We set up camp, 7 tents in all, cooked up some dinner (lots of burgers and sausages... too many sausages...) and got ready for the first night out. First night was Commando Night (commando as in military, not as in wearing no underwear...) and we all dressed the part. I was quite excited about it, even busting out my boots and blousing my pants! We camo painted up (using the paint I have leftover from Basic and GE) and took the coaches from the campsite to the centre of Newquay and the club they had reserved for the UK Beach Sports participants. It was a fun night but the thought of football and surfing propelled me to head back fairly early and get some sleep.
The tournament took place on Fistral Beach, home of British Surfing. The day was BEAUTIFUL and the surf was going off. We had 4 games on Saturday but in between the matches I managed to get some good surfing in. The surf was really clean 3-4 foot waves coming in pretty even sets. The outside sets were a bit big for me considering I hadn't surfed in almost a year, so I stayed a bit inside and had the best day of surf I've had in, no kidding, 3 or 4 years. I didn't quite think I could top it, but the next day was even better. I'm getting ahead of myself though. The games went pretty well, getting 2 wins and 2 losses, but playing on the sand is quite rough. All in all, a good long day in the sun during which nobody got too burnt or fried or, as the annoying commentator referred to it, cooked.
That evening we again had a barbecue. This time, there really WERE too many sausages. Instead of going out for "UV Rave Night" a group of us stayed behind, roasting marshmallows and keeping our fire going by burning every single piece of cardboard in our entire camp. It was a pretty low key night because the sun and football took a toll on us and we went to bed pretty early to be up for the next day.
Day 2 we arrived at the beach to find out that one of our teams was in the "Plate Final" (the game between the bottom 2 teams) and the other team was in the Quarterfinal. This meant that, potentially, we could have had 3 more games throughout the day. Unfortunately, we lost our first game which meant we were out, but it was nice because it gave me the rest of the day to surf. I got an amazing 3 hour session and and I stopped counting waves after ride number 30! It was absolutely AMAZING and totally topped the day before. I even tried to teach a few of the girls the basics of surfing by pushing them into a few of the waves and trying to help them stand up. It was amusing if nothing else.
The rest of the day we just relaxed in the sun and in the clubhouse/bar area, watching some World Cup, eating some ice cream, enjoying the sun, playing some beach volleyball, enjoying each others company. It was really nice to be out on the water all day but it was a but hot and I'm glad I didn't get too burnt (apart from the back on my neck from when I was surfing).
Back at the campsite we got some food at the restaurant at the site while watching the Argentina game, and it was nice to eat something other than barbecue. That evening, we had some epic waterballoon attacks, one of which was fairly haphazard and poorly planned, the second of which was amazingly well planned and executed. Good to know that my military training is put to use!This morning we woke up, took down the campsite and got an early start so that we could make it back to Oxford for the England game. My teammates and I are now watching England on TV, US on my computer and two wins would make these last few days absolutely perfect.
Also, my camera died which is why I have no more photos. Kind of a bummer but Butz took a ton so I'm sure I'll get some of hers.
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