guess who learned to surf

on tuesday morning, emily, georgia smith, georgia's sister romy, and i piled into mr. smith's car and he drove us to middleton. middleton is a beach town about an hour southeast from adelaide. here's a map. look for port victor, which is a town right nearby middleton.




we stayed in a big beach house with our friend amalie meaney and her family. amalie's dad is a fireman and the house is available throughout the year for firefighters. it was a very short walk to the beach. middleton is great because there are good waves (there aren't any waves really in brighton) so it's perfect for boogie boarding and beginner surfers. we had a quick lunch then went to the beach! we borrowed wetsuits because the water was a little cold. amalie taught me to surf. she's a really great teacher because i picked it up right away. i stood up on the board within about 15 minutes! it was so fun. we spent a while at the beach then went back to the house.




georgia, amalie, emily, and i, along with romy and amalie's sister ella, watched a bunch of movies in the living room and dragged our mattresses in there and had a big sleepover. the next morning we got up early to go back to the beach. i surfed some more and also boogie boarded with emily. emily's a good boogie boarder and picks out the best waves. then amalie, georgia, emily, and i went to victor harbour which is a town about 15 minutes away. we walked across a bridge to granite island and walked around there for a little while, then browsed around the shops in the town, and ate some ice cream.



we then went to port elliot, the next town over, and got some food from the famous bakery there, then went to a beach and sat, then went on a long walk around. it was really beautiful along the coast and totally worth the walk even though georgia and amalie were complaining at first.



we went back to the house and watched more movies that night. the next morning we went back home. we were sad to leave, it was a really fun time.


today karen, her sister lisa, lisa's daughter georgia, who is 15, and i went to cleland wildlife park. it was sort of like a zoo but we got to feed most of the animals. we walked around for a long time looking at all the animals. we saw tasmanian devils (terrifying when they are fighting), dingoes, bilbies, snakes, wombats, an echidna, and a ton of strange birds. we also got to pet a koala and feed emus and kangaroos. the koala was so soft and cute. the emus were actually very scary. they make these strange growling noises and peck you when they grab food out of your hand. my hand kept getting pinched and bitten but it was so funny to watch them eat. the kangaroos were really sweet and soft, though.