We left midday on friday, about 80 of us with five MUSEX Australian host/leaders (we affectionately call ourselves MUSEXuals) about an hour or so to the west side of the bay. We had the YMCA Camp Wyuna to ourselves, which is good because we probably would have driven out any other guests. The camp had a path right to the beach. It was about a 15 minute drive from Ocean Grove, the beach where we did the surfing (the same one from Melbourne Welcome).
We were split up into four teams (go green!) for all the games and mishugas, and for surf groups. We got our green warpaint and sunscreen on and spent most of Friday afternoon on the beach. The water was perfect, and I remember us all saying we had no complaints whatsoever. The real fun started after dinner. It was clear the camp knew what we had in store because they served us a ton of carbs as preparation--potatoes, pasta, and bread. I'll spare the details to keep this all PG-ish, but let's just say my liver got a bit of a workout this weekend and we finished a disgusting (or impressive, depending on your take) amount of cheap beer and wine.
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| The beach. Tough life. |
Friday night was a toga-themed party, including some games and dancing. We definitely did not adhere to the 10:30 quiet-hour rule. Most of us ended up on the beach afterwards. Night swimming is a ton of fun. Also there was no light pollution so we could see a million stars. Pretty pretty.
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| TOGA! TOGA! TOGA! |
Anyway, the green team had to wake up at 8:30 Saturday morning for our surf slot, which would have been painful even without an absurd party the night before. The waves were bigger this time, but less frequent, which is a great combo for the second time around. I didn't get up as many times as I'd hoped, and had more wipeouts this time (the headache didn't help), but it was still a ton of fun. Like last time, it felt like we were in the water for a really long time. There is photographic evidence that I surfed this time (to come).
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| Well, there's no picture of me actually getting up on the board--I swear I did, though--but at least here's a board and a wetsuit. |
When we got back from surfing I contemplated going back to sleep, but there was way too much to do. I did take a quick nap on the beach, but then came back for some more games (I went like 7-2 on the table). It was cool to learn everyone's versions of the rules for each game, and learn/teach new ones. That showed how diverse our group really is. We also had a four legged race (green came in first) and had to pass an orange down the line using only our chins/chests (green came in last). Then more beach/games, dinner, and on to the next crazy night.
Saturday night was a pyjamas (a.k.a. pajamas) party. After a boat race and more games ('Cheers to the Governor,' 'Kings,' etc.) we kicked the dancing into gear again. There were a lot of throwback songs--ones that would have been considered throwbacks as long ago as my Bar Mitzvah party--that gave the pajama theme a retro feel. Then, surprise, the night ended up in the ocean. As you might expect, not all of us had proper swimming attire, but we quickly realized we were all born in perfectly good bathing suits (what the hell, it was dark out). People told me there were phosphorescent algae in the water, but I couldn't see them. Oh well. Again, the stars were incredible.
There wasn't a ton going on Sunday morning (the red team surfed, so they got to find out how green felt Saturday morning), but we had to neaten up the camp because we managed to make quite a mess in only two days. Most people (including me) were asleep on the bus ride back.
More photos to come...
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