Best Surf Lessons So Far & San Diego Zoo

Fantastic surf lessons with Ryder yesterday and today, I managed to get my footing correct and stand up on the board for like 10 to 20 whole seconds on multiple occasions and one time even managed to surf the wave right to the shore and then just stepped off the board all casual like into 6inches of water. Whoo hoo!! Admittedly the waves were more manageable these last two days, but hopefully it wasn't just that the surf was on my side, but that some of what I've been taught over the last 8 lessons has started to take hold. Whatever the reason anyway it was amazing, the only bit I didn't like occurred about two thirds of the way through yesterday's lesson when a kid, who looked to be about 12, paddled back down to Ryder and the other instructor who was teaching two guys near me and said "is that a shark?"

Um, say what???

Ryder asked to borrow my board and hopped on it and stood to get a better vantage while I, my brain not really connecting with the fact that I was still tethered to the board by my ankle leash, started to slowly edge backward toward the beach until the leash pulled me up short. Ryder and the other instructor looked at each other and shrugged. "I'm sure it was just a dolphin," said Ryder.

I bloody hope so. Having come across a headline only yesterday where some poor bloke in Western Australia had been bitten in half by a great white I was in no mood to take even the smallest of risks and it was with some initial trepidation that I continued surfing, although I was comforted by the fact that there were a ton of people out surfing that morning and they all seemed completely unfazed.


Anyway it's been a great couple of days and I am hoping I can continue this streak. I'm quite gung-ho to sign up for a few more practice sessions when I get back to New York.

The weather turned cold and rainy pretty a couple of hours after yesterday's lesson, so instead of blobbing on the beach for a few hours we took off to San Diego Zoo for the afternoon.



The littlest giraffe that can be seem galloping around between the larger two was born just 6 days ago. He's already 6ft 2 and 160lbs. His father is an impressive 18feet tall.


These guys are meant to be a whizz at mountains and can leap 6feet, nevertheless they seemed amusingly confused by the steps in their enclosure.


Does this look like a comfortable sleeping position to you? I've encountered some people on planes who seem to be able to sleep just about anywhere like this panda!! Lucky bastards!!