Windsurfing, relaxing, walking, playing...

Dear friends and family,

We are continuing to enjoy our stay in Geraldton. Adam and I are enjoying the extended break from the caravan- it’s relaxing having our own little home and we have fallen into easy routines here (sleeping in later than usual- because we actually have a comfy bed and a dark room and there are no noisy caravanners a few feet away- followed by a regular morning walk or jog by the beach for me). Marcus has also been up early for a walk each morning and sometimes little Tarni has even hopped into bed with us, she is such a cutie (and is actually snores quite loudly which is pretty funny).

The other day we all went for a drive and visited a local olive grove. Marcus bought some different flavoured olives and oils, along with some dukkah and dipping oil which is very yummy. There were also some sheep just nearby which Tarni got to pat which was fun for her (she creeps up very quietly to animals so they don’t get scared).
We’ve also been for a few more bike rides and played in the park (which is right on the beach just down the street from our place) with Tarnishia and gone to the beach. Marcus has also bought Tarni a few new things while we’ve been here and one of her favourite new toys is a little guitar which plugs in, along with a microphone. She loves to play “rocking” as she calls it and she belts out a few rock tunes at the top of her lungs, sometimes with her sunnies on, which is a classic to watch. We’ve got some good piccies of the rock queen in action.

The weather has been fairly changeable and we’ve even had a thunder storm and some rain which is unusual for this part of the world at this time of year. Mainly it’s been warm and sunny, with some cloudy days. As a result the regular strong seabreezes Adam and Marcus were hoping for haven’t been too consistent. It has however, still been windy most days, just not always as strong as they would like. Adam has been out sailing quite a bit nevertheless, using one of Marcus’ boards which is a bit bigger than his and therefore works better when the wind isn’t as strong. Hopefully Marcus will be able to get out soon too.

And of course my sailing lessons are continuing and I think I have only missed a couple of days windsurfing the whole time we’ve been here. It’s fun, rewarding, sometimes exhilarating, frustrating and painful (I have muscles sore in strange places and plenty of bruises on my feet and legs). The past few days I’ve taken some new steps forward which has been really satisfying and as anyone who knows me will understand, I am persistent! It’s also been rewarding for Adam to watch my progress because, for better or worse, he is my windsurfing instructor (I am not sure a husband and wife combo is ideal for a teacher/student arrangement, but we are doing pretty well, except for the odd blow up..hehe).
For those of you who know about windsurfing, I’ve been sailing in a harness in up to 15 knots. Plus I have just learned to beach start (after many false starts!) and yesterday, with Adam’s help, I did my first water starts (which is where you start laying in the water and lay your feet on the board, then using the wind and the sail to lift you up, instead of standing on the board and using a rope to pull the sail up which is really hard work), and also did a few runs on Marcus’ larger short board. Because the short boards are less stable it’s much harder to uphaul the sail using the rope, therefore water starts are a must. So I will keep practicing them! Hopefully by the time we leave here I’ll be sailing on a short board consistently and can leave my big beginner’s battle ship behind. When I have had some faster runs I have loved the feeling of speed and the board skimming across the water. It will be good to have mastered a new sport, and one which actually works in windy conditions when the surf is no good etc. Of course, back in Port Macquarie we won’t have as much time (or as much windy weather) as we do here, but it will be great to have a new sport just the same.

More news soon, hope you are well and happy, love and hugs,
Emma & Adam xx