I had been told by a guy who surfs that a break called Ohara was usually ok and that the train station wasn't too far from the beach...
I got up at 6am yesterday, grabbed my board and wetsuit and still half asleep, plodded off to the train station. It's a two hour train journey, with three train changes, so i didn't get to Ohara till about 8:30. When i emerged from the station, the rain was pissing down and a thick fog was restricting visibility. I knew which direction the ocean was, but that was about it... I didn't know how far, or where the actual surf break was. So i bought a cheap unbrella and headed off.
An hour later i struck water. However, it was an old fishing port. No sign of any surf breaks, just breakwalls and fishing boats. I walked along the coast for another half an hour but nothing but more breakwalls and cliffs. The fog was still bad so i knew my chances of finding the surfing beach wern't great.
This is me after walking an hour and a half in fog and rain... At this point i am completely lost and wondering wha the f%#k i'm doing here without a map or any basic directions to the surf break
So i turned around and headed back to the station. I walked past a group of old women who were seated eunder a verandah, weaving fishing nets. They had seen me pass by about and hour before. They gave me a smile and a slightly amused look, and returned their work (probably thinking to themselves... What the hell is this guy doing?? Lol).
I had almost reached the staion when i saw a car with surfboards pull into a ramen store (like a fast food noodle shop). I treked up to them an asked if they spoke English. They said 'a little' and i said i speak a little Japanese... Anyways, to cut a long story short, they turned out to be Brasilian and invited me to eat with them. Afterwards, then let me jump in their car and took me surfing. Turns out Ohara is usually small and crappy (thanks to the guy who gave me that avice) and is too far to walk from the station. They showed me a break called Hebara (had WCT event there in 2005) and we surfed at another place called Onjuku. It was small and crowded but still fun (better than walking around lost in Ohara).
So, what started as a f%*ked day turned out awesome. They go surfing most weekends and said next time they will pick me up from the train station and i can surf with them... They are really good blokes, and although communication was a problem (talked to them through a combination of English and Japanese... I only know about four Portuguese words), they were fun to hang out with.
Dan and Fa, two of the 'top boke' Brasilians. The other guy 'Lala' is asleep in the car.
P.S. I had my first Japanese lesson last friday. They are free at my local community centre so will be talking the local lingo in no time... hopefully.
I'm off to do some food shopping
Peace
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