Surfing and Skiing

Thursday:

Today was more of a "road trip." We packed up our belongings and left Lisbon at around noon. Half an hour later, we were meeting Andrew in Belfast to drop off his guitar that he'd let us borrow :) and a few movies we'd borrowed as well. Then we set off for the coast.
Starting from Larne, we drove along the ocean and through several coastal towns admiring the beautiful views and peaceful atmosphere. In one such coastal town, we took a wee break to grab a coffee and eat lunch at a park. I recently discovered that ice cream is popular here and so, in order to fit in with the culture :), we had ice cream for dessert. Once we'd reached Ballycastle (there are several cities that begin with Bally which means "place of"), we veered off the coastal road and wound our way through green hills to finally reach our destination, Ballymoney.
Adam and Gillian Loughridge, who stayed with us in LA for two weeks in May, generously opened their home to us. We found them situated in a rural setting with plenty of land filled with sheep and cows surrounding their abode. The inside of their house is just as nicely decorated and I was shown to my very own room! :)
The rest of the evening consisted of catching up with Adam and Gillian, eating a delicious dinner, watching the Tour de France (Dad's influence), and after my parents had gone to bed, us young-uns stayed up to watch Nacho Libre.

Friday:

Today was such a fun day!! Despite the bleak weather threatening to rain at any moment, we drove to the beach towing kayaks and a jet ski! Adam, Dad, Stephen, Peter, and I all squeezed into wetsuits and booties, grabbed a kayak or jet ski, and marched into the ocean. Mom sat on the beach and watched/read her book. Compared to California, the water wasn't too cold! Not warm by any means, but with a wetsuit on, the temperature was comfortable enough. The waves were perfect. They were just the right size to surf in a kayak but not too big to overpower the jet ski. 
The Johns took the kayaks while Adam expertly drove the jet ski past the waves to calmer waters. This jet ski is probably not the kind of jet ski you're thinking of. This isn't the kind where you sit down and simply steer the vehicle. No no. This jet ski has you laying down at first, grabbing onto the handles, and once you've pulled the throttle to get it moving slowly forward, you pull yourself up into a kneeling position, balancing the jet ski as you bounce over the water and experiment with the throttle to adjust the speed. Then, when you've mastered the kneeling position, the next challenge is to stand up, pulling the handles up with you, which is much harder to balance. The turns are especially hard and were usually the point at which i fell, trying to hold on with all my might so as not to lose the jet ski. 
The first ride was the hardest and most tiring because I was gripping the handles so tight that my hands tired quickly. We all took turns trying the jet ski as everyone else caught some waves on the kayaks. Eventually, we stopped for lunch and huddled inside adam's van trying to stay warm. Then we headed back out for round two! I tried the jet ski two more times, improving with each run. The second run, I stood up for longer periods of time, but still wasn't good at turning. The last time, I was standing up almost the whole time, feeling more comfortable at turning, and even caught a little air while going over a wave! Speeding fast over the waves was such a great feeling. I loved it.
At around 4:30 we returned to shore, dried off, and left the beach before the tide could claim our vehicles. Hot showers, hot chocolate, and take away Chinese food for dinner was a great finish to the day. 
After dinner, dad watched Tour de France, we relaxed, Adam and mom had a sing-a-long by the piano, and we met David McFarland, who I had heard so many stories about and now have finally met. We mostly hung out, Adam entertained us with a small fire show, and the boys did a late night Tesco run for breakfast groceries, and now it's very much time for bed. 

Time is flying and we'll be home soon...although, by the sounds of Carmageddon, which I just heard about today, I think I'm glad I won't be home for a little while longer. :)