On Friday the 4th of August, me and two friends set off to the bus that would bring us and about 70 others to Phillip Island, a two-hour drive from Melbourne, for our surf camp! After the bus drive we unpacked our bags and were divided in groups with whom we would do the activities with during the weekend. The first one being a real student activity, namely chucking goon (the Australian slang word for boxed wine) as fast as possible with your group. A delicious dinner, including dessert, was served and we got ready for the party of that night: Christmas in August! Though Christmas songs were missing in the dj's playlist we had loads of fun and enjoyed ourselves with punch and wine.

The next day was the BIG day: surf day! A quote from Wikipedia: "Phillip Island is recognized as having one of the most consistently reliable and varied surf conditions in the country" (2014). Nothing to worry about, right?

Unfortunately for us, our professors are right. Never trust Wikipedia as a source. Due to high waves we were not allowed to surf, so we went bodyboarding instead. And I have to say, it was a very fun substitute! Because the waves were so high, several times we were able to catch a wave that would take us all the way back to the beach, an amaizng feeling! As you might know, it is winter on this side of the world, so we had to wear wetsuits. The water temperature was not as cold as we had expected (luckily), and the only time we were really cold was when we had to take off the wetsuits.
After body boarding, we had a short Australian slang class from one of our group leaders, so if someone now asks for some dead horse (ketchup) or wants directions to the nearest bottle-o (liquor store), I know exactly what they need. We had another really good dinner, I don't think any other camp I have been on before had such good food, and changed to our pyjamas for the final drinking games and party of the weekend! Pyjama parties are awesome, as you don't need to change when you want to go to bed ;)

On Sunday we were all just very happy we did not have to do much, everyone was really tired and ready to go home. Despite not being able to actually surf, the surf camp was much fun and I really enjoyed my time on Phillip Island! Definitely going back, because there is also a penguin park there and I cannot skip the opportunity to see penguins, right?