So I'm a Surfer now...

...well, kind of. I mean, I caught a few waves, and got up to my knees a hand full of times. I didn't necessarily 'stand' on the board (came close once)...but not a bad 1st go at it. I actually thought about entering the Manly Surf Fest contest on Sunday - it was very serious, ala Blue Crush, but I didn't want to embarrass the professional surfers, or drop in on any of their waves...so maybe next surf contest.
Judges on Manly Beach giving commentary on the surf heats.
Since the surf competition was going on at Manly - Jake, Indi, Emma & I drove up North a few more beaches to Freshwater, or 'Freshy Beach.' Before I got into the water with my board - they warned me to 'watch out' for Bluebottles...which is a small jellyfish. I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to 'watch out' for them, but luckily I didn't get stung.
Here's Jake coming out of the water - he and Indi went out on the big waves, while I stayed closer to the shore with Emma...I appreciated her staying on the 'bunny hill' with me. However, Jake did ask an important question before he ran out, turning to me, 'you do know how to swim, right?'
Yes, but thank you for checking! :)
Emma - my surf instructor...taught me everything I know, paddling out, making the 'harbour bridge' (kind of like the pizza slice of skiing) with my body before attempting to stand up...not a bad 1st day out.

Freshwater beach - I personally thought the waves were quite big, even the ones closer into the shore.

My hot pink foam board!! I was glad Jake had an extra foam board at his house - I was given a foam one so I didn't hurt myself or others. ;)

The beach was pretty crowded, but I wasn't too worried about surfers running into me - because most of them were out on the bigger waves, and more experienced, so even when they were coming in - they had a handle on steering. However, there was one boy, probably about 10 yrs old, that was barreling towards me at one point - I kind of tried to motion to him to steer the other way while I was sitting on my board (are you picturing it now? haha)...but when I noticed that he wasn't really picking left or right to go around me, I decided to dive off my board to avoid a collision - crisis averted. All in all - great day of surfing, only a few rashes from paddling, but no big wipe outs (phew).