Noosa is this wonderful area about 2h drive north from Brisbane. David and Ave took me there for a weekend. Here is the information I got from web:
"Noosa is a little piece of exclusive city suburbia located on the Sunshine Coast, 178 km north of Brisbane and with a present population of around 10 000. Noosa's resort area commences at Peregian Beach in the south and extends north through Marcus Beach, Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach to Noosa Heads. All are bordered to the east by the Coral Sea."
You'll find one wonderful beach after another one here, there are many of them and seriously gorgeous ones. Right next to the beach there is a national park with koalas living in it as well - it is just the most beautiful place one can imagine. Beaches are semi-private as the crowd is gathered just on the main beach and all the other 4 beaches next to it are basically deserted. Shore is sandy for quite far off the waterline, water is bright bluish-green and waves hit the shore with rhythmic humming - just like a paradise.
We arrived in Noosa around 1pm, dropped our things off at the hotel and headed to the beach. The beach took my breath away - I had already forgotten how beautiful the Pacific really is! Right by the beach there is Noosa National Park - we took a wonderful walk there, for about an hour, wondering on the coastline between eucalyptus trees (oh the wonderful smell of eucalyptus!). For dinner we voted for Thai kitchen - food was wonderful. One of the strange things was that the restaurant was not selling any alcohol, we wanted to have win with our dinner, so they gladly guided us to a liquor shop to bring a bottle back from there and enjoy that with our dinner. Just remembered another strange custom here - eating places offer lunch only till about 3 or 4pm and then the kitchen gets closed for couple of hours :) Food is served again from 6 or 7pm, which means if you would like to eat around 5 o'clock, it is quite complicated to find a place that serves food.
Currently there is also Noosa Jazz festival in town so right after dinner we got to listen to some live jazz in a nearby restaurant - what a treat!
This morning our plan was to sleep in as late as possible and then head to town for late breakfast. Guess what time I was wide awake :) 7:10! So much about sleeping in this time. Good thing was that I found free wireless randomly extending to my room - 2 hours flew by in a snap :D
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY! :D :D yeap, today is fathers day here in Australia! Due to that fact all eating places were extremely crowded :( We still squeezed ourselves in and had long breakfast outside with ocean view - perfect start for our great Sunday. My breakfast consisted of a giant muffin and some hash-browns. Now the muffin, it was absolutely enormous, I have no clue how they manage to make such big muffins at all, it was huuuuuge, I could barely eat the whole thing :)
Next step was to rent a surfboard :), this went quite smoothly. As soon as we found free sand in the madness on the beach, I hit the water with the board and did not come out till 2h later :D So that was an experience I must say - water was extremely crowded with all sorts of surfers. Lot of them seemed to know what they were doing and I still found a quite big crowd of inexperienced ones like me :D Either way, my accomplishment was that I hit 2 really good waves and I got up on the board twice :D The problem was though that I could not align those 2 events :) All in all - I loved it, to be in the water with the board. I do realize that I need a whole lotta practice, but it is the best of the best to be in the water on the board!
The rest of the day went by sipping wine, listening to live jazz music, walking around by the river and by the ocean (of course, our favourite thing to do!).
Tomorrow morning we will head back to Brisbane, packing will have to wait till tomorrow as I'm dead tired. I have no idea when I'll find internet again so you have to manage with my twitter updates for some time again!
be good to each other and take care!
Showing posts with label surfing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surfing. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
18.02 Hawaii: Surfing, cocktail cruize and whale watching
Today had 2 highlihts: surfing and whales. In the morning we got to sleep in till 9, then got ready to head to Lahanai for early lunch.
My surfing lesson started at 12:30. This time I had a private instructor, no need to do the whole 30 minute instruction on the sand first and no need to stand around by the buoys waiting for your turn :) Also, this instructor got a bit different apprach on how to get up on the board - oh was I glad, as the last instructors guidelines were just so complicated that getting up on the board seemed impossible and took forever. Todays lesson was not about getting up on the board anymore, now it was all about getting up fast and manouvering. Oh it was great. I got so much background information on how the waves hit, how to time the glide, pointers on what I'm doing wrong, how do the rules go on catching a wave and so on and so on. During the breaks when we were waiting around for the waves we were just chit-chatting about life. It was great time, very informative, yet relaxed and fun. Also, the instructor, he was a real eye candy :) I wish I could sqeeze one more lesson in :D, but unfortunately our time is all booked and we are leaving the day after tomorrow already.
