Meet our American (Peter Atkins) on the trip and see the trip through his eyes
As I plunged in to the water in Jeffrey’s Bay I looked out to where the reliable wave Kitchen Windows broke, I watched as one of my new trip mates (was his name Greg or Graham, or maybe Fish?) caught an open face wave, cutting back and forth. Then Klee’s voice broke over me, right before the wave, “Paddle, paddle!” I popped up, and fell forwards on my face with a splash. Yeah, I needed some catching up.
I had arrived the night before, three weeks into the trip. Instead of a wetsuit I had a stove, a tent instead of a surfboard. Honestly, I was so caught up in what I was doing before (backpacking around New Zealand) that I hadn’t given my late entry much thought. I realized straight away that I had arrived in to a group of people quite close-knit for only having known each other three weeks. Yet, despite that, or maybe because of it, I felt I fit right in. Everyone was (and is) very laid back, gregarious and freaking hilarious.
My ease of transition is a testament to these qualities of the group. Luckily, I am an American who understands that sarcasm makes up 60% of British conversations. I have also started to adapt my brain to unconsciously know friends are “mates”, and you don’t take a shower, you have one. And as the sole American, some of my cultural references are obviously way too sophisticated to be understood.
Getting past my personal entry to the group, the trip so far has been nothing short of fantastic. Jbay was a fantastic place to practice the basics, a very consistent reef break that was never too big. Our surf coach, Etienne, was very helpful, continuously pounding the simple “keep your legs together!” in to my brain until I stopped nose-diving. The waves seemed to follow him wherever he waited, as if the ocean was paying its due respect. A highlight for me was when several of us paddled out before dinner for a surf, the waves were sloppy and we were about to turn in when suddenly it picked up. I got absolutely tossed a couple times and almost caught a wave, but the beautiful pink sunset and the rainbow in the distance made the whole experience worthwhile.
Then off to East London. We all stayed in an awesome house right by the beach. The conditions were a lot more challenging than the consistent kitchen windows, especially the strong rip current – push-ups often reminded me of this. But once figured out, they were some of the best waves I’ve surfed thus far. On one of the big days I finally got out back to the big waves and took off, feeling the sweet addictive rush of my first open face wave. East London also presented the opportunity for swim training, with a 50 meter pool complex nearby. Between surfing, swimming, eating and sleeping (a vast majority of the day) we played volleyball, chilled to music, and Jamie and I had some holy wars on the ping pong table (table tennis for Brits?).
Now we are on our first couple days in Coffee Bay, staying at the Coffee Shack, a great hostel with delicious food. Looking to keep improving on my surf, as we all are doing each day. Just got out of the ocean where the waves are amazing, the South African sun is shining down and it’s lunchtime. Life’s not too bad.
The lone ranger
Peter Atkins