No more surfing: The end of an era

So surfing ended. Yes, it's sad. But, it is autumn here now. Which means--I do NOT want to be getting in any oceans anymore. And, I did awesomely on our last day, which also happened to be the day we were tested! It was great. Here's just a litte tribut to the great sport of surfing. Of which I am now an expert, obviously...

This is Wayne, the surf master. He went surfing with us every time to show us the ropes. Basically, he's a hippie. This shirt he's wearing here is one of his tamer ones. He's just the greatest though. When we tried to thank him the first day for taking us out, he told us, "don't thank me, thank the universe!" And, that basically defines him. He's an artist and a beach bum, and a really good time.

I took this picture through a cave that we climbed up into at the beach. We saw this whole in the rock and obviously couldn't leave it unexplored so we climbed up and found the coolest little beach shack built on the side of the mountain. It was so cool! But, the best part was the view out the window--to the beautiful beach!

Being the beginner surfers that we are, some waves are a little over our heads still--literally! This picture is an example of this. These girls are contemplating how much they like being alive before they step out into the insane surf. Oh man, that was a funny day. I was in the second group, so I just stood on the beach and watched people try to get out to the waves for about 20 mintues and only get a few feet in the from the beach. These girls were wise to consider the consequences of getting in the water before they dove in.

Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do this beach justice. It was beautiful!! If you know anything about me, then you know how excited I was about the fact that the small island behind us is called Monkey Island. Yeah, for real. :) It was great.

So, farewell surfing. Thanks for a good time. I hope we meet again someday soon.