As a member of the Unimates Club, there are trips and activities that are planned every weekend, especially for international and study abroad students. One weekend event was a surf lesson at Manly Surf School. The Unimates Club organizes these trips so there are usually group discounts. For a two hour surf lesson it cost $31; the regular cost for this lesson would have been $99! So a $68 savings is awesome!
On the day of the surfing event we met at Circular Quay Wharf to catch the ferry to Manly. The return ferry ticket cost $6.60 with concession. When you ride the ferry I highly recommend sitting out on the deck because the views of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are amazing!
Manly is a beautiful beach that is a special surfing reserve. The beach is long and wide and there are a lot of surfers (naturally). We walked to the Manly Surf School and got rash guards and soft foam boards. We were given a welcome and then we separated into smaller groups where we learned about the waves, the winds, and the rips. Then the instructors had us all run into the water and said we could not come back until our hair was wet! The water was so nice and refreshing!
When we went back to the shore we learned how to lay on the boards so we could catch a wave and how to stand up. I loved the Australian accents of the instructors! After our quick information session, we were taken to the water where we had to put our new skills to the test. I had help from the instructors and was able to catch a few waves and ride them in to shore boogie-board style. There was one point where I stood up for about 2 seconds, but I was still super proud of myself!
I am so happy I had the opportunity to experience the Australian surf! It was so much fun and I would definitely like to try and perfect my standing up skills in the water. If you have the chance, I definitely suggest giving surfing in Australia a go!
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