Mostly the experience is gathered by being in the water of course. Also each location is different, surges and drafts are different, waves form differently and so on. When surfing at a new location then the best bet is to follow the more experienced surfers and perhaps get somebody to explain the waters and help a bit with lineup. I guess the first time should be with an instructor if possible and then try to go out on your own couple of times.
In the afternoon we had scheduled a cocktail sunset cruize. Cruize was organized by Pacific Whale Foundation again. We got to see many many whales very close up, doing surges, flips, sprinkling water and going for deep dive. As the captain said we are swimming around in a whale soup :) There was a mommy teaching her calf how to jump out of the water, they did it couple of times - mommy first and then the baby followed, they were real close to the boat while jumping :) Then there was another one, little baby, who was clearly trying to do some sort of flip or go for deep diving, but did not manage and only had his tale stuck out of the water. Some people on the boat were joking that it is doing a head stand :)
Hawaiian language is great, they have all kinds of long and funny names. For one example is the state fish of Hawaii called "humuhumunukunukuapua'a" :) Street names and peoples names are funny like that as well.
My surfing lesson started at 12:30. This time I had a private instructor, no need to do the whole 30 minute instruction on the sand first and no need to stand around by the buoys waiting for your turn :) Also, this instructor got a bit different apprach on how to get up on the board - oh was I glad, as the last instructors guidelines were just so complicated that getting up on the board seemed impossible and took forever. Todays lesson was not about getting up on the board anymore, now it was all about getting up fast and manouvering. Oh it was great. I got so much background information on how the waves hit, how to time the glide, pointers on what I'm doing wrong, how do the rules go on catching a wave and so on and so on. During the breaks when we were waiting around for the waves we were just chit-chatting about life. It was great time, very informative, yet relaxed and fun. Also, the instructor, he was a real eye candy :) I wish I could sqeeze one more lesson in :D, but unfortunately our time is all booked and we are leaving the day after tomorrow already.
Mostly the experience is gathered by being in the water of course. Also each location is different, surges and drafts are different, waves form differently and so on. When surfing at a new location then the best bet is to follow the more experienced surfers and perhaps get somebody to explain the waters and help a bit with lineup. I guess the first time should be with an instructor if possible and then try to go out on your own couple of times.
In the afternoon we had scheduled a cocktail sunset cruize. Cruize was organized by Pacific Whale Foundation again. We got to see many many whales very close up, doing surges, flips, sprinkling water and going for deep dive. As the captain said we are swimming around in a whale soup :) There was a mommy teaching her calf how to jump out of the water, they did it couple of times - mommy first and then the baby followed, they were real close to the boat while jumping :) Then there was another one, little baby, who was clearly trying to do some sort of flip or go for deep diving, but did not manage and only had his tale stuck out of the water. Some people on the boat were joking that it is doing a head stand :)
Hawaiian language is great, they have all kinds of long and funny names. For one example is the state fish of Hawaii called "humuhumunukunukuapua'a" :) Street names and peoples names are funny like that as well.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
16.02 Hawaii: day full of sports
After a loong looong time, well after 3 very long days and sleepless nights, I finally got to sleep in. And guess what? I was up a bit after 7 :D So ironic. Also this was the first morning when I had time to go running on the beach! Oh it was great. All the way down the beach and back was exactly a 30 minute jog. Next time I will have a chance to go running on Wednesday I think, then I will try to go all the way down and back one way and then the other way as well, that should come to at least 45-55 minute run.
The whole time I was running I stared at the water trying to spot some whales. At the time there is whales mating season. For them it goes this way that the females pick the males so males are jumping and wagging their tales and doing all sorts of tricks to impress the females. I did not see any in the morning, but in the evening when the sun was setting we were playing with the waves on the beach by our hotel and then we saw quite many whales cruising by and sprinkling water up in the air. Some of them jumped all the way out of the water and flapped their tail as well. Hopefully on Wednesday we will see them up close from the boat when we will be on the cocktail cruise.
