Life is the beach. Let’s be real, a huge reason why Australia is an amazing place to study abroad is because of their easily accessible beaches. You can hop on one bus and thirty to forty minutes later, you’ve arrived. While we were in Sydney some friends and I decided to go to Coogee, probably one of the easiest beaches to get to from where we were staying.
Upon arrival, we applied layers of sunscreen and we were eager to get into the water. The waves were initially intimidating but we didn’t let that stop us. We ran into the water as if we had never been at the beach before. After a few minutes of being in the water we heard whistles blowing and we looked to the surf lifesaver who was waving her hands signaling something that I didn’t understand. We were swimming in between the flags that distinguished safe swimming zones, so I knew I was in the right place, but of course my head started thinking the worst. Just then a helicopter flew overhead and lifeguards started heading out on their rescue boards.
So naturally I got out of the water faster than I got in.
As I stood on the sand watching to see what would happen, I realized no one else was getting out of the water, but the lifeguard was still aggressively blowing her whistle and signaling something to the people in the water and I am just standing there getting more confused by the minute.
I look to my right and I see a rescue boat with a lifeguard standing ready trying to get in the water. I look to the boat, then to the lifeguard with the whistle and I realize she is trying to move people in the water so the boat can enter the water. My curiosity was getting the best of me, so I kept eagerly watching waiting to see what would happen next.
After what seemed like forever, the boat eventually had a clear entrance so the lifeguards ran into the water and within seconds they were passed the waves. I was impressed. I still kept standing there waiting to see what the commotion was all about, why did a rescue boat need to go into the water? I had heard about the television show called Bondi Rescue where they show all the dumb things tourists did at the beach — maybe Coogee had their own version? I was determined to not be one of their episodes so I just stood there. All my attention was focused on this boat as I watched it zoom around in the water. Less than ten minutes later it was back on land and nothing happened. Bored and confused, I left.
It wasn’t about an hour later that the whole thing happened again. That’s when I realized that they were doing a refresher course for surf lifesavers. Wow did I feel like a seppo — an Australian term for Americans (it’s short for septic tank).
Mark my word, next time I won’t be that seppo out at sea.