My mate Berin (Bez) came in from a holiday in India unexpectedly a couple of months back. Always good to have friends surprise you with a visit. Even better if they surf! He'd just got into surfing in his home town of Christchurch. That's right, Christchurch, NZ! He got into it over summer so the water was at least above freezing....brrrrrr! He took the smart path and got some lessons first. This was a good move as some of you will know. He didn't just learn how to paddle, pop up & surf. He learned about the ocean, rips, tides, reef break, beach breaks etc. etc. Not only did it give him confidence to take up surfing but it gave him confidence to be out in the ocean. Again, mother nature can back-hand you when you least expect it but if you know what to look for you can give yourself half a chance. Confidence is key, then again, so is patience & having fun, but you get what I'm on about.
So Bez lobs in at midnight. It's cold, miserable & looking like a pretty icy winter. "So when are we going for a surf?" he asks me. Fair enough, I thought. Although I vowed never to surf in winter, I couldn't disappoint my old mate. The fact I'm living in Geelong now, only 20 minutes from Torquay, means I really have no excuses not to get in and try my hand again.
So, we head to the coast on a Sunday afternoon & it happens to be sunny & not too cold but the water temp is still pretty chilly. We hire some 3/2mm steamers (matching, mind you. We made such a lovely coordinated pair) and a couple of fun boards from a place in Anglesea. Having no idea about which beaches were best, other than Bell's or Jan Juc, we head out of Anglesea to a little spot just out of town. It's nothing too monstrous but just enough push to give us some fun. I have to admit I was feeling pretty nervous but excited to be getting in & having a proper go this time.
In we go & out the back without too much trouble, so far so good. Bez turns & catches the first wave he paddles for. I'm left thinking, "How the hell did he do that so easily?" I see him paddling back out with a grin from ear to ear. "Alright TC! Good country!" That's the funny thing about Bez, he already has this laid back Kiwi accent that reminds me of the turtle, Crush, from Finding Nemo. "Duuuuude!" He already sounds like he's lived a lifetime on the beaches of California. He was born to be a surfer. We'd talked earlier about how it is sacrilege to live so close to one of the best surf coasts in the world & not surf once and a while. I did feel like I'd been wasting an opportunity & at times that negative self talk had kept me from giving it a go, strangely. Anyway, like the blog's title, it's never too late to surf!
A wave comes up, Bez yells, "This is yours TC!". I turn & start paddling but feel like I'm going nowhere. It's the way the water starts to pull back to form the wave. You're actually moving, if you're paddling, but it appears as if you're standing still. Anyway, my arms are thrashing at the water, the wave builds, picks me up, I set my arms once I'm sure I'm on it, pop up with feet anywhere I can get them to land on the deck & stand up. Away I go. I'm actually surfing! The feeling is hard to describe. It's like having control but no control. An interesting & very addictive contradiction. Better than any theme park ride.
Bez is giving me a, "Yeah brother!" from out the back. I feel myself giving out a, "Whoah!" & I start to feel like a goofy Keanu Reeves in Point Break as I fall off a few seconds later into the cold sea. I didn't manage to stay on it very long, but it was enough to get my adrenalin pumping. Now I'm grinning like an idiot. You can't wipe from the smile from my face. It's a little bit like the chant you hear from kids, "Lets do that again. Let's do that again!"
So, we're taking in the scenery of the beautiful Great Ocean Road coastline, talking about life in general, then suddenly...Shark! Nah, just kidding. Was testing to see if you were paying attention.
So, we keep attempting to catch waves for the next 45 mins or so. I have the gods on my side somehow as I manage to catch about three waves (something I've not been able to replicate since I must add). The sea is on our side this day. The waves are only three feet or so. The sun's out, light offshore wind, wetsuits are doing their jobs, boards are nice and big at 7'4" to make it all a hell of a lot easier to paddle & get up on a wave. Life is simple all of a sudden, life is good. I decide then & there to make surfing a habit. I don't care that it's the beginning of winter, I don't care that I'll probably lose my toes & fingers to hypathermia. I'm going to start surfing!
Bez & I have some hilarious wipe-outs. I even do one (completely unintentionally) with the whole, arms high & back, fully stretched & laughing as I go down backwards off the board. This sends Bez into fits. The next wave he catches, he manages to come off, doing some ridiculous half cartwheel that sees him surface before his board, but little does he know, it's kicked up in the air and comes gently down to knock him on the scone & back under the water he goes, spluttering & blinking wildly, wondering where he is & what's going on. I nearly drown from the laughter. Too funny!
We move 100 meters down the beach to where we think the waves are a little bigger & forming a little more cleanly. More "push" we reckon. That's right, we're even using surfing terminology now, we're that good already :) We catch the same wave at one point, riding only a few meters from each other, just like in a movie. I can't help but let out a "Woohoo, yeah baby!" Don't ask me why I talk like that when excited, I just do. Besides, I'm allowed to be daggy, I'm a Dad now. To our surprise, although the waves looked better, they were half as strong as the ones we'd just been riding. What's up with that? Looks can be deceiving hey? We move back down to our first spot but I'm now cold & tired & just happy to have been out surfing. Bez goes in for another wave then, Shark! Nah just kidding. Wanted to check if you were still with me.
We called it quits after a total of about an hour & a half. To be honest, that's all I could really handle physically. Although those open beaches aren't hard for you to get out to the waves, the paddling & excitement had me knackered. I was so tired that I could hardly get out of my wetty. I thought there must be some kind of surfing ritualistic trick to it, but have since discovered that there is no easy way out of a wet wetsuit. Have even watched other surfer's getting out of theirs to see if I was doing it wrong, (nothing creepy, just curiosity of the beginner) but no, it's whatever works for you. Am thinking of putting a patent on my own style of wetty disrobing. I think that's part of it too. If you can get out of your wetty with ease then you weren't in their long enough!
A good start to my first proper go at surfing. One that has not quite been reproduced since but I know it's just around the corner. Like I said, it's about confidence & patience.
