Gone Surfing.
So… remember my birthday that just passed? Well, this is my birthday gift from some of my friends:
Yep. I got surf lessons!
On Friday morning, Michelle, Adam, Jayne, Desmond, Rich and I left for Tofino, stopping along the way in Coombs at the “Goats on Roof” market (yes, there are actually goats that live on the sod roof of this market!). It’s about a 5-hour trip including ferry and driving time… but so worth it…
The plans for this weekend only finalized a couple weeks ago and by that time practically all the accommodation in Tofino was fully booked. The only accommodations I could find were camping on the golf course or the Tofino Botanical Gardens. Luckily, we stayed at the botanical gardens. There is a new hostel-style facility called the Clayoquat Field Station (CFS) where students and researchers come to learn more about Clayoquat Sound… funny thing though, most of the guests were other surfers…
There are eight dorm rooms that hold four guests each for only $32 per night. It includes hot showers, a shared dining area and lounge, as well as a shared kitchen for cooking. It was wonderful to be able to use the big kitchen to cook our dinner on Friday night (thai green curry with tofu, brown rice and lentils) and breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday. The restaurants in Tofino are a little pricey (dinner entrees from $26 and up) so I think we were pretty happy to have the opportunity to cook for ourselves. There was also a twilight yoga class at the CFS on Friday evening which Rich and Jayne took while the rest of us cooked dinner. If I were to go back to Tofino, I’d choose to stay at the CFS over The Wick any day.
We had two days of lessons (three hours from 9 am to 12 noon) from Pacific Surf School on Saturday and Sunday, plus we got to keep all our equipment to play with all Saturday afternoon. We ate lunch on the beach and I, of course, forgot to reapply sunscreen so now I have this ridiculous wetsuit tan that ends halfway down my neck! The weather was incredible and the water wasn’t as cold as people had warned. For the 7 or 8 of us in the lesson, we had two Aussie instructors — both super friendly and great instructors… lots of theory on how the ocean works plus 3D diagrams in the sand to illustrate different kinds of waves and currents. We spent both days at Cox Beach (right where the Long Beach Lodge Resort is) and it would have been nice to see some of the other beaches, but that’s for next time, I guess! And wow, what an amazing feeling to be standing up on a wave! Seriously, seriously addictive. I’m already trying to figure out when I can go again…
A weekend with no cell phone access, no computers, no email, no television… so good. We sat around in the evenings and talked, drank yummy wine (Gray Monk Kerner and Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer), read Adam’s surf magazines and did lots of knitting — Michelle on her Noro Silk Garden scarf and me on my Diamond Fantasy Shawl and Sizzle. I did more knitting during these past few days than I have in months.
It was such a nice weekend that when we found out that all the Sunday ferries were full (by 6 pm) it didn’t seem to bother us (well, except Dez who had to work on Monday morning). So we hopped on a different ferry, spent Sunday night on Salt Spring Island and then caught the 6:15 am ferry back to Vancouver on Monday morning. That’s a sign of a good trip, eh? When you just don’t want the weekend to end.
What an amazing weekend. Now you have me longing for summer. We live 5 mins from the beach on the north of Sydney. Last year my seven year old was just learning to stand up. I can’t wait to see how he goes this year. A junior soft board is already on his Christmas wish list!!
I have been so home sick and have lately been dreaming of waves. It has been many years since I have last picked up a board, but one can still dream. It looks like you had a wonderful b-day surprise. Happy belated birthday!
oh! I’m all homesick now thinking about Cox Bay and Rosie’s and the Wick. What a fantastic birthday gift!
wow! how neat is that! what a neat-o birthday experience with good friends!
Sounds like a lovely vacation. We spent a whole week on the west side of the island many years ago. Like you said, accomodations are booked up well in advance and we ended up having to camp at the golf course. Which was fine for us. We splurged and went to the Wick for dinner one night. We are planning another big camping trip for next year. I am trying to convice DH to do the Oregon coast. We’ve both done it already - DH on his bicycle and me by car. But it would be nice to do it together. I can already smell the smoked cheese from the Tillamook cheeze factory.
I never tried to surf! See on my blog, the last entry about kyte-surfing, this is an amazing view to enjoy!
Happy Birthday! When is it by the way? My birthday was last Thursday and it seems as if we both had a pretty relaxing weekend. However mine was spent with my boyfriend and fiber (he’s a knitter too). It’s really nice just to have a weekend in the middle of nature to get away from all the unnaturalness we call “modern day life”.
What an experience! Your friends do good work.
How cool! What a great way to spend your birthday, surrounded by friends and trying something new!
Oh, what a fabulous trip. I’m jealous.
Once you’ve surfed in Georgia, you should come out to Califronia - bigger waves
OMG TOFINO!!! I try to go every year. It’s my fav spot in the world (well, of course until I actually travel the world, I can’t say for sure, but at the moment, it’s the best place I’ve ever been to.)
At least you got to hit Salt Spring which is an awesome island - plus you got the whole island experience! Goats on the roof and ferry waits!
What a wicked birthday present!
Next time, you can surf Chesterman Beach. Another very awesome beach.
Sounds wonderful! Happy belated birthday!
Happy Birthday! When was your actual bday? We are the same age, my big three-oh is coming on Sunday, yikes! I am so not a grown-up!
Gotta watch out for those dodgy Aussie Surfing Instructors…;).
Surf Lessons? Too Cool!
Wow what an awesome gift and you do such a fabulous job of telling about the entire experience. Just incredible!
Now…. what occasion was it that your friends gifted you with a sheep which you will receive the fleece from? Don’t tell me that was last year’s birthday and I’ve been reading your blog this long?
What an awesome birthday present! It looks like you had perfect weather for your lessons too!