September 21, 2011 / Surf's Up!

Although I still woke up at 430 am from jet lag, we started the day ambitiously headed towards Kuta beach. Our 8 am surf lesson awaited us. 3 students to one instructor proved helpful compared to the lessons I had previous taken in Australia in 2009. We started out practicing basic balance in the pool at the hard rock cafe hotel and then moved to the Indian ocean. when arriving on the beach, our jaws dropped at the size of the waves this morning. This was going to be interesting, to say the least. The instructor was great - hands down great. Two hours in the water, with a small break mixed in, was just as physically tolling as I remembered it too be, if not more on this day. You only needed to go out 30 to 40 feet into waist deep water to catch a wave. Matt, with his mountain goat like balance, was a natural. He took to it quickly. I still need practice but did catch my fair share of waves and could see myself making progress. The tide and waves were so strong that getting even the minimal distance out was exhausting. During our break, an older woman was having her son take her picture with us. Is this what its like to be cool? :) As I warned Matt, after two hours we were done surfing for the day. We mingled at the surf shop while they prepared a CD of 212 photos of us surfing. Mostly wiping out actually.


We continued our day at Kuta beach with a filing lunch and drinks. Yes, drinks at 11am :) Following lunch we relaxed for hours on the beach. Relaxing and reading. The hawkers in Kuta are beyond annoying. Trying to over charge and sell anything possible. Although it its impressive to see the fruit sellers carrying large baskets of pineapples, bananas, and mango balanced on their heads. How are those skinny necks so strong!?

We wandered around Kuta, dodging a time share scheme, popping into a few shops, and then finding a Chinese Buddhist temple. The temple was simple yet ornate. Despite the loud hustle and bustle just feet outside the metal gate, there was peace and tranquility in each corner. After returning to our hotel and cleaning up, we headed for a beer at happy hour and then to dinner. At dinner, I received a short lived rose for filing out a comment survey. I would later regret this in the morning when I had to dodge a phone call from another time share. once again the daily activities and jet lag had me conquered and I crashed by 9pm.