You know those people who are funny and intelligent and win things, well I'm one of those people! I make this statement with tongue firmly in cheek but the facts speak for themselves. I arrived at the Arts Factory Lodge hostel in Byron and saw on the noticeboard 'Talent Show'. I haven't entered a talent show since Primary School, so I jumped at the opportunity to do a 5 minute stand-up set. The other acts on the bill were all musical. Luckily the guy running night, Cockatoo Paul (legend), had the sense to put me on halfway through and the sense not to introduce me as a standup. 30 seconds into the set my decision to participate didn't seem the best idea. It was 150+ crowd of backpackers, many of whom were drunk, they hadn't paid to watch and as such didn't care too much, plus they had been talking amongst themselves during the music acts. Their inclination to watch a random bloke do standup wasn't high. I was getting heckled left right and centre and was dealing with them pretty well. I got through to my first punchline, everyone laughed, and I had their whole attention. The gig went extremely well and I strolled off stage very pleased with myself. I even won a prize, a free trip to Nimbin on Jim's Alternative Tour. Doing the gig has given me a very minor case of celebrity within the hostel. It has mainly involved drunk people coming up to me at random times commenting on how what I talked about during my set has happened to them. My luck continued to the next night for a trivia quiz. On my team was a Dutch guy, two Canadian girls, and an English girl. We won the contest, each getting $30 in cash and other prizes. I got a free surf lesson. They say luck comes in three's so I am waiting for my third piece of good fortune.
I had my surf lesson yesterday. It was great fun and brilliant to be able to stand up on the board. To suggest that I looked graceful and cool would not be accurate. I am amazed surfers can look cool. We went out and learnt the steps we had to do on the beach. There are four steps, knee, front foot across, back foot up, and push up to stand. We then went out into the surf. Apparently the conditions were really tough, there was a big swell and the current was dragging across the beach. We waded through the surf, falling into pot holes as we went, trying to avoid the waves as they came crashing in, whilst making sure to hold on to the board. We then got to the instructor, Danny, who held the board in position while we clambered on to the board and then released us when a wave came in. It was hard work. I looked like a cat in a washing machine, with snot hanging off my face and a bleeding foot. I was able to stand up on the board early on and then tumbled. About an hour into the lesson my strength was waning and Danny commented on this. He seemed to find my attempts funny. I was struggling to get on to the board let alone the four steps. I got knocked off pretty much immediately after he let go quite a few times at this stage. There was another instructor in the water with us taking photos and offering advice. He said that I should remember the four steps, to look up, and move my feet. I had the best of intentions to achieve all of these goals, but they weren't coming together. We got out of the water and had a rest then went back in. I ran in a couple of good waves, especially the last one. I don't think Kelly Slater needs to be looking over his shoulder.
I went on my tour to Nimbin the other day. Nimbin is famous for allowing Cannabis to be smoked legally. The police turn a blind eye for some reason and have done since the 1970s. I'm not one for drugs and neither were the English couple I was doing the tour with. However, I didn't feel out of place on the tour. Jim is a nice guy and runs a good tour. Nimbin is a weird place, which I'm glad I didn't decide to stay in. It is worth seeing but is a bit of a freak show. There are dealers everywhere. In the museum dealers seem to come out of nowhere. From Nimbin we went to Paul's place, an American who bought land near Nimbin and has hand planted it since. He is a real hippy and the walk through his grounds is peculiar to say the least.
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