At the beginning of this year, I received a
message from a girl who lives in Lithuania, Agne, asking if I could come to
Lithuania to do a girls wakeboard camp. She is into all board sports-
wakeboarding, kiteboarding, snowboarding and surfing, and is trying to push
girls wakeboarding in their country. At the time she was on holiday in Cape
Town so I met up with her at our cable to find out more about it. We sorted out
dates for the camp and they fitted in perfectly with my trip I had already
planned for my holiday.
I flew to Lithuania on Monday the 18th of
July, after Plastic Playground. I was a little nervous as I had no idea what to
expect and I didn’t know anyone from Lithuania, except Agne, who I had met just
once. When I arrived, she was waiting for me at the airport. We got along like
a house on fire from the start. It felt like I’d known her forever. She took me
straight to the cable, Wake Way, which was only 10 minutes away from the
airport. I don’t think we ever drove for longer than 15 minutes to get anywhere
in Vilnius, the city where they live. It’s a really small country, and to be
honest, I’d never heard of it until she asked me to come over. We had dinner at
the cable and I met most of the people from Wake Way. Everyone was very
welcoming and friendly; they made me feel at home from the minute I arrived.
After dinner, Agne took me to my hotel and I settled in.
The next morning, she fetched me nice and
early for the cable. It was pretty cold but nothing my Roxy wetsuit couldn’t sort
out. It took some time getting used to the cable because it’s a left foot
forward cable- meaning it goes around in the opposite direction to any other
cable I’ve ridden. It felt really strange at first, but once I got used to it, I
loved the park. They have lots of obstacles, majority being UNIT. The obstacles
are perfect for anyone, from beginners to pro’s. That evening, they treated me
to dinner at a place called “Wonders”. We drank lots of wine and ate the most
delicious food. We started with some raw beef, salmon, oysters and tomato &
mozzarella salad. They wanted me to try everything so they ordered a variety! I
was satisfied after all the starters but still had to try a main so ordered a
steak with mashed potatoes.
We spent Wednesday at the cable too. As the
week went on, it got warmer and warmer so my smile got bigger and bigger. On
Wednesday night, they took me to see their restaurant in the city called
Bruisly. I had already eaten dinner at the cable so I just joined them for a
drink.
We checked the forecast and it said that
the weather wasn’t going to be great on Thursday so Agne decided it was a good
day to take me sight seeing in the city. One of the girls, Tia, arrived from Estonia
on Wednesday night. She flew down to join us at the camp on the weekend, so she
joined us for the day. We stopped at most café’s along the way for coffee. I
was buzzing by the end of the day from all the caffeine! Two girls from the
cable, Ester and Simona, met up with us at a small restaurant called Strange
Loving for lunch. We needed to discuss plans for the camp on the weekend and
they were helping with coaching. The food was different but yummy. Of course
after lunch we had to try some of their cakes for dessert. Apparently that is
what they like to call a “business meeting” in Lithuania, something I could get
used to for sure! ;) We walked around the entire old town and Agne explained
some of the history to us. It’s such a beautiful place! I literally had to take
pictures of every building. Once we were done being tourists, she took us to
see their Board Sports shop in the city and to say hello to the guys working
there. We then headed back to the cable. Because I didn’t try any of the food at
Bruisly the night before, they decided we had to go back, except this time on
empty stomachs. They ordered a few of their favourites from the menu so that Tia
and I could taste a little bit of everything. Again, every dish was amazing and
our bellies more than satisfied!<3
My body was aching on Friday from all the
riding so I took it easy and chilled with Tia while the rest of the girls arrived
from Estonia. We had dinner at the cable on Friday night and of course, drank
wine.
Saturday was the first day of the camp,
which kicked off at 12. The girls all looked very nervous when they arrived
because most of them had never ridden a full size cable before. Wake Way is the
first full size in Lithuania and is still brand new. It only opened 2 months
ago. There are lots of 2.0 cables around their country so that is what most of
the girls are used to. We started off by giving each girl a piece of paper and
they wrote what their goals were and what they wanted to achieve over the
weekend. The level of riding among the girls varied so everyone’s goals were
different, some being to do a full lap while others wanting to learn spins off
the kickers. We decided to divide the girls into groups according to their
capabilities to help them achieve their goals. I had an awesome day. I spent some time riding doubles with a few of
the girls. I find its easier to learn something new when you see someone else
do it, and there is more chance you’ll try it when you have someone on the
water with you, pushing you to do it! The main goal was to have fun, which I
think everyone did, including me.
Sunday started a little later as most of
the girls were tired and sore from the previous days riding. Some were too sore
to ride again but came anyway to support the rest of the girls. It was
inspiring to see how they all support and push each other on the water.
Everyone wants to help where they can! I feel privileged to have met such a
great group of girls and to have made so many new friends that I’ll hopefully
be seeing soon in South Africa.
On Sunday evening, we had a small prize
giving for the girls. We rewarded whoever had achieved their goals over the
weekend and really pushed themselves. I hope
that after the weekend, they are all feeling motivated and are going to keep
pushing their riding. Lithuania is the smallest country I’ve been to but has the
most girls riding (that I’ve ever seen)!
Monday was my last day but fortunately I
was only flying home in the evening so I could have one last shred at their
cable. I spent the morning packing and then Agne fetched me later for the
cable. Unfortunately she couldn’t ride with me because we had way too much fun
over the weekend and there was no time for business, so she had to catch up
haha. I landed my first tantrum to blind off the kicker, which she got on film!
It was the perfect way to end my trip!
I can’t thank everyone at Wake Way enough
for the hospitality and spoiling me for the entire week. Also, for pushing me
try the tantrum to blind! I look forward to seeing you guys for our summer in
South Africa. Thanks again, I’ll be back soon for sure! x
