We woke up bright and early for our first day of surfing, and had the first of many Surf Camp breakfasts, mainly cereal, fresh fruit, toast, and some juice cocktail that was so sugary you had to dilute it with water. One instructor reviewed a map of Mojo’s surfing areas, and explained where the rip currents and best surfing areas were, as well as how the surfing would be organized. With that, we suited up (we used wetsuits to surf during the entire camp) and headed down to the beach.
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| A line of wetsuits hanging in the camp, ready for some surfing! |
Mojo’s Crescent Head facilities are what you would expect for a surfing camp (camping), but the beach was spectacular. It might have been partly because our camp took place during the Christmas week, but the beach was nearly deserted the entire time we surfed over the course of 5 days. The sand stretched from the water nearly 100 feet up to the end of the beach, and when it wasn’t raining, the water was a clear blue out to the horizon. Now, it did rain for a good part of our trip, but usually this meant that it rained early in the morning – and twice into the morning surf sessions – but, as we were in wetsuits and wet anyway, the light rain didn’t affect conditions too horribly.
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| Tabitha gets in on the surfing action near camp. |
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| The main camp building from the driveway, with the dining facilities to the right. |
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| James had the top bunk; Erin the bottom (notice which is cleaner). |
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| Our composed, reserved group of surfing instructors. |
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| Our nearly-deserted surfing beach, stretching out to the horizon. |
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| Erin, prepared to give the waves her all. |
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| James steps up to the shore after catching (maybe?) a wave. |
In addition to Crescent Head’s seclusion, the waves were perfect for beginners and learners alike. Erin had never been surfing before, while James had surfed in Hawaii and done a similar-type camp in Pacifica, a town south of San Francisco. We both picked up the idea quickly, and our instructors were helpful in refining some of the ideas about surfing.
Lunches and Dinners were also included in our package, and they were very healthy options (aside from a Christmas pudding) with plenty of servings for everyone. The accommodations were a little tougher – the entire main camp building is built as an open-plan design, which means that any and all noise carries throughout the building. But, after toughing it out through a variety of hotel, hostel and camp environments over the last four months, we knew how to treat the sleep-six bedrooms, popped in our earplugs, and got some sleep.
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| One of the many sunsets we were lucky to watch at camp. |
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| Another view down the beach. |
The surfing was great, although it was a very different type of exercise than we were used to. James seemed to injure one of his feet, which swelled up and made him miss the last morning of surfing. Erin wasn't much luckier in that she may have fractured a rib. (Note: surfing isn't easy!)
We also took some time to explore the surrounding area, including a couple of wildlife hikes that afforded us spectacular views of the Pacific and the craggy rocks that hedged in the beaches. We didn’t see too much wildlife, until Erin stumbled (not literally, thank goodness!) across an Australian porcupine or "Echidna," walking along the narrow cliff path. We waited patiently until he ambled off before continuing.
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| A view from our nature hike of the cliffs below. |
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| Another view of the ocean from the nature preserve. |
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| Think "LOST" and you've got the idea. |
After coming back from the hikes, however, we realized that we had had brought along some friends – leeches! Which turned into a spot (or five) of blood. All in a day’s experience for middle-of-nowhere, Australia, we supposed.
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| James has made a new friend! |
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| A sample of the wide variety of shell coloring from the beach. |
There were other visitors in the camp. While there were no mosquitoes (arguing against Australia = Expensive Florida), there were plenty of flies. And where there are flies – well, Erin found a visitor one morning when she went to use the bathroom: an enormous bullfrog!
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| Better seen before... well, you know. |
To accurately sum up our experience at the surf camp, a few of the friendly staff members made a video for us:
