The students were very keen to meet locals and tourists visiting Noosa. As you can see from the photos below, they are anything but shy when it comes to social situations and making new friends. I’m sure the boys will go home with some very interesting pictures to show their friends and family!

All the students were given bright yellow life jackets as there was a strong wind and a strong current. Once safe it was time for our lesson! World surf champ Merrick showed us how it was done by demonstrating on the sands of the river bed.

The students firstly paddled out on the water on their knees before coming ashore for the stand up demonstration. Easy enough on land……now for the rocky river! We pushed out on our knees and placing the paddle carefully in the centre of the board we had to try to stand up. Although this looks easy enough the choppy current made it difficult.

Some of the boys practise paddling on their knees before attempting to stand up.

Atsushi gets the hang of stand up paddle boarding and Rena survives a little wobble on the board and keeps her balance! Great effort!

The guys at Nomads Noosa!

On a really hot summer afternoon we went to Nomads Hostel to play some volleyball and have a swim. When we got there the students had a few arguments about who was going in who’s team but we eventually settled on two teams of eight players each.

The energy was high and they played very well. Each team scored some excellent points accompanied by great screams from each team and soon after we had started the teams were changing and everybody was throwing themselves at the ball to try to win.

Playing on the hot sand, directly underneath the sun was tiring and the girls soon decided to take a dip in the pool to cool down where they found another ball and volleyball net and continued to play their own game in the rather cooler water.

The boys on the other hand were running around and playing their own games of volleyball, hide and seek and one game where they began by lying on their stomachs and then pushing up to turn around and chase each other to an obstacle.

All in all the students had a very active afternoon in one of Noosa’s popular spots had some well earned relaxation in the hot sun.

The girls relaxing after enjoying a swim and the boys exhausted after playing volleyball and running around.

When we arrived we hopped about on the boiling hot tar mac trying to get changed into the school’s bright red tops. We were then given our surf boards (smaller than the last lesson because we had improved so much) and marched down to the beach.

Here, surf instructor Alex practised his Japanese and went over the three step approach to standing up. The students tried really hard and many laughs were had as they practised on the sand. Now it was time to test the waters (literally).

The instructor showing everyone how to stand up!

The students were so, so excited that they ran into the sea with some so excited they forgot to put their leg rope on! Once in the sea they played and paddled and caught those waves! Despite being on harder board the students were fantastic! Everyone tried so hard and everyone did really well. The instructors were so impressed!

After a long few hours in the water we waved goodbye to the waves taking with us some awesome memories of Noosa’s surf!

Waka and Yuki Surfing Noosa style!

We arrived at the beautiful Noosa Springs Resort to be greeted by two top tennis coaches. The students first task was to hit a ball over the net. After each student did this they were assigned a group, orange or green. Then the games began!

The coaches taught the students how to fore hand/back hand/volley and serve! The step by step approach was a fantastic way for the students to learn. The instructors ensured everyone had the correct position so that they were ready to tackle their tennis on the court!

We played an exhausting game of hitting these shots over the net. If the ball remained on court the students stayed in the game. If it went out they had to run to the other side of the net and try to catch other students balls (if they did this they were back in the game). This caused lots of laughter as well as some tense moments on court!

Finally we were ready to play each other. Students played aginst each other in some great rally and were even serving over arm (despite the blinding sunshine). Everyone improved and had a fantastic day! With the Australian Open just around the corner, tennis proffessionals had better watch out-the TAPs are on their toes!

End of match celebrations!

Upon arriving at the river, the kayaks were already laid out waiting for the students. All we needed was life jackets and paddles and then we were ready to go! The students were put in pairs or in groups of three and jumped in the boats ready to go.

With a little push from the instructors they were in the water and eagerly paddling away with one instructor leading at the front and one instructor at the back.

Drying off in the sunshine!

The students arrived at school very excited about their surfing lesson in the afternoon and it didn’t disappoint! With a large group we took to the beach with 3 surf instructors. Upon arriving on the beach we spread out and lay on our boards. The instructors gave a lesson on how to position themselves on the board, where to put their hands and feet, how to paddle and how to push up ready to stand. Step 1!

