Hello and welcome to our first blog for the Ticket to RIde South Africa and Mozambique trip 2012. Let me first say that everyone has arrived here safely! Well except Ellie who is arriving in a week. It has been a long time waiting for many of the group and really exciting to finally be out here on their adventure!
After arrivals through the day yesterday, we finally got to settle down all together for a nice braai (barbecue). The main highlights of the day, besides arriving here, were the sunshine, warmth and a few of them got a good surf in. At the beginning of the trip it is really just about getting to know everyone, but a good braai and a couple of beers helps with this process. It was a fun evening and everyone was pretty tired and ready for an early night and rest before their first surf lesson.
This morning we got them in the water for the first lesson. The waves weren't fantastic but we got to see everyone's skills and were presently surprised. It is a great mix from some of the group who I can see have done lots of surfing, to a few who have never surfed before. With the surf coaching course later on on the trip, we did the basic beginner ABC lesson for everyone, but out in the water some of the group were racing across faces and doing cutbacks, a good start! The afternoon followed with fish and chips (fries for Maartyn) at the famous Kalky's in Kalk Bay harbour.
In the afternoon we went for our second surf. I took some of the guys out at Kalk Bay, a reefbreak which has a bit more power and consistency (a lot more power) which was exciting and adrenaline filled for them. Chad took the rest down to Muizenberg to do some video coaching while the guys worked on their skills learned in the morning.
You will see that food will often be mentioned on this blog, this is not because I am a food fanatic, but because after a long surf you get absolutely starving! So, off to a local food market it was, get a chance to see what the locals get up to, and then to bed for loads more surfing tomorrow. With table mountain, the penguins, community work, Cape Town, wine tasting and much more it is going to be a busy week ahead!
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Chris