Aussie Drinking Games

I have come to the end of my surfing experience and we have all sadly parted ways at Byron Bay. I began to settle in to the surfer’s way of life, where the only question was where and what time we would surf. My last few days at this camp have definitely been eventful; seeing my first snake, learning some Aussie drinking games and finally managing those tricky turns on the surf board! It’s a lot livelier here than at Crescent Head and everyone, including the staff is there to let loose, have fun and enjoy the surf…

So I have always enjoyed a good drinking game but they took it onto a new level, starting off with a game where you had to pass the mouthful of beer down the line and the last person had to swallow it to full on relay of activates including a tub of Vegemite and a downing a concoction of milk and goon which I mistaken fell for as free alcohol. Admittedly, I have a slight competitive side so when a game of musical chairs began I got a little excited. This however was no ordinary musical chairs, instead when the music stopped we had to fetch the item that was shouted out – which ranged from a hat to underwear to a naked man!…Final round and it was myself against a Canadian ice hockey player and I’m not going to lie, I doubted my chances, so when we had to fetch a seashell from the beach (bearing in mind by this time it was raining heavily) and the Canadian sprinted off in direction of the beach I knew I couldn’t outrun this athlete. Looking around I figured there must be a seashell collection somewhere, so when I saw (with the help of a side glance from the staff) a shell nestled on the side I jumped at the chance and sat down on the remaining chair in victory! Yes, I did feel a little guilty when 10 minutes later after we had all taken refuge inside the Canadian came running back with his sandy shell – but not guilty enough to give up my prize!!

As for my surfing I would say I am a few injuries away from permanent damage to myself and others around me – including managing to completely wipe out someone by their ankles with my board as the tide came in sending them head over heels and face down into the water!! I did however enjoy the afternoon ‘expression sessions’ where the staff dressed up as women or in masks while others enjoyed beach volleyball and some beers in the sun. The weather has also improved from Sydney as I head up north and those all important tan lines are starting to show.

Finally, as I said farewell to my fellow surfers, we couldn’t miss out one last night together in ‘Cheeky Monkey’s’: A well known bar in Byron Bay for dancing on the tables and singing out loud to the old skool classics. We all agreed to make our friendship official on Facebook and share those hidden embarrassing pictures with each other.

From Byron to Brisbane and on to Rainbow Beach for few nights, I am excited to be continuing on to an Outback Ranch Experience that Gap 360 have enrolled me on where my horse-riding and cattle herding skills will be out to the test.