Kooks

It feels like it's been a while since I posted anything about our "adventures". We've mostly been surfing since getting the van (during the weekends of course). Surfing in Australia is... tough. We are not good surfers and compared to those in Australia we absolutely suck. The toughest part though is that surfers, in general, are mean and territorial here. How many sports have a mean label for beginners (kook)? The big problem for us is that we aren't really beginners so we want to be out there with the big boys so that we can actually figure this sport out. The meanness is likely born out of the fact that there are limited waves and even more limited good waves. No surfer ever wants to share a wave either... Although I shouldn't compare surfing to starvation, surfers act like they are fighting for the resources of their life.

You'd think we could deal with the surfing culture based on our surfing resume: Hawaii, Baja, Costa Rica, Bali, Oregon, Washington, California, and Australia. The majority of our surfing has been on the cooooold Oregon coast where a nod and a wave aren't uncommon between fellow surfers.

We aren't giving up yet but I have a feeling that we aren't going to actually get much surfing in, until we can find some less crowded beaches. I don't think we can get far enough away from the population center for weekend trips but our goal for the next few weeks is to perhaps find some "nicer" surf beaches.

The positive part of our surfing weekends have been the gorgeous beaches we have explored. The beaches, headlands, and coastal walks certainly help me forget about the meanness!