Two Beers and a Pretzel

I finished the surf school this morning and we all got back on the bus to get to Byron Bay.  I booked a skydive from 14,000 ft for Saturday at 11:30 AM.  I can’t wait!   I’m getting the full photo/video package, so expect to see it here.  I’m in an internet cafe now and can’t upload pics, so possibly tomorrow I’ll add surf and skydive pics and videos.  (EDIT – skydiving canceled due to high wind).

Any single guys reading this back in America… you should seriously consider surf school in Australia.  The average age is 22 (including me and a “must be about 70″ guy), the average sex is female, and the average nationality is a tie between Dutch and Norwegian…  If that was too confusing, try this:  I’m surrounded by hot, young women from Northern Europe.  A whole cabin of girls was not at the bus photo, so here’s a few of my favorites…

For the lady readers, our bus driver / head suf instructor was a crazy Aussie named “Ant” who looked like Steve McQueen.

The last 3 days of surfing were brilliant:  We arrived at Spot X on Tuesday evening after surfing the chop at Crescent Head in the morning.

Wednesday was 6:30 AM surf lesson, kayaking before lunch, and another lesson at 3:30 PM with a storm off in the distance and a massive double rainbow over the ocean during sunset.

It was getting easier to catch a wave and get up on the board, and direct the board where you want to go.

Thursday was a partly cloudy with a good offshore Southerly breeze and some of the best waves we’ve had yet.  We all starting to get a feel for catching a wave, if not fully riding it.

I actually stood up and rode that wave to the beach, but even with my weightloss, you don’t want to see me in a wetsuit…

Friday was hot sun, great waves, and fun surfing.  Today I rarely missed a wave, often surfed until the board bottomed on beach, and actually took a video of myself while catching a wave – but lost it trying to turn the camera to see myself…

The best part of surfing lessons is that it’s 2 hours twice a day of wading thru waves and currents, catching waves, jumping up on the board, and carying a board over wet sand.  That 2 hours is so much fun that it barely seems like a workout… until about 2 hours later when you start to feel it.  Luckilly there’s a campfire top relax around every night.

The only bad thing is that as you learn the correct moves for paddling, catching, and jumping up, you rub a lot of parts raw:  palms, fingertips, knees, toes, forearms, etc…  My toes have been bleeding for 3 days, and my fingerprints look like I got in a fight with a blender.  …but it was totally worth it.

We’re all getting loose tonight at the Cheeky Monkey bar in Byron Bay!!  (edit next day … Where apparantly the waitresses were topless with body paint)