First surfing session!

Last weekend, the moment was finally there; I surfed my very first wave in Australia!



Sunday morning I catched the first train to Victoria's second largest city Geelong, from where a bus departs to Torquay. This village is also known as surfing capital of Australia, and happens to be one of the nearest places to Melbourne where the Ocean Swells hit the land! Around Torquay there's a wide range of beach- and reefbreaks. One of them is Bellsbeach, a worldclass spot hosting an event in the ASP World Championship Tour every year!

It takes about 2 hours by Public Transport from the door of my house to the beaches of Torquay. Too far for evening sessions after work, but not too bad for trips in the weekends! Living just two hours from one of the worlds best and most consistent areas for surfing, I won't complain ;-)

Arrived in Torquay, the first thing I saw was a sea as flat as a pancake. After asking around and a short walk along the coast, I saw clean long not too high (about 1 meter) lines rolling into a beautiful bay. The weather was nice, 23 degrees and sunny, and there were not too many people in the water: Perfect circumstances to paddle out into the Great Ocean for the first time! As there were no other boards available for rental, I hired a big 8'0 softtop surfboard. From some locals I heard, how surprising, that "I should have been there yesterday", and that the waves on this Sunday were not what they are like on a normal day. Still they were long and quite powerful. I had some really long rides like I've never had before! Imagine what the place will be like if the it's really on!

Stoked as I was, I decided that hiring would no longer be an option anymore, since it's quite expensive. On my way back from the beach to the bus stop, I bought a brand new Quiksilver 6'2 shortboard in one of the many surfshops of Torquay! I can't wait to start ripping on it, so there's pretty much a change I might be catching a train and bus to the ocean again next weekend, and probably the weekend after, and after and after... ;-)

Some more pics can be found here!