Today I had my first surf lesson.

WOW!

I had so much fun! I never even noticed how freezing cold the water was, all I really noticed was that I was certainly not in the Caribbean and that these waves were fierce! I don't think I have ever had so much salt water forced down my throat or been flipped as many times as I was this morning but it was spectacular.

Prior to my first surf lesson, I had decided the clever thing to do would be to look up 'Sharks attacking Surfers'. Yeah real clever Melissa. That was just a genius idea. However, when I got to the waters edge, a bit like when I go Scuba Diving, the thought of Sharks vanished from my head. It is actually quite selfish and vain to think these incredible creatures are simply out to get YOU specifically.

Anyway, we first started by practicing our moves on boards on the beach. This meant pretending to paddle, jumping up and quickly getting to our sides. This including one movement where you stick your bum in the air and bring your left foot up towards your hands and push up with your arms - yep just like the Yoga move I had been practicing the previous week! Funny how things tie together in such a way. Maybe it was because I was practicing this continually for fifteen minutes that I no longer noticed how cold the sea was - when you are roasting like a bbqued chicken in a wetsuit in 27  degrees celsius, the freezing cold Pacific feels glorious.

My friend asked me the other day, "Why are all surfers so fit? I mean all they do is surf, they don't go the gym or anything but they have bodies like Gods, it doesn't make sense."

Um well, that is because surfing is such hard work. Some people in the class even had to take breathers sitting out on the sand (I didn't but I am part fish so being in the sea is part of my natural habitat). First you have to carry the huge board, which is hard enough in itself, but then trying to control it as you do the stingray shuffle into the sea....well that is even harder! Quite a few times I would just get flung back by wave and have to start again. When you're paddling out towards the sea, you have to do push ups over the waves, which after a while definitely starts to hurt your arms.

I stood up on my board for a second. I am not the most elegant of people and kept trying to go to my knees instead of straight to my feet which was a minor problem. I did a lot of knee surfing, which I was pretty proud of and at the end of the surf you just get flipped to the bottom. Often the floor smacks straight into you but sometimes you would get stuck under your board for quite a while. I couldn't stop smiling though. It was so much fun. The teachers were also super nice and tried to help you! I was a bit embarrassed that I only managed to stand up for a microsecond before smashing my bum into the floor but at least it is a start. I am probably going to ask my friend if I can borrow his board and go practice this weekend.

It is so much fun.