Today was the first day of surfing here in Agadir. Yesterday we arrived at the villa which, by the way is adorable and gorgeous. We didn't land until after 6:30pm last night so by the time we reached the place we are staying it was already dark. But it exceeded my expectations completely. I was expecting that my friend Nelly and I would be sleeping in a basic little room with two single beds, but no! Everything has a very Moroccan decor and feel and the room is amazing. (The bed is also amazing and both of us slept like a log last night!)

So onwards about today. We didn't wake up so early. In fact we had breakfast at 8:30 and then had to get our things together before heading to the beach. Nic is the young lady from England who now lives here with her Moroccan surfer boyfriend Zac and together they have set up this surf camp. Zac picked the five of us up (Adam, Martin, Laurence, Nelly and myself) and drove us to a couple of spots. The other three stayed in one spot where nobody else was there. It looked good, however there were a lot of rocks, and I am not the best surfer and Nelly was trying it for the first time. So maybe it wasn't a good idea to begin there!

Zac took us two over to the other side beside a rock named 'devils rock'. This was after watching the other three swim out with their boards and a man on a camel came over to try and get me to ride on said camel, and then my prompt refusal after it tried to bite me. Nelly got a ride around on a camel though!

So anyway, this second spot was obviously a popular one that day. The waves were pretty tough as we tried to go out and very fast, so a lot of time and energy in the first half of the day was spent trying to get out for the waves. It definitely was good to be back out on the surfboard again though. Each time you get a little rusty, but after the first day you find your feet again and it all comes back. I love seeing the improvement so quickly! By the end of the first session (Nelly had already gone to have a rest on the beach at this point) I managed to catch a lot of the waves, albeit the little whitewash ones, and after half an hour on each ride managed to actually stand up again. So for me that was good for the first session back. I have to say the addictive feeling of surfing and being able to catch a wave comes back straight away. I didn't really want to go back in but of course when your as pale and blonde as me the nagging thought that you're probably gonna get sunburnt if you don't go put some more cream on soon hangs in the back of your mind, plus it's pretty exhausting. It's only when you get back onto dry land and sit down to eat something that you suddenly realise just how tired and hungry you are.

Sitting down to some lunch of cheese and salad sandwiches, mini choccy biscuits and re applying our suncream, we all got to catch up with how the first session went. All in all good sesh for everyone! It was nice to see a bit more Moroccan culture all around you too that we had missed at the beginning as we were too focused on the waves. I noticed that all along the top of the beach are lots of tiny little huts or houses. It really looks like something out of Aladdin! And next to us a family had set up a small spot and cleverly created some shade using a blanket, branches and rocks! It was even cuter when they sat and cooked their lunch on the beach with all the ingredients from scratch and were kind enough to give us some fruit they brought. So far I am finding Moroccan people very friendly and sharing people. I'm sure they will be like this for the rest of the week!

After lunch it's round two in the water. Thankfully the waves had died down a bit, which for us two beginners is much better, and a lot of the people that were there originally had left. So it was much quieter and so much easier as you don't have to worry about hitting anyone or getting in the way of someone riding a wave. I figured that playing in the whitewash just to practice was definitely the one and now standing up on the board doesn't take me half an hour like the first session! And I'm starting to get the hang of trying to stay low to the board to be able to maneuver much more easily. My legs are definitely feeling the difference there.

What else can I say about this already fantastic day. Of course the weather has been beautifully hot and sunny (we have the red faces to prove that), and the sea is beautiful too. We came back to our villa and did a yoga class with our Aussie yoga instructor Sally on the terrace of the villa in the setting sun. Seeing as she's a Surfer too she knows just where we need to stretch after a long day of surfing. And what better way to finish off than to practice yoga while overlooking the sea from which you just came back from. The only I would say that it could get better was if there are cats here....but of course there are! Huzzaaah! I am just so excited for the rest of the week after such an awesome first day!