Allright, back the day. So after running we got ready to head over to Lahaina where we had scheduled a surfing lesson to start at 12:30. We were divided into groups and each instructor got from 4 to 6 people. We were provided with special shoes and shirts. Headed over to the beach, each got to carry their own board from the car down to the beach. Apparently the bigger the board the easier it is to surf, makes sense to me only up to a point. I get it that it is more stable, but isn't it also more difficult to maneuver it? Anyhoo, each got a board and carried it over to the sand. Whole course lasted 2 hours. First 30 minutes we spent on the sand going over the moves, rules and theory. All sounded quite simple, not too many rules and all sounded pretty logical. To the water we go. First we paddled to an assigned spot by the buoys where our instructor got us one by one and headed out the sea to catch the waves. As you might guess the theory is lost quick when trying to do it in practice. Well but we all got up from the board and glided almost like pro's (some more and some less :D ). I absolutely loved it, although my balance is horrible on my two feet :)
Since there were 4 of us and only one instructor we had to stand (or I should say glide) around in the water quite a bit. We were in the water about 1 hour and 15 minutes I'm guessing and we got to ride the waves 4 times. Rest of the time we just paddled around and watched others. Since I absolutely loved the whole thing, being in the water in general and of course riding the waves, I arranged another lesson for Wednesday. This time it is going to be only me and the instructor. Today the instructor chose the waves for us and sometimes gave our board some speed by pushing, he would also shout of when we would have to push back on the board and get up on our feet. I'm hoping that next time when I have the lesson I'm gonna learn to choose and catch the waves all by myself, so that in the future I don't need any more assistance and can just rent a board and head out the ocean :) Wish me luck!
In the afternoon we just had nice late lunch, did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel. Spent some time on the beach, in a hot water Jacuzzi by the hotel pool and that was it. Nothing more for today :)
Tomorrow is Wytni's 30th birthday! In the morning we are scheduled for some snorkeling and watching turtles as well as visiting couple of places by the boat. Activities start at 6:15 in the morning and are over by 13:00. In the evening we are going to Hawaiian luau. Paarrrtyyyy!!!
The whole time I was running I stared at the water trying to spot some whales. At the time there is whales mating season. For them it goes this way that the females pick the males so males are jumping and wagging their tales and doing all sorts of tricks to impress the females. I did not see any in the morning, but in the evening when the sun was setting we were playing with the waves on the beach by our hotel and then we saw quite many whales cruising by and sprinkling water up in the air. Some of them jumped all the way out of the water and flapped their tail as well. Hopefully on Wednesday we will see them up close from the boat when we will be on the cocktail cruise.
Allright, back the day. So after running we got ready to head over to Lahaina where we had scheduled a surfing lesson to start at 12:30. We were divided into groups and each instructor got from 4 to 6 people. We were provided with special shoes and shirts. Headed over to the beach, each got to carry their own board from the car down to the beach. Apparently the bigger the board the easier it is to surf, makes sense to me only up to a point. I get it that it is more stable, but isn't it also more difficult to maneuver it? Anyhoo, each got a board and carried it over to the sand. Whole course lasted 2 hours. First 30 minutes we spent on the sand going over the moves, rules and theory. All sounded quite simple, not too many rules and all sounded pretty logical. To the water we go. First we paddled to an assigned spot by the buoys where our instructor got us one by one and headed out the sea to catch the waves. As you might guess the theory is lost quick when trying to do it in practice. Well but we all got up from the board and glided almost like pro's (some more and some less :D ). I absolutely loved it, although my balance is horrible on my two feet :)
Since there were 4 of us and only one instructor we had to stand (or I should say glide) around in the water quite a bit. We were in the water about 1 hour and 15 minutes I'm guessing and we got to ride the waves 4 times. Rest of the time we just paddled around and watched others. Since I absolutely loved the whole thing, being in the water in general and of course riding the waves, I arranged another lesson for Wednesday. This time it is going to be only me and the instructor. Today the instructor chose the waves for us and sometimes gave our board some speed by pushing, he would also shout of when we would have to push back on the board and get up on our feet. I'm hoping that next time when I have the lesson I'm gonna learn to choose and catch the waves all by myself, so that in the future I don't need any more assistance and can just rent a board and head out the ocean :) Wish me luck!
In the afternoon we just had nice late lunch, did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel. Spent some time on the beach, in a hot water Jacuzzi by the hotel pool and that was it. Nothing more for today :)
Tomorrow is Wytni's 30th birthday! In the morning we are scheduled for some snorkeling and watching turtles as well as visiting couple of places by the boat. Activities start at 6:15 in the morning and are over by 13:00. In the evening we are going to Hawaiian luau. Paarrrtyyyy!!!
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