I heart the beach

So sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated! Good news though…Pictures are up! Not nearly all, but there are many more to look at.

So the past couple weeks have been full of assignments and frisbee with friends. Nothing too exciting that needs to be reported, but lets just say that I’m still enjoying myself.

This past Saturday my phone spoke to me at 5:30, “The time is 5:30, it’s time to get up.” It makes me wake with a laugh for the fact that my phone talks, but then I realized the time it told me and groaned. I stepped out on to the balcony quickly with my camera to catch the sunrise over the river. Purple and Pink. No joke, check the photos. After standing on the balcony with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes, I had to ready myself for the day ahead. I dressed, packed, ate, and hurried on down to the bus stop on campus with Jess and Debbie. We were on our way to Byron Bay for the day with Butler!

I sat next to Debbie and Christi, our Student Services Coordinator, for the 2 hour drive down to Byron freezing our butts off cause the driver wouldn’t turn down the A/C. It was sooo cold. We arrived in Byron and defrosted before heading onto another bus: the Mojosurf Bus. Mojosurf was the company we went surfing and kayaking through aka the surf bums we hung out with all day that provided equipment. They were really fun guys, but I mean, they were my age and just loved surfing and this was a way to get paid for it. The nine of us that decided to go surfing that morning hopped in a small bus to head down to the little beach we would get lessons at with Seanno, our surf instructor, who goes to uni at Southern Cross. A 5 second lesson once we got on the beach, then into the water! I stood up on just about every wave but only for about 5 seconds before I lost my balance. Nat, one of the instructors, just told me to bend my legs and I’d be surfing like a pro. I’ll have to remember that…Basically I loved surfing, and I’m going back with Debbie in October and maybe with Katie in November. Heck yes.

After a couple hours or so of surfing, we piled back in the van to head back for kayaking. I was paired up in my kayak with the female instructor, who is a dive master for the area. We had a lot to talk about during kayaking between diving, rowing, and physio. After kayaking, we helped bring the gear in with the guys from mojo. Now, when I say we helped, I mean they had the stuff in the van, and the nine of us surfers drove to Seanno’s house so he could grab his skateboard, to some random house to drop off the kayaks, and back to Seanno’s to grab his shirt. Yea, that was an experience. haha, I laugh now just thinking about it just because they were so chill the whole time. We talked to the guys about meeting them out that night, as the majority of us stayed the night, then they dropped us off in Byron. I met up with Piper and we checked into our hostel, showered, and went out for dinner.

A friend of mine from home suggested a little pizza place called Earth n’ Sea (I found one just down the street in Taringa back in Brisbane, which I am very happy about) so we went for pizza down there. It was so good! I recommend the BBQ/Satay Chicken pizza with the restaurant’s home brewed beer. That makes for a great dinner expecially after a long day of sport. The rest of the night was spent out at a couple bars where we did end up meeting the surf bums, which ended up being a really great night out.

The next day Piper and I checked out of our hostel and headed down with all our bags to the beach. One smoothie and a chocolate croissant later, we were on the beach. Another reason that made me want to come back; the beaches are absolutely beautiful with crystal clear waters and surrounded by mountains. Beach and mountains? Together? I don’t think I could ask for more! A few hours soaking up sun on the beach (yes, I wore sunscreen…) and we went to walk up to the most eastern point in Australia. Gorgeous views, and lots of sun! Soon enough, it was time to get on the shuttle to go back to Brisbane. The weekend was more than I could’ve asked for, and I can’t wait to make it back to the surf and sun of Byron soon!