Tasha Wakefield's instructor assessment week in Sydney
Tasha won the Flying Fish/Boards 2007 prize: a free place to train as a windsurf instructorwith Flying Fish Australia and Flying Fish Greece, followed by a guaranteed job with Club Vass. Tasha writes:
We started this week with our instructor training from Monday to Wednesday. Bex & Russell were our instructors for the first three days. It was an intense few days as we were learning so much and having to give presentations and complete exam papers.
The presentations were actually really fun to do. I was so nervous about my presentation, but once I was actually stood up doing it was fine. We also did a tester lesson and taught a group of beginners to windsurf which was great fun.
Windsurf presentations
Going back to the beginning and re-learning all the demos of how to tack, steer etc has really helped my windsurfing as I have had to break down the moves and really concentrate on doing them in control & correctly rather than as quickly as possible.
Wednesday was our moderation day, which was scary! We all had to do on water and on simulator demos. The day went really quickly and I am pleased to say that we all passed. I was so happy to find out that I had passed, it's strange to think that I am now qualified to teach people to windsurf. It's amazing how much you can learn in a few weeks. I am now really looking forward to Vass so that I can put my new found windsurfing teaching skills into practice.
Wednesday night was a massive celebration and of course a drunken one! I danced all night into the early hours and could barely walk by the end of it. On Thursday I had a killer hangover and nearly didn't get out of bed to go windsurfing. But thankfully I did as Thursday was one of my best windsurfing sessions ever.
The wind got up in the afternoon and we all blasted around enjoying the wind and planing. I reckon that I went faster than I have ever been on a windsurfer that day. It was awesome and a really great way to end the week. Stevo was out on his kit showing us loads of tricks, which was good fun to watch. It was a great afternoon - and windsurfing has to be the best hangover cure...
Stevo
On Thursday night I decided to be all cultured went to the Opera House with a friend from back home to see a ballet. It was amazing, a real experience. I highly recommend it. Friday was a public holiday so I enjoyed a chilled out day, having lunch out and wandering around the shops in Manly. Friday night was another great night out, starting in Henrey Africas and ending up in Pine Street (as all the bars shut at 10pm). Everyone enjoyed another great night.
On Saturday I trekked up to the Blue Mountains. It takes about two hours by train and then I got a bus that you can hop on and off to see all the sites. The Mountains are stunning and they really are blue. I checked out all the sites and took about 100 pics of the famous Three Sisters. It was great to get out of Sydney and see something new.
Blue mountains
This morning I have had a great breakfast in Jellyfish (they do the best breakfasts in Manly I reckon) and am just having a lazy Easter which is great.
Next week is out last week, I can't believe how fast it has gone. I have had such a great time out here I can't believe that it's nearly all over. It's quite sad to think that this time next week I will be gone! But I am so excited to think that in just a few weeks I will be in Vass. Use the links below to read Tasha's full story
Online diary - Final episode: a week in the life >> Online diary - Starting work as a windsurf instructor >> Online diary - Final week completing the course >> Online diary - Week 8 Mastering the cowboy >> Online diary - Week 7 Teaching at Club Vass >> Online diary - Week 6 Tasha arrives in Greece >> Online diary - Week 5 Saying goodbye to Sydney >> THIS PAGE - Week 4 Assessment as an instructor >> Online diary - Week 3 Great wind in Sydney >> Online diary - Week 2 Non-stop action >> Competition winner goes down under >> Windsurf instructor competition winner >>
How you too can become a windsurf instructor with Flying Fish >>
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