One night, earlier this year, my good friend popped round to our apartment in Newcastle. Over a glass of wine, she mentioned that she and her partner really enjoyed standup paddle boarding.
Displaying some very uncharacteristic spontaneity, Poopsie and I had soon made plans with her to go standup paddle boarding the next day.
We headed out to Lake Macquarie, on the outskirts of Newcastle. Here we got all the benefits of the beach, with none of the waves to knock us newbies off our boards.
Not being particularly adventurous myself, I volunteered Poopsie to go first. I listened in as my friend explained to him what to do, repeating over and over that when attempting to stand up, not to look down.
Poopsie before any attempts to stand and therefore before any falling in.
Of course, Poopsie didn’t listen. Even from the shore, I could see him looking down every time he tried to stand up and each time, he ended up in the water. Eventually he did manage to stand, but it took a while.
He did it!!
Next, it was my turn.
Acing it.
I aced it, first go.
This didn’t last of course, and I did end up in the water a few times, but I was pretty happy with my first attempt.
It was a great day out of free entertainment. My friend owned two boards, so we were able to have private lessons free of charge, enjoy some great company and a nice day in the sun.
As I said, we aren’t usually the spontaneous types but this time, we’re so glad we were.
Have you ever tried standup paddle boarding?
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