Surf Camp Aussie Style

Warning: This Will be a Lengthy Post.....

Link to Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/eaglchk/20091002AussieSurfCamp?authkey=Gv1sRgCMKW7pSL88P4Yw&feat=directlink

and
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/eaglchk/SurfCampAussieStyle02?authkey=Gv1sRgCNmmxPHxy_nhogE&feat=directlink

So, this past week was holiday for uni students and while many planned roads trips down the coast and in New Zealand, I decided that it would be pretty sweet to go surfing in australia. I did the necessary research and signed up for a surfing camp which happened to be 2-hrs south of sydney in a little town of Gerroa with a population of 500 people. It also happened to be located on 7-mile beach....which is a Fantastic beach..perfect for surfing....Not very populated at all, and long beach-breaking waves which equals ideal surfing for beginners (though i personally had surfed before in the states).

I had to pick up the bus for surf camp in sydney, so i flew down there the night before and had about 5 hrs to muck around and ended up going to see a movie.(potentially by myself) but i actually ran into a girl that i knew in the theater that lives in cairns, so i didn't have to watch the movie alone :) Sydney really shocked me...for a while i thought i was in Asia...there were so many oriental people EVERYWHERE, and they crossed the street "tokyo style" like you see in the movies where everyone goes everywhere....even shop employees were all oriental. Actually im not sure i actually talked to any australians while i was in sydney and then there was this weird guy who came up behind me suddenly and asked if he could smell my feet....That really freaked me out and i don't really want to go to sydney by myself again if i can help it.

So onto surf camp..i rode on the bus sitting next to a girl from sweden. It turned out that about a third of the camp was from sweden which was cool at first but then it got really annoying because they would all speak swedish and never any english so it was very hard to interact with them. Also, the group was 90% female so that always creates the "clicky" sort of environment. other countries represented were Switzerland, UK, Germany and the States...though it was just me and one other girl.The camp ran as follows: Get up, eat brekky, suit up into wetties, trek to the beach, grab a board, huddle into your groups, Surf for 2hrs, come back and rinse out the wetties, grab lunch, chill for a bit, back into the wetties, surf for 2 more hrs, come back and Race to the showers, Dinner, chill a little (mostly watching Surfing dvds, and looking at the days pics while playing Massive Jenga), Go to bed....Begin again...4 days straight
On the last day, we woke up at 5:30 am to surf the sunrise...though gorgeous, it was extremely cold and really hard to attain my balance that early :) i normally stumble my way to the bathroom let alone go surfing that early.

The weather was mostly fantastic! our first day it started out beautifully and then a storm came in which we surfed through and by the end, there was a double rainbow which was absolutely breath taking...you could see both ends. At nights it was really chilly and not intending on going somewhere cold while in australia, i had very limited clothing for such cold conditions...but i managed...it turned out that everything "warm" i had brought to wear was ALL winthrop/RUF attire....The instructors said i looked like the typical american uni student..."Go Eagles" :)

Speaking of instructors, they were all AWESOME and so funny....their names were: Chaplin/"chaps", Justin/"winnie" (those were my instructors), John-O, Chris-O, Jack-O, and Shane-O....i have no idea if their last names all started with O or not but thats what they called each other. There was alot of goofing off as i anticipated but it was all in good fun. It was crazy how much energy these guys had. They would get up early to go surfing come back, instruct us, go surfing while we ate lunch, and then instruct us again....I asked chaps if they ever get tired of it ...doing the same thing week in and week out...his response was the people do fizzle out and he hopes to leave before he looses his passion for it all but from what i gathered as long as you have the energy to put into it, then it never gets old....i think the instructors cycle out so that they work for several weeks and then get a few weeks off. I know i personally couldn't do it for a while season.

Actually, on that point i have to reflect a little...If some one was to ask me if i could have the surfers lifestyle and mentality i probably would have to decline the offer. As much as i loved surfing and hanging out while getting a taste for the "surfer lifestyle" i did not feel completely fulfilled. I started to question on the plane ride back to cairns why i wasn't ecstatic about the awesome adventure i just had and i came to this conclusion pretty quickly...
I went to surf camp by myself, not just me by myself but the lone christian...i wasn't expecting this to be like summer conference were we are all gathered and fellowshiping because we believe the same thing, but i also didn't really prepare myself for the lack of "common held belief".
Though im sure there are surfers out there that are christian...the stereotypical surfer: Surfs, Drinks, and Parties...and unfortunately these guys lived up to all that.
I don't want to say i felt a lack of God's presence because he was obviously there and surrounding me with His protection but i felt spiritually alone....this one instance sticks out very well in my mind...when i noticed the double rainbow and all its beauty, i wasn't able to share in the symbolism of God's promise with anyone else. when i pointed it out to people they hardly took notice and kinda waved me off.
So while i had a fantastic time surfing and experiencing yet another side of australian culture, i would have to say i was amist a very worldly environment in which i had no christian outlet but to go off on my own to take pictures of God's beautiful creation. So, sadly it was rather draining in a spiritual sense because i did not have fellow believers in my presence. And unfortunately, i feel sort of guilty for not being more open about my faith and what i believe. I could have spoken up many times but instead just was silent for fear of potentially being harassed or left out even more than i was by coming as an "independent"...I just hope that i left some sort of impact by the way i acted and what i said. I think this was a very eye opening experience in letting me realize how much more i need to have faith in God and become more confident in speaking in His name without fear of what the consequence maybe........I just can't help but think about this perfect opportunity to witness and i wasted it because i was scared and was afraid of what others would think of me. All i can do is pray for God's strength in me to not be ashamed the next time an opportunity arises to speak openly of my faith.

On a lighter note, I love to surf, if i could take that activity and put a christian twist on it then it would be perfect! there's nothing like catching the perfect wave and riding it all the way until you can't go anymore.
Uni starts again on monday, and October is going to be a crazy month! i can't believe i only have 2more months left in australia....its amazing how fast time flies!