J Baai (Jeffrey’s Bay)

Last night, after failing to plan a spa day in proper time, we scheduled surfing lessons and hired a car.  I also heard that my cousin Erica had her first child, a healthy baby boy named Brayden John Stensven, early Tuesday morning.  Congrats to her and Matt and to Gramma and Grampa for their first great-grandbaby! 

After a short convo with Ali and Grams, my first attempt at sleep was at 11:15pm in the fresh air of the terrace.  I achieved the equivalent of napping in 15-minute increments until 2am and then finally fell asleep for a solid two hours from 4:30—6:30am.  I woke with my stomach ache slightly less noticeable and with an appointment to meet.  We got a cab to the airport to pick up our car and drove an hour to J Baai.  Apparently, “Be here by 9:30 to sign indemnity forms,” actually means, “Be here by 9:50 to sign indemnity forms.”  So, we just hung out at the backpacker which is situated on the top of a hill, overlooking the beach, until they were ready to begin lessons.

We started by squeezing our bodies into our wetsuits, which is no easy feat no matter how well it fits.    We got some lessons on the shore, had a first stage water lesson for which we just lifted our hips off of the board, and a second stage water lesson when we actually began surfing.  I caught every wave I could, and after a two-hour lesson, it was a challenge to bring the boards back up the hill to the backpacker.  We bought a CD with professional pictures of the surfing, see a few posted below.

carrying the boards to the beach below

land portion

"Paddle, paddle, paddle!"

Step 2: Plant hands and push up.

Rest ...

Add step 3: Plant back foot and bring front foot between hands.

Try to stand up

Get some more directions

And you're surfing.  Waaahoo!

 Next we went fossiking (definition anybody?????) .  We looked for shells on the beach, checked out the small shops in J Bay, grabbed some ice cream and headed home around 5.  I made it home with enough time to makes some dinner to freeze for next week to accommodate for my dwindling time and to create some Alton-Brown-is-my-hero-banana bread.  Now, I am struggling to keep my eyes open, and we have another early morning for our trip to Grahamstown tomorrow.  

J Bay

workin' it to pass some time

J Bay the other way

Where is Schtevo?

See the mountains across the bay?  That gives you an idea of what a gorgeous drive it was to J Bay.  We met an  American women who just came from study abroad grad school for her MBA in India.  She said that we have to understand that SA is totally different than Indai for all it's natural beauty and ecotourism

The shells I collected today :D