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A week in the life of a trainee windsurf instructor in Sydney
I've just completed my second week in Oz. I have completely settled in now and feel as though I have been here for ages. The people here are great and every night something is going on, so there is never a dull moment.
I can't believe it's only been two weeks! I have relaxed so much and it's a such great feeling knowing that each day I can be out in the sunshine, on the water enjoying life, rather than been stuck in an office all day. Manly really feels like home now.
This past week has been non-stop. We windsurfed on Monday, which was our last day of being taught by the lovely Jon, it wasn't very windy, so we practised our non-planing carve gibes and competed in a few races, which was great fun. We all learnt loads about how to start on the gun rather than a few (well more than a few) minutes behind. I actually felt like I made a huge amount of progress on Monday, so I am really keen to get back on the water. Monday was Pete's birthday, so we all went to a really classy bar on the beach front, which was lovely as they served Pimms.... mmm.
On Tuesday we all had some surf lessons with Manly Surf School. Surfing is such amazing fun and something that everyone who comes to Oz should have a go at. It's so much harder than it looks; the surfers in Manly always make it look effortless. It's actually really scary when you fall off an end up somersaulting under the waves It's like being in a washing machine!
surf lessons on Manly Beach
The instructors were really great and made me feel much more confident about how to cope when I do fall off. They told me to sing my favourite song underwater and relax as the wave goes over before rather than panicking like I had been doing. (Cheers Murray!) I finally managed to stand up (just) for about 10 seconds which was a vast improvement on last weeks 1 1/2seconds!
The waves felt as thought they were huge when we were out in them, but it wasn't til I got back to the beach that I realised that they were in fact tiny. I think I have got a long way to go with surfing.
Tuesday night we all went out to the cinema in Warringa Mall to watch Hot Fuzz (great film, couldn't stop laughing). But was very gutted to learn that they don't serve sweet popcorn in Aussie cinemas.
Wednesday was our first aid training, it was an intensive one day course held at Pro Dive and although it was a long and tiring day, I feel as though I learnt loads and would be much more confident now to deal with a real life situation. That night, Halle persuaded us all to go out to the Karaoke night at the Steyne, don't remember much that night apart from trying to sing a song that I didn't even know (not recommended!)
Thursday and Friday were devoted to powerboat training with the fabulous Steve and Ash (yes they paid me to say that). I didn't realise how much fun driving a powerboat would be. We learned everything from how to deal with a man over board to parking, which I don't think will ever be my strong point if driving a car is anything to go by.
On Friday we learned about navigation and then navigated our way with a compass and chart from Middle Harbour to Sydney Harbour Bridge (which I am pleased to say we managed). We all really enjoyed the trip and I couldn't resist a photo moment when we were near the Bridge. When we all got back to Middle Harbour on Friday evening, there was a regatta with a free bar... need I say more!
A small sherry at Middle Harbour Yacht Club ....
We got home, quickly changed and then headed out for a Friday night Sydney Pub Crawl. We all met at 6.30 to get the ferry from Manly to Circular Quay. It was very picturesque, as the sun was setting as we sailed past the Opera House. Midi, one of the surf instructors, was organising us all. How he managed I do not know. I'd say by 8pm I was completely wasted (I am such a light weight or as they say out here a Cadbury's girl) so you can only imagine how I felt by 2am... but I had a great evening and felt surprisingly good when I woke up on Saturday morning!
Next week Steve is taking over as our instructor and we are going to start our instructor training which I am really looking forward to...
