Where to start... This past weekend: "surf" camp. I got back last night from the craziest weekend of my life. It's one of those things you look back upon thinking, "did that actually happen?"
I'll tell you first, that there were no waves--literally .5 feet. This is the reason behind the "quotations" around surf in "surf" camp. No surfing took place. Some measly paddling... maybe. Secondly, nobody actually surfs in "surf" camp. Everyone goes for the partying, a fact that was unknown to me. Another fun fact, there were 40 beds for the 80 people that joined the camp... Sounds like a recipe for mayhem, huh?
The journey started at 1:30 on Friday where I met in the parking lot with Fleur to leave for Bancoora Life Saving Club, which I soon figured out was in the middle of nowhere. I can't complain about the location of the accommodation... it was right on the beach surrounded by awesome "bush" (for lack of a better word).
The bunks were stacked three high and three across. Fleur and I made sure to claim one as soon as we got there. We knew we would be sharing... The one we managed to commandeer was on the very top on the end.
Onward and outward... we arrived around four. Fleur and I took a romantic beach walk before sunset. The beach stretched on forever and ever. Along the way we met a few old fishermen and collected some shells.
We were so happy to be away from the city! We had no idea what we were in for when night rolled around...
We started off the night with some box wine (a.k.a. GOON). Goon is the cheapest (and dirtiest) form of alcohol here in Australia.
Yup, that's the stuff.
By the time the sun had set, we were starving. Breakfast and dinner were included in the fees we paid. We headed in for dinner. At around 8 o'clock, the common room was buzzing with young people. Everyone was chatting but at the same time eying the kitchen to see what should emerge. 8:30, still no food. My tummy was grumbling. I was talking to Fleur and some others, when suddenly a pan of garlic bread was slammed down on the table behind me. IMMEDIATELY people stormed the table, grabbing, pushing, clawing. Like animals that hadn't eaten in weeks. This is when I realized I would have to fight for my food. If you were there at the right time, you got to eat. Otherwise, it would be stale bread that we brought from home for dinner! Next round of garlic bread, I was ready. Full on football stance, hands up, ready to go. Mmm, that garlic bread was good.
God, I talk too much... I'll try to condense this.
I was tired and ready for bed at this point. Lack of sleep and food coma took over. It was 11ish when I headed to bed. Fleur and I crawled into our tiny bunk, which according to this German girl had been claimed by her hours ago. Fleur and I decided that since we went to bed before her, that it was logical that the bed belonged to us. Here we are curled up in our tiny uncomfortable sky bunk:
It didn't take long for the rest of the people to start to rage. They didn't come for the surfing; they came to stay up to 4 AM, listen to techno and get naked. Seriously though, they came to get naked (not that I am opposed to nudity at all... I love being naked, but they took it to a-whole-nother level). Fleur and I tried to sleep, we really did, but as you can imagine, the 80 people that were trying to fit into these 40 beds were far from quiet. It might be a bit un-PC, but it reminded me a bit of a small scale World War III... I just need to get my point across. Also, the fact that there were so many people from all over the world runs true with my comparison. If you can imagine a small war minus weapons and physical fighting, you can imagine my nights at the "surf" camp. Fog horns were going off, people were yelling, farting, things were crashing and booming and squeaking, creaking, bass was bumping, naked people were poking me telling me I was lame for trying to sleep. Honestly, it got past the point of annoying... onto hysterical. I was delirious. It was 4:30.
7:30 AM.
"WAKE UP EVERYBODY! ITS TIME TO SURF! DO YOU HAVE A SURF LESSON?" I felt a someone poke me on my back. I cracked an eye. "DO YOU HAVE A SURF LESSON?" Someone yelled in my ear. I shook my head. "OK!" I turned over.
Really!? People were awake?! People were still yelling at 7 effing thirty in the morning?! I'm not sure what time I actually got to bed... I reckon around 5.
I couldn't fall back asleep. Fleur and I got up. Breakfast time! Breakfast consisted of toast. Yes, the weekend was very carby... in terms of food. Lots of carbs. Luckily, Fleur and I had stopped by the store so we had a secret stash of green beans and carrots. heh heh heh
Time to surf!
Biggest wave of the day. ha ha.
Like the day before, there was no surf... regardless, I decided to surf. 10 foot foam board, tiny waves, good people, once again can't complain. Oh, did I mention it was sunny?
After our minisurf, we had a tailgate party in the parking lot of this small convenient store.
This is Fleur and this other Dutch guy named Coen (pronounced KOON). He is hilarious and happens to be gay. He provided much entertainment for this trip... He taught me many dirty Dutch words like "Lachen Pipen". Also, I learned how to say "poop in your shoe"... "poopi ees coon" (spelling is DEFINITELY wrong... sorry Fleur, I tried).
That night, Fleur and I had a plan: we would get hammered drunk and therefore be able to get a good night sleep and make it through all the noise. Plan failed. The punch that the surf camp provided DID get me tipsy (tipsy enough to participate in one of their multiple 'nudie runs'...) but it also had a whole case of redbull in it... That combined with the alcohol AND lack of sleep = Miranda getting drunk, nudie run, eat, eat, eat, more eating, sleeping from 11 to 12, waking up to more yelling, naked people, farting, bass etc... in the same exact situation as the night before. Fuck.
Once again, no sleep. Once again, can't complain. The whole weekend was a bit comical... That's all I can say. C'est la vie. It happened. Or did it? Was it a dream? I made some new friends, barley surfed, got no sleep, but all in all, I would say that I had fun. That's all that matters.
Thanks to our faithful driver, Dave Dixon, I was able to get this photo to show you the true surf camp:
Ha ha. This was before the clothes came off....
Lastly, BIG NEWS! I bought a surfboard!!! Yahoo... on the way home, I stopped by my roommate Bianca's father's surf shop! He was so so sweet to me... He hooked me up with a board, a bag, a leash, two things of wax and a wax comb all for 300 dollars. Best deal ever... Plus, I love my board. It is 6'3, rather wide and very beautiful. It has a Koi fish on it for good luck... When picking it, I immediately felt a bond between us. I think we are in for a good, long, Australian relationship together.
That's all folks... How to wrap this up... I realized this morning as I was halfway between sleep and thought that the best way to live life is like cooking without a recipe: loose plans, lots of new and experimental ingredients and not too much seriousness. I dunno if that makes sense... but I've found that most of the time it turns out to be something delicious! If not that, at least it's interesting. Ha ha, k, I'm out!
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