Surfing, Penguins, and a Sharkbite

Just got back from a trip to Phillip Island, which was tons of fun! We left in the morning and went straight to Smith's Beach, which is a place that a lot of new surfers learn how to surf. I was on a mission to get a small sharkbite as a souvenir. Anywho, we got these super cute wetsuits (i'm being sarcastic - i thought surfer girls were supposed to look hot). These suits were the most unflattering things in the whole entire world! I was under the impression after the movie Blue Crush that surfers were supposed to look sexy! Anyways we still tried to make them look good. :)

Well surfing was a lot harder than i thought it would be. We had awesome instructors but the biggest danger on Smith's beach is not sharks, nor is it stinging jellyfish. It's actually other surfers, because most are either beginners or just a bit better than beginners. And when the waves are coming, and someone is not in control of their board, then BAM - sharkbite. So they taught us how to get into the waves and ride the wave doing the yoga move Cobra. From the Cobra you basically learn to get your knees up on the board and balance with your legs and arms in position - just like in the movies. I was actually successful about 4 times. It was awesome! There were about 3 times when i completely wiped out, went under water, swallowed a whole bunch of salt water and got hit with my board on the way up. It was tiring but it was such a rush so I kept going.

So then I was perfectly ready to take my next wave. I paddled out waist deep, did a few extra paddles as the wave came like i was supposed to, straightened out, started riding the wave, looked ahead of me - all clear, went into cobra, got my knees up (perfect execution) and then BAM i got hit in the jaw with a yellow fibre glass board. I didn’t realize that a board hit would be so forceful - i was in shock. The first thing i thought was oh my god, there goes my jaw, i should have listened to everyone when they told me to be careful!! So it was some guy not in our surfing class, who had a fibre glass board (ours are soft boards, so a hit is hard but not THAT hard). Anyways i got quite disoriented coming up from the water but thankfully an instructor was by my side in a second because he saw it happen. He complimented me on my near perfect execution and told me that the guy basically lost control of his board and it went along the current and flipped into my face. It was unfortunate but hey - i now have my warrior wound. I'm fine, just a bit swollen, nothing too serious. Things like this'll happen when your on a crowded beach full of beginners.

After that we went to eat dinner - i tried some shark - they call it Flake and it tastes like fish but less fishy and more sharky. Then we went to see the Penguin Parade on the Summerland Peninsula.

There is absolutely no photography allowed, because it scares the penguins. But basically you sit and wait for penguins to come to shore, and without a fail at 8:15 pm you see them waddling out of the water with bellies full of food for baby penguins that they go to feed in the burrows. They were so cute! And there were also tons of seagulls just waiting for them, not flying or squawking but just looking east awaiting the penguins. What a sight to see - it was amazing. We were right at the front and we saw two penguins about a meter away from us, locked in what looked like a kissing session. It was so cute!! I tried to get quite a picture (flash off) but it was too dark :(


Another neat thing here is the constellations - its odd to think that the constellations we grew up knowing (big/little dipper, north star) do not exist here. But i finally know how to find the Southern Cross (its the constellation that is on the Australian flag). Since we were out so far from any city around the stars were amazing - and looking up at the Southern Cross makes me realize how far I really am from home - on the absolute other side of the world.