not so stereotypical canada

We left the house around 9:30. We all loaded up the 12 seater (which is actually the van of Parksville) and headed out of Cumberland on our first and only excursion of the trimester. We wanted an early start because we werent sure if the weather would old up for us.

With a Subway stop in Port Alberni we had finally made it through the 'near blizzard' weather. We arrived at our 'hostel' called the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful and VERY vacant place. The couple that owned it were very nice as well. It had a comfy 'cabin' feel to it.

We checked out the ocean that evening and determined that surfing wouldnt be too bad that weekend. The next morning we went for a little stroll through the rainforest and ended at a really cool beach and played some ultimate frisbee in the sand. It was actually really fun considering we all got soaked from the rain and the tide coming in. With sand up our asses we had back to the gardens to warm up.

Sunday morning I woke up full of energy and excitement. We packed up our things and started the morning with a little yoga/meditation session. Lead by Catherine, we were all in the state of mind to hit some waves. After this we went to a little cafe called Tuff...something and grabbed some brunch. I had the Tuff breakfast. Excellent hashbrowns. We hit up some shops around town and cruised the art gallery. I bought a tuque and some mitts from a place called Eco-Everything.

By 1:00 we were on the beach shore in our wetsuits checking out the waves that we were about hit. The beach was called North Chesterman. Our instructors were two girls from the Surf Sister Surfing School. The weather seemed pretty nice considering it was December 28th. The sun would poke through now and then between the patches of constant rain. At one point during instruction it started hailing.

As soon as i got in the water i had the ambition to succeed the waves. I road the 9 foot board on my stomach for a few waves just to get the feel. The first time i stood up it was such a sweet feeling. It came so natural to me. I was now trying to go for every wave i could. One instructor said the waves we were riding were about 6 or 7 feet. Some of them further back got to 10 or 12.

By the end of the day i felt a great sense of accomplishment. I didnt really want to get out of the water. I wasnt really that cold. The wetsuit helped so much. I was infact tired. I didnt think surfing could take that much out of me. Taking hte suit off was the worst part. It was freezing outside. I could see my breath with snow on the ground all around.

We headed home straight from the beach. The van had died while we were surfing so we had to get a jump from the surf sister van. Luckily we had cables. On the way back we stopped in Parksville, the weather was awful and thought we might have to stay the night but it cleared up and were able to make it home.