Getting into the flow

My first few surf sessions in Australia  were a other than spectacular as I tried to adapt my surfing to suit the waves here which are very different than those at home, as the waves here break over reefs instead of the sandy beachbreaks and rocky pointbreaks I am accustomed to.  Thankfully, two days ago I had one of those sessions where it all comes together.  I finished work at 5 PM and was just planning to have a relaxing afternoon because I thought the swell was supposed to have dropped off.  I got a text from Samudra's marketing manager, Gus, telling me I should get to Gallows (located in between Hangmans and Guillotines) as soon as possible because he had just had an incredible surf there.  At first I was dismayed because the drive to Gallows requires 4WD to make it through sand and over really rough rocky roads, but I rang my the Samudra cafe manager, Ben to see if he wanted to go and fortunately, he was "keen"!  We jumped in his truck and made the drive out to Gallows to find 4-5 foot surf very reminiscent of Seaside reef in San Diego.  It wasn't too crowded and I started getting lots of really fun, ripable waves right from the start.  From the water we watched the sun glow red as it set through a haze of smoke from nearby fires and as darkness approached, it was time to catch one more wave.  A good looking right came my way and I turned around and started paddling.  The offshore breeze made it a little harder to drop into the wave, so I squeezed in two more paddles before popping up.  I put extra weight into my front foot to keep from being blown off the wave by the wind and as the wave hit the reef it jacked up and through the crystal clear water I could see the rock reef looming no more than a foot below the surface.  I quickly shifted my weight to my back foot to keep the nose of my board above the water as I made the steep drop.  I bottom turned right into the pocket of the wave as the lip folded over me, enclosing me in a perfect round barrel.  Seconds later I came flying out of the barrel onto the shoulder of the wave with a feeling that I have never experienced outside of surfing.  Pure elation, excitement, adrenaline, and joy.  I got my first Australian barrel, hopefully the first of many to come.