Surfing in Mirissa

The past five days have been spent in Mirissa. After receiving a recommendation to stay at Club Mirissa from a fellow surf clubber we were delighted to be at this charming home-stay. We would also highly recommend to anyone staying in Mirissa that they stay there too. There's a real family feel to the house and the room even has side tables and a giant bathroom-winner! The house is set in a luscious garden which the resident handyman keeps beautifully. We came home to a rather large frog sat minding its own business in our bedroom. The aforementioned handyman came armed with a broom and a plastic bag to remove the fellow, you certainly don't get that in London.

Mirissa has a right hand reef break which sits to the right of the wide bay. As we set foot on the beach I felt the familiar rush of excitement to see a well formed wave rolling in and a few surfers out. The excitement was slightly crushed by the realisation that Mirissa caters for the surfer who has brought their own board. The only rentables that were on offer that day were sub 6 foot and definitely too short for me. So I had to sit watching the 3 foot beauties roll in and just kick myself for not bringing my board. However the guys in the beach side bar did try their best to find me something suitable with the kind owner of Water Creatures offering up his 6 4” with the same dimensions as my own to try the next day.

Friday came and a 7ft board had been returned to Water Creatures so off I went wading through the warnings of sea urchins and reef to paddle into the line-up. To say I was rusty is an under statement . My last surf in Cornwall was a good five months ago. I get frustrated with myself as I feel after many years of surfing on and off I know how to read waves fairly well but still it took me a fair bit of time to catch something. However I was determined to come away from that session with a few waves under my bikini. I managed to slice my big toe on the reef and scrape the front of my calves but nothing that a bit of betadine and paracetamol can't sort out. After two and a half hours and with the sun setting I made it back to the shore-with that oh so wonderful feeling of heavy arms and a happy heart (apologies for the naffness of that last sentence but it's true).

I tried the 6 4” board and only caught a couple of waves however it felt really nice to be on a smaller board despite it meaning my wave count was lower-must do more burpees (as recommended by Sam-Cornish lifeguard).

Yesterday we hired a moped and with my badger's legs wrapped around me off we drove with the wind in our hair to discover the surrounding areas. The traffic is a little nuts here so its well advisable to keep to the very left and be hyper aware of dogs and the occasional cow trotting across the road. We drove inland into the countryside down little dirt tracks with cheery hellos from children as we went past.  The train line runs all the way from Colombo to the south in Matara so we drove over the small train tracks too which was quite a novelty, only stopping for one passing train. Nearby Weligama has the most beautiful turquoise sea with colourful fishing boats bobbing in the background. Our standard lunch at the moment consists of a couple of vegetable samosas and the occasional veggie egg roll so we picked this up six of these delicious snacks for a grand total of £2. We've been living pescetarian here and have both enjoyed the huge variety of veggie options available and being so close to the sea means the array of seafood on offer is not to be missed out on.

There is a temple set high on a hill overlooking Mirissa and the surrounding areas. We hiked up the steps yesterday to watch the sun setting over the palm trees. You can see for miles and miles up there and the sky was a' flush with streaks of pink and orange.  India and I sat peacefully for a while just gazing into the distance feeling fully appreciative to be here.