Surfing has been a passion of mine since eighth grade. I have done everything I can to learn to surf despite living 16 hours from the ocean. I have come to Australia in search great people, delicious coffee, advanced studies and hungry for some sick surf. A weekend trip in Phillip Island gave me just that. My friends and I decided to rent an Airbnb on the island and finally get a taste of the Australian surf scene. We took public transportation there — four hours! A bumpy train ride, interesting Uber conversations and the most beautiful view during sunset on the ferry we finally made it. The house was cozy and clean. We ate dinner and snuggled in for some good shut eye. The next morning I sprung out of bed to make sure everyone was wide awake! A double shot of espresso and peanut butter toast later we were on our way to the surf shop!

We rented surfboards and wetsuits. Now, at this point I had taken my shoes off and put them into the deepest point of my bag, bad plan. We miscalculated the distance to the beach and our feet were so sore! Just when I thought that we were surly going to lose all of our toes I got a glimpse of the ocean, only 50 more feet till we hit the sand. As soon as we hit sand I threw everything down and ran to the shore with my board. Then came to a screeching halt forgetting that my compadres didn’t know how to surf. So a quick pause for the fastest surf lesson of my life and we were in the water! Paddling out washed away all of the stress from school and homework. I can never find the words to explain the feeling of standing up on a waist high wave, gliding down the face of it while running your hand along it. (I guess you’re going to have to go out and try yourself.) We surfed the day away, catching waves and having good laughs at each other on the wipeouts. The day could have ended with surfing, however, the night had just started for penguin and wildlife seeking.

We made our way to the penguin burrows. On our way we were able to see wallabies and geese. Let me tell you the geese here are double the size of the geese in Missouri. It was insane but still cute. Then just as the moon came out and all of the noise of the day came to silence, the penguins started to come to shore and waddle their way home on the dunes and plains above them. Australian penguins live in little burrows and they all come out at night to socialize. We were incredibly lucky to be able to see them so close on our way back from the penguin parade. Finishing out the weekend we walked up and down the beaches right outside our house. Incredible views. This was one of the prettiest spots that we have been to yet. Crystal clear water and shelly shore I could have spent hours on the beach. We plan on going back soon for some more surfing and a day full of koalas.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Monash University