Step 1, the students were told how to position themselves on the board!

After plenty of practise on the beach the students then ran to the water to give it a go. In the water the students were eager to get going and after a few shrieks and screams about the cold water the were enjoying themselves practising.

Having mastered step 1 the students went back to the beach so they could learn the most important technique of how to stand up on the board. Push up from the legs ready to stand. Step 2!

After a fantastic and energetic visual display from the instructors the students were then told how to get from the push up position into the standing position on their board. Step 3!

The instrucor gives a demonstration and the boys all practise their technique.

Uiru, Mai and Junki looking cool!

After the students had settled in to their new school we took them for a walk around Noosa. A short bus journey away is beautiful scenery of lakes, mountains, the Noosa river and of course the ocean. The students walked around and took in the amazing views and excitedly took some pictures.

One can’t come to Noosa and not see the bustling Hastings Street which was our next stop where the students had the opportunity to shop in the many souvenir and surf shops on offer. The best things about Hastings Street is its short distance from Noosa National park which is covered in trees, plants and flowers as well as providing incredible views of the sea where the students could see some of Noosa’s local surfers catching the waves. We were even lucky enough to see a Koala sitting in one of the trees!

After a wonderful walk, we went back to the school and the students were picked up by their host families!

What a great day! Noosa has some beautiful beaches and none more so than it’s main beach where we went for our first outing of the day. Safety is so important when swimming in Australian water and the students were given a talk about how to be safe whilst enjoying the beach, how to read the signs and even how to look out from the lifeguard tower and spot trouble.

The students learn all about beach safety and have the chance to be a lifeguard!

After the morning at the beach the students had some time to go shopping on Noosa’s famous Hastings Street which were busy as usual while the locals did some last minute christmas shopping.

Then it was back to the school for a lesson on how to play the didgeridoo, an old Aboriginal instrument they called the ‘yidaki’ that the natives used for rituals and entertainment.

The instructor ‘Scott’ told them that each song had a story behind it and that the Aboriginal tribes each had their own unique songs. Celebratios are common within these tribes and special songs are performed for these. One in particular is the ritual of when a boy becomes a man at the age of 12 or 13. These celebrations can last up to a week.

Inspired by the stories that Scott had to tell the students found these oddly shaped instruments interesting and were soon keen to give it a go themselves. For the next hour students were blowing into their didgeridoos and successfully making the desired ‘drone’ sound of the instrument.

The students and Scott with their didgeridoos!

 More music was to follow when we went to a local church for a Christmas Carol service. The church and the service were both beautiful and we watched a video of the nativity made by the church themselves and all sang songs which the students throughly enjoyed.

After a long day and lots of singing, music and celebration the students went back to their host families to celebrate an Australian Christmas!

 After meeting the instructors and finally getting everybody a life jacket they all grabbed an oar and gathered round Intructor Tim for a lesson in how to paddle.

Once they were sat in their Kayaks and the other instructors had pushed them off they all started to put into action Tim’s careful instructions. With one instructor leading from the front and one instructor at the back the students all floated in the middle and went in various different directions up the river.

After a couple of rescues and collisions with each other the students who were starting to get tired began to paddle back to shore with continuous shouts from all instructors and teachers of ‘Migi Migi!’, ‘Hidari, Hidari!’

Relieved to be back on dry land the students made their way a few hundred yards down the river where some amazing food had been prepared and delivered to our barbecue station.

The students host families arrived and everybody enjoyed a drink and some food before getting involved in Australia’s most popular game – Cricket! Despite the girls holding the cricket bat as if it was a baseball bat they all got the hang of it and a mix of host mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters were all running after the ball and having great fun.

It was a very hot day and a beautiful place to go Kayaking and have a barbecue but in the heat and after all that hard work the students were ready to go home with their host families early in the afternoon.

A great Australian day!