ahhh.... to be on solid ground

Hey all

Surfer's Beachfront Skyscrapers

We spent today in Surfer's Paradise on the beach for the majority of the day. We grabbed our free boogie board rental from the hostel and walked to the beach. We were thinking about renting a surf board, but we wanted to boogie board first and see if the waters were as rough as they looked yesterday. We got to the beach and went in the water. Oddly, there is only a VERY small area available for swimming, and they move this swimming area throughout the day as the currents change. The rest of the beach is JUST for surfing, but you have to know what you're doing because the currents are so strong and the waves are really big and fast. We've decided it's called "surfer's paradise" because only the good surfers can successfully surf here. We were watching a bunch of beginners struggle to stand up, and then wipe out a few feet later. We haven't even got up yet! So we stuck with the boogie board, which was still fun. But we discovered once we started using it, that the one we borrowed from the hostel is bent, so it didn't work as good as the other ones we've used since it is flimsy. It didn't catch the waves as well, but it was still ok. Then we just laid in the sun all afternoon, stupidly without sunscreen so we'd get a bit more color, so now we're both burnt. We hope it'll turn into a tan. We caked on the aloe when we got back. It didn't feel too hot on the beach since there was a pretty strong sea breeze, so we burnt unknowingly or we would have put sunscreen on. We've had worse burns though so we're not too worried. Apparently it's choppier than usual on the beach because the sandbars are moving around  ???? that's what one of the store owners told us when he heard our accents. He told us to make sure we stayed within the flags today (the small swimming area). We came back after the beach and lounged in the shaded pool in inner tubes. It was really nice. Then we read for a little while. . . pretty relaxing day, which is ok with Jess after yesterday's trauma. Anyway, we're going to go check out the $5 all you can eat bbq, talk to you all soon!

TJ in search of the best wave