Trying (and Failing) to Surf at Bondi Beach, Sydney
The view of Bondi Beach yesterday was so beautiful that we both decided we absolutely had to go surfing here. To make sure we could hit the waves early in the morning, we kept our drinking to a minimum and managed our condition. Finally, the morning of the big day arrived.
Let's go to Bondi Beach!!
But unlike me, my friend insisted that we still needed to eat breakfast and headed straight for Subway. I'm starting to wonder if he's my friend or just some middle-aged guy from next door.
Taking the city bus showed us a different side of Sydney compared to yesterday. One thing that caught my eye was those rainbow flags. I asked what was going on, and apparently, they hung rainbow flags representing homosexuality all over Sydney for the gay pride parade happening next week. In Korea, homosexuality is still often seen as "wrong," but in Australia, it seems to be accepted as just "different." (Even considering cultural differences, I personally think the gay pride parades back home can be a bit extreme.) There are probably many reasons for it, but people here definitely don't seem to care much about how others live or how others view them.
First, we needed to rent surfboards, so we walked into the most decent-looking shop we passed by. As written out front, the price was 15 dollars for 1 hour and 25 dollars for 2 hours. We figured anything over two hours would be pushing it, so we rented them for exactly two hours. There are several shops, but the prices are pretty much identical, so there's no real need to shop around.
The shop had many types of boards, but for beginners like us, the fancy ones were out of reach. We confidently shouted, "Board for beginner!!" and rented soft longboards. Oh, you absolutely need an ID and a credit card to rent one. So make sure to bring your passport, a copy of your passport, and a credit card.
And you shouldn't get confused about your own name and get mistaken for a thief like a certain someone. I mean... does it make sense to not recognize your own name, try to pay with someone else's credit card, and get accused of stealing? Lol.
We headed toward the ocean with fierce determination. I pictured exactly how I would get into the water and when I would catch a wave. After thoroughly warming up, we ran into the ocean to become one with the waves for two hours.
And we didn't stand up a single time. Not even once. Far from becoming one with the waves, the ocean just pushed us away as if telling us to get out. I wanted to make the excuse that the waves were too low, but everyone else was surfing just fine. It's weird... I stood up and surfed perfectly well in Bali... We struggled for two hours trying to make it happen at least once, but the result was so miserable and embarrassing that I just wanted to go back to Seoul.
