, yes standing, wobble crouch ... and surf .... yes I was surfing yipeeeee ... now how do I stop this thing before it gets to the beach? Unleashed the board sort of kept going until the wave ran out of power then returned to its former unstable platform and tossed me off.

I then spent the next hour repeating the process with varying degrees of success but I was surfing and it was great fun.

Back on the beach I realized what hard work it had been as my shoulders ached and I was hungry! So I thanked Dun Dun, made an appointment for next day and went to eat.

So what had I learnt about surfing today?

1/ you will fall into the water, this is part of the sport
2/ you will paddle a lot
3/ you will wait a lot
4/ you must learn to control your feet
5/ you need balance
6/ you need to train your surfboard - or at least understand it
7/ If you miss a spot with sun block on your pale skin you will burn
8/ its great fun
9/ surfboards are difficult to steer and stop
10/ a stationary surfboard is very unstable
11/ a moving surfboard is only slightly more stable
12/ it is a total immersion sport, you will get wet
13/ I cant wait to get back into the water its an addictive sport
14/its hard work but relaxing

Day 2

11 o clock lesson today so its a nice leisurely morning, breakfast, swimming, read a little then off to cloud 9.

Unfortunately the weather is 'bad' - its sunny, blue sky and calm water, what a normal tourist would call good but no waves for surfing so Dun Dun reschedules my lesson for this afternoon and I am forced to go for another breakfast at a beachside cafe overlooking cloud 9 (Cafe Loka), take some photos and chill in a hammock for a few hours.