The First Post

So, I wanted to start a blog a long time ago but I was pretty much technology illiterate. Finaly after about a year of thinking about it, this is my first blog post and every word of what you are about to read is as true as I see it. I will have to fill you in on quite a bit. Enjoy :)

I hated school, I really did. I bunked a lot and when I was at school my head was up in the clouds, thinking about surfing and traveling to wonderful exciting places where I could walk around barefoot in the sun. I faked stupidity but my marks were always really good. I nearly dropped out mid-way through matric , I went on a solo self-funded kitesurfing trip to Greece and while I was there I found a job in a circus-themed bar. I was convinced I could just travel illegaly through Europe with an expired visa, working in bars until I got deported with a free flight home. Luckily I caught a hideous viral infection ,from some or other Greasy Greek, and after long and painful hours in a Greek clinic I decided to take my original flights home. I had left it to the last second though and had to find my way to Athens airport, having lost about 6kgs from the illness and lack of food while carrying a huge backpack and kiting equipment, the best part was that the Greek transport system was striking.

This was my first taste of freedom, real freedom, and it was highly addictive. The last 6 montths of High School were hellish, the routine was unbearable, and it took about two months for me to recover from the viral infection. The day I wrote my last exam, school hadnt even officialy ended, I flew to Durban and caught a shuttle to Mozambique. I had been offered a job working for a company called ' Extreme Adventures' which was based in Ponta do Ouro , Mozambique, and had gone up to meet them. I had never met the owners in person , but had spoken to them plenty times on the phone and they seemed really legit. They told me that they had been operating for 8 years and they offered activities such as surfing, snorkeling, diving, tubing, sunset boat rides and quadbiking, to the public. I had no idea what I was in for. The owners were such frauds, they had only just got the business running and the only thing they were licensed to do was quadbiking! I spent my days fixing and riding quads and looking after their baby. Jake, the owner, was extremely rude to me and we (me and Lindy) were not allowed out of his site. One night the police raided his house and it turned out he didnt have the correct licenses for the quadbikes either. That was way too much for me. The next day I went to the beach and asked perfect strangers if they knew a place I could stay. I went up to a lodge/bar and asked about their rates, the young surfer manager said I could stay in his room at the backpackers he was staying at for free for a couple of nights.

So I stayed in Mozambique for a month. The lady that owned the backpackers, Sara, was absalutely lovely and let me stay for a ridiculously low price. I worked in her surf shops a couple of times and also helped out with stock take and the backapckers, she even took me to a business meeting in Maputo. I was so glad to free from ' Extreme Adventures' and its crazy owners , I spent my days surfing,Kitesurfing, painting, partying and hanging out with Saras two adorable kids. I got another job at a health bar, waitressing and barladying, but after I had trained up the owners' friends' kids, she fired me, on Christmas. After losing my main source of income and having my camera stolen by a kleptomaniac backpacker it was time to move on.

I caught a ride with one of Sara's friends accross the border to Durban, he let me sleep a night at his house and dropped me at Durban airport the next morning where I got picked up by Sugar Bay. I worked 2 months as a camp counsellor at Sugar Bay, a kids luxury holiday resort, in Zinkwazi. I got a new name 'Takkies' and had  friends with names like"Superga', 'Marble' and 'Falcon'. With a new name I thought it was a good time to give up old habits and quit drinking for a month. I really enjoyed working with the kids, I always have, and particularly liked teaching skating and surfing. I became more and more confident and got given more responsibility. Unfortunately my iPod, cash, some clothes, and blackberry charger all went missing from the staff cabin. I decided to go work at a kids Adventure Programme which was more enviromental than luxury based, in my hometown ,East London. I booked my flight.

I found working at Jonginenge very relaxing as I had worked there many times before and they didnt have the strict regulations of Sugar Bay. The weather was wonderful and Dean, the owner, was an old friend. After about 3 weeks of teaching kids about dune plants and how to bodyboard I got a lifechanging oppurtunity.

Chelsea, a stranger, had got my number from Sugar Bay. She had been looking for someone to replace her in her current job and had called Sugar Bay asking if they had any counselors who knew how to sail and would be prepared to cross the Atlantic. She found me. She asked if I wanted to take her job, tutoring a 16 year old boy on a yacht crossing the Atlantic. I said Yes. She said you need to be here tomorrow. I booked a flight.

The story of the trip will be in my next post, there is just so much to write about. Please let me know what you think about my first post and if there is anything you would like to know more about. This is a very summarised version and I have tons more stories from Greece, Mozam and Sugar Bay. Thanks :)