I grew up in the county, three and a half long hours inland.

I envied the kids that grew up on the beach; doing nippers each weekend and having an after school swim or surf…..what a life!

The first time I experienced the thrill of riding a wave was when we were on holiday; I was 10 and got to have a go on my friend’s boogie board… wow did I love that feeling of riding a wave! From that moment on I was determined, I will learn to surf.

But how?

It was nine years later when my surfing adventure really began. I was at University in Brisbane 1.5 hour away from the ocean but that wasn’t going to stop me from learning to surf. So what did I need? A surfboard of course which brings me to tip one.

Tip one:
The correct board…

My best mate and I drove to the Gold Coast in search for the perfect board, I had researched and printed off a list of all the surf shops. Now let me tell you, picking the surf shop with the cutest boy is not the best way to buy a board. After the promise of him taking me for a lesson I handed over my $650 and walked out of the shop ‘in love’ and with a board that was sooo wrong for me. Learning to surf on a fibreglass board that is not right can really delay your progress. Which brings me to tip two.

Tip two:
Learn from a professional…

My best friend and I would travel to the Gold Coast as much as we could and tried to teach ourselves to surf, man was that hard. The surf shop boy didn’t end up giving us that lesson so we were on our own. Until I met my new boyfriend who was a surfer… perfect! Or not.. just because you can surf doesn’t mean you can teach someone how to surf as I found out…After a couple of ‘lessons’ and a trip to the hospital with 10 stitches in my eyelid my boyfriend gave up on teaching me. However the injury and him giving up on me didn’t stop my urge to become a surfer, which brings me to tip three.

Tip Three:
Have fun….

You don’t need to surf like Kelly Slater or Layne Beachley, you just need to have fun. My desire to be a surfer landed me in beautiful Byron Bay, this is where I fell in love with longboarding. I got some professional lessons from Lets Go Surfing. Purchased a long board that was just right for me and surfed The Pass most days. I didn’t need to short board or chase big waves. I found what was comfortable for me and what I loved to do.