Going Over The Falls

H started work this week (she has got an IT Project Administrator role working for the Government) so I have had plenty of time on my own to get on with important things like housework. Well, this actually involves me getting meat out of the freezer to defrost for that evening’s dinner, maybe doing some laundry, and also going on a daily walk to Coles to get some food to accompany the defrosting meat. I also do the cooking (well almost all of the time when H is at work). The rest of the time I have spent in the surf.

As you now know, I went bodyboarding last weekend. Well I did the same on Monday because the waves were still too big for a novice like me to go out with my surfboard. It was during this session that I had another spectacular wipeout. The same thing happened to me a couple of times on the weekend, but after this particularly surreal experience on Monday I thought I’d do a spot of research of the net and see if there was a surfing description for the spectacular wipeouts I had had.

So there I was in the surf on Monday (5th), minding my own business and having a lot of fun in the big waves, when I noticed this particularly large swell approach the beach. I was 'out the back' (or so I thought) and therefore thought I was safe to float over the wall of water. As it approached I remember lying on my bodyboard thinking how beautiful it was. As it rose out of the water, passing me immediately to my left, everything seemed to go quiet (it was quite windy and raining at the time). The only think I could hear was the slight crackling as the offshore wind begun to blow the top of the wave backwards. Then, WHAM. Next thing I know I am upside down, heading to the bottom of the ocean. Once again I was experiencing that rather unnerving feeling of not knowing what the hell had happened, and wondering not only what way was up, but when would I next be going up to take a lungful of breath.

Little did I know it but I had just gone 'over the falls'. The wave threw me over the top of the lip as it broke and sent me all the way down into the water below with a massive amount of force. It was such a huge hit that a couple of surfers checked to see if I was ok after I came to the surface. I was fine, so I carried on, but I did wonder why I had been smashed by the wave when I thought it was going to pass beneath me. I really didn’t see it coming at all.

Apart from today, I have been in the water every day this week. I haven’t been in today because I took bit of a pasting yesterday and was feeling pretty sore. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday trying to catch bigger waves but without much luck so I decided to try a different approach yesterday and muck about in the white water given off when the larger waves break, or in the small swells that get through. This proved to be a lot more successful and I finally felt like I was getting somewhere and experience what it is actually like to surf. I caught a couple of good rides into the beach on some tiny waves. Rather than sit out the back and get hit by big waves it is much better for me to just get used to my board. However, because I spent most of the time in waist deep water, which was breaking around mbe, I got knocked about a lot more often. At one point I actually got smashed face first into the sand, and then dragged along so my mouth filled up with sand. Luckily all my teeth were intact. I got a slight graze on my chin for my troubles. It’s all good fun though, honestly!

So what have a done on my day off today? Well I went to the Roads and Traffic Authority to get a 5 year NSW Drivers Licence. As a permanent resident you have three months after arrival to get one of these. They are supposed to invalidate your UK one my putting a dirty great hole through the card but mine was given back to me intact. Result!

I haven’t taken any food out of the freezer to defrost as we are going out for dinner. That is also why I haven’t been to Coles today. I have spent most of my time online catching up on all the World Cup news. Thank God for the BBC website and all their audio/video updates. T-minus 7 hours until the glorious Opening Ceremony. I wonder if it'll be Claudia Schiffer's turn to take a penalty!