Last Day in Sydney
Trip Start
Mar 27, 2006
1
5
22
Trip End
May 02, 2006
Sydney, Australia
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Erik, Jim, and Angela woke up early to return the rental car and then got picked up in the city to learn how to surf. There were 20 people and two instructors. The instructors were very goofy, arrived late due to bus problems and opened up with rather inappropriate stories and colorful language. We knew then that this was going to be an interesting day. The morning was very cool and slightly windy. We stopped at market to get lunch, "have a flush" and do "paperwork" before going out to the beach. The "paperwork" consisted of handing over A$79 (the money is paper after all). By the time we got to the beach the wind had really picked up. The sand was blowing everywhere and the temperature wasn't rising. We put on some wetsuits, learned the basics of surfing on the beach, and then started for the ocean. The waves were strong and crashing hard. The instructors warned us that we were going to be smashed. Sure enough - they were right. It took a tremendous amount of energy just to get out deep enough to catch a wave. Erik and Jim did a great job and got up on their boards several times. Angela did a good job of drinking the ocean. After about an hour in the ocean, we were ready to call it quits. We hovered behind the board trailer and tried to stay warm. The wind on the beach kept getting more intense and it was difficult to even stand. The instructors made us sandwiches (which were really sandy by the time you got one). We stayed in the vehicle while some of the younger fools tried to surf. Finally they called it a day and drove us to a pub and then took us back home.
Tommy went to the Telstra Stadium and took a tour. It's where the Olympics took place in Sydney. He met us some other folks from England and really enjoyed himself. He came back to the hotel early because it was so windy and he hadn't dressed for the cool weather.
Eugenia went to an Internet Café and tried to work on her laptop. She has had trouble getting a strong enough connection in the hotel room (we have been borrowing someone's bandwidth). She then went to a local church called Hillsong.
We head out tomorrow for Perth to begin our Rotary adventure. We're not sure what kind of Internet connection we will have and probably won't be able to post as often. We will try to keep in touch as much as possible.
