So I have been in oz for a week now and it is always so surreal coming here. This country is just so surfer friendly. It has the only airline in the world that doesn’t charge you a cent for your surfboards and there is a pub on every amazing surf break along the entire coast. For instance you can sit at the snapper surf lifesaving club and have your favorite schooner and watch the sunset and 400 surfers fighting it out on one of the worlds longest righthand point breaks. The only buildings that are even really allowed on the beach are these surf lifesaving clubs. It is a surfers paradise really and from my room I can see the actual Surfers Paradise.
My first week here I have spent hanging with Paige Hareb, world tour rookie from new Zealand and some of her kiwi mates. They are funny and half the time I don’t understand a word their saying. All good, I just nod and say yes. Haha. One day Jessie Miley-dyer came up and threw their little kiwi bird into the fan and they politely opened the door to escort her out. I think that the aussies and kiwis have a bit of a rivalry. Then I spent a couple days hanging with veteran surfer on the world tour , Amee Donohoe. She seems real focused and ready to challenge this new crop of women surfers and super relaxed just having spent a couple months at home.
The weather has been amazing and warm , the water looks like a swimming pool and if you really keen you can get 5 surfs in a day. Haha, that’s if you’re a total grommet. I went for three surfs before 2 today and I am about ready to keel over. The only bad thing about this warm water and hot weather , I think it attracts sea lice and they are horrible little creatures. They sting you all over and itch, itch, itch. They distract me from these perfect little snapper peaks and the other day I even had to go in cause my neck got so bit up. The sun has been absolutely scorching and several layers of sunscreen and a bottle of zinc have gone since I have been in oz. if you make a good sunscreen you would get rich in oz, cause everybody wears tons of it here. Its crazy cause aussies are so fair skinned and because we pollute the air so much up in the northern hemisphere they have to deal with the huge whole over the ozone layer and they get the most fried. Poor little fair skinned ozzies man, I feel for them. im such a morning person so its great here. Lisa Andersen is my room mate and she is the biggest coffee frother/ early bird I know. Only person in the world I know that wakes up earlier than me. I wake up and she has the fresh brew going, I make the eggs and we hit the waves. I haven’t stayed with Lisa since 2000. We were reminiscing about how time flies and she was tripping on the fact that she hasn’t been to oz in 4 years. Its kind of crazy going anywhere with Lisa cause she is such an icon in womens surfing. She just turns heads and has that kind of charisma that people just love. I have been filling her in on all the new talent and how things have changed. It has been great though to be able to catch up with Lisa and see how passionate she is about surfing and to be able to pick her brain and just hear her point of view on so many issues and so many things because she literally helped if not whole heartedly changed the way every woman from my generation and beyond sees womens surfing. We all owe such a great deal to her . but because she is so humble she makes you want to walk up to her and just have a beer with her. She doesn’t ask for any praise or any gratitude she just wants to check it all out and see how things have changed and just smile and ride her little 5’4” pod. It makes me happy to know that is what life can be like after the jersey and to remember at the end of the day she is just a surfer, were all surfers and that is what we love.
Last night we all got dolled up for the Asp Awards Banquet. It is always so fun to dress up and put loads of jewelry and make up on. It is an excuse to not look like a surfer chik and try to look like a Hollywood actress or something. They even have this funny little blue carpet thing. Lisa and I had a couple glasses of champagne then headed over to Bec Woods place and got ready with the rest of the girls. Everyone looked to great and fancy. We polished off some good bottles of champagne in the limo ride there and stepped out of the limo ready for action. It was good to pay respects to all the champions. I was super glad to watch my friend Bonga Perkins win the world longboard title, I grew up with him and I am so proud of him. It was cool that in his speech he mentioned age and how getting older is sometimes better, ha that made me smile. It was my 15th banquet and they all start blending in so I try to remember little things. I liked Dane Reynolds simple funny speech, I thought Sally spoke very poised for such a young woman and Bugs always gives the great Bugs speeches. Haha. All in all it was a good night, lights out early as the comp starts the day after tomorrow.
Well its looking like minimal swell for snapper the next couple of days so rumour has it the amazing bank at dbah could welcome us. Well im off to watch another amazing sunset. See ya tomoz! Every day im in this country my ozzie slang comes further and further into.
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