Easter break is a huge blessing for Imperial students, allowing us to take a big sigh after submitting a series of weekly coursework. With the weather getting warmer and the flowers blooming again, many students tend to use this opportunity to enjoy the pleasant weather, even if it means just revising for their exams while basking under the sun in Hyde Park. This year, we are blessed with a few weeks of sunny days in London throughout the week of April. With this, I felt recharged to not just catch up on my studies but felt my adventurous spirit take hold again too.
Coming from South East Asia, we are known to have amazing beaches where people will travel from around the world just to visit. With the colder climate in the UK, it never occurred to me how much I missed the sweet smell of the ocean until now. Having gotten recommendations from several friends, my flatmates and I decided to pack our backs and head for a holiday away towards Cornwall.
Cornwall is a well-known spot for surfers to gather and for families to have a weekend away from the city. The train ride towards Newquay, Cornwall took a total of 4.5 hours. However, as we decided to travel there during the long Easter weekend, we weren’t prepared for the immense crowd heading out of London as well. Because of this, we found ourselves having to sit on the floors of the train. We took this as the start of our adventure instead, and time flew by quickly with great company.
Newquay won our hearts with the hospitality of the people. Everyone around was so enthusiastic with recommending us places to visit and food to try out, allowing us to have a lot of great conversations and make loads of new friends. I came to Newquay with the intention of soaking some Vitamin D while reading my Kindle on the beach. Just walking around town, we were constantly passing by people in their wetsuits while gripping onto a surfboard. This really made me think about how I should appreciate my youth and decided to try out surfing as well.
With the sun blaring so wildly, I did NOT expect the water to be freezing to the touch, even with my wetsuit on. I was on the fence about whether I should submerge my whole body into the ocean, and when I did, I could feel every single cell on my body tense up! This eventually got much better after swimming around the ocean for a little while.
Surfing proved tougher than it looks. The act of waiting for the right wave, paddling, catching the wave, and finally standing up while balancing on the board was a lot for a beginner like me to take in. By the end of a long day, I had my fair share of seawater intake. Even though I didn’t manage to stand on my board, I had loads of fun gliding alongside the waves and just being out with my friends.
This trip really reminded me of how much I should appreciate my youth, and of how much excitement life has to offer. I would definitely recommend Cornwall for a getaway trip to anyone (but maybe not during a public holiday though!).
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