The Chimpanzee Theory

My friends and I had been surfing all day at Phillip Island, Victoria.........a beautiful island, east of Melbourne and pretty much where I learnt to surf. We were staying at my friends shack in Ventnor....a perfect, unpretentious, true Aussie holiday shack in every sense of the word. Brown water, asbestos, brick and tile, old family treasures...........run down, ram shackle and right on the beach.

Whenever we headed down to the island, our days were always the same.......up early for a quick bite to eat, surf where ever - Woolamai, Anzacs, YCW, Smiths, early lunch at Dr Food (I will never forget those sausage rolls), more surf, a nap, another surf if we were lucky and then dinner followed by movies, tv shows, lots of guitar, a little beer or wine and a David Attenborough documentary or two............

On this particular Saturday night we were watching a documentary on chimpanzees. The footage was of a troop of chimps in captivity, some of which had been street performers before they came to live in the sanctuary. Some of the chimps in their performing days had been taught how to break open very hard nuts with a hammer. Quite a useful skill and a good way to get ahead in the chimp world. And a skill that every other chimp wanted to learn.

The trouble with chimps, according to David Attenborough, is that past the age of 4, they cannot learn new skills. That's it. They are done for the rest of their lives. Everything they learn before the age of 4 is all they have for the rest of the lives............and they live for up to 60 years!........I found this interesting and a little unnerving. Especially as the next scene in the documentary showed a number of chimps, having observed a brother chimp crack open nuts and eat them, trying to teach themselves this new skill..............................a fruitless task, as David commented in the background........as they were all older then 4.....

I just couldn't help but wonder that at 32, am I one of those chimps? On a fruitless journey to learn a new skill that I will never, ever master?

I survived the Mentawais!

I was sooo out of my depth and spent the first few days literally shaking everytime we jumped in the boat. I didn't help that eveyone staying on the island were amazing surfers! Eventually I realised that I wouldn't die and that even though the waves were so much bigger then where I usually surfed, once you're up, they are actually a whole lot more fun!

We stayed at Wave Park on Maniak Island. There were 12 of us in total, six Peruvians, three west aussies, two sydney siders and JeTaya......... a precocious two year old who made the trip just that little more special. I went through Samudra, a yoga/surfing/raw food group that run global retreats out of Dunsborough, Western Australia. We did yoga every morning and surfed 2 - 3 times a day................

I surfed most days with one of the girls working at the resort. Kristin and I were kind of at the same level (kind of except for the fact she had been on Maniak the whole season!). We mainly surfed around Playgrounds and Pitstops....and had two amazing surfs at Spankers (Four Bob) and Bikini's when it just the two of us in the water and perfect 3 - 4 foot waves. Those two coral heads at Spankers still haunt my dreams!

Most importantly, the 10 days in the Mentawais has started me on the course of Astanga yoga and raw food.....I plan to weave those elements through my life over the coming years..................................I'm not sure if I'll ever go back there. I dream about it now and its beauty is insane but I struggle with the white, male, surfer dominating such a landscape.............

Following the Mentawais, I coped a beating in Kuta - a nasty food poisoning case of Air Aisa and spent two days face first on the tiles in a crazy, LSD, Frida Kahlo inspired room at Three Brothers in Legian. This was followed by a few days in Ubud and then Ekas on the island on Lombok....................Inner Ekas is really the wave of my dreams! It was nice to not feel like I was worst surfer out there.

Surf travel...............

I just brought a double surfboard cover for my upcoming trip to Indonesia. I'm so excited although I'm surfing so badly. I'm heading to the Mentawais just off the Sumatran coast and then on to Kuta and Ekas on the island of Lombok.

I live to travel. I squirrel away my spare pesos with images of places unknown in my dreams. The unknown, unfamilar and just plain different get me so excited. Surfing has added a new element to my travels. Now I don't even want to consider travelling to somewhere without a surf break nearby, I spend my days reading tales of the search for the perfect wave and constantly dream of finding my perfect break.

My friend Ivan and I spent 6 weeks in 2009 moving from Bali to East Timor in search of perfect, nufty waves. We found it on the island of Sumbawa and we had it for a small window, almost all to ourselves. In between days exploring interesting late night food markets, eating bowls of tripe we lounged at surf camps, checking out surf reports and scootering around local villages. We also managed a daily dose of surfing as well!

Its the smell that stays with me the most. It keeps me going through long, arduous winters, morning surfs in thick wetties and the winter darkness. I'm currently planning on hooking up somewhere in Central America next year where I can get fluency in Spanish as well as work on my surfing. Any suggestions?

But closer at hand is my trip to the Mentawais and Lombok at the end of this week! I'm surfing really badly at the moment so I'm a little nervous that I'm way out of my depth. The Mentawais is where the pros go, yeah? Every surf mag currently produced has a picture of Macaroni's, HJs, playgrounds in every edition but I'll be fine! I'll just surf with the kids!

Line up?

It took me a long time to move from the white wash to 'out back' and I think that is why it took me so long to committ to surfing proper. The line up, the unknown rules and boys club all made 'out back' seem so intimidating! I finally made my move on Anzac Day, 2006 in the Kiddies Corner at Palm Beach, the stars aligned and I shared a heap of green waves with some little monkeys on shortboards.

I was at the Cove in Cottesloe, WA yesterday sharing a wave with a bunch of 14 year olds that I started to think about the line up. Maybe its because I'm a girl or maybe because I'm such a crap surfer but I've never honestly surfed at a break where there has been any semblance of organisation re who gets what wave (other then the very clear no drop ins), to me it seems to be whoever it the most aggressive or whoever knows the wave the best.

The rules of the line up where crafted in concrete by Surfing WA in the early 90s to control the level of surf rage going on out at popular breaks. The 'rules' which are on display at popular breaks talk about dropping in, snaking, waiting your turn as well as a number of other regularly committed offenses. Of all, snaking - when a surfer paddles around another surfer to sit in the better position to get the wave - seems to be the most regularly committed sin!

The worst offenders seem to be the 14 - 18 year olds who have been surfing since they were knee high and have their local breaks wired. They seem to have no compassion for old farts and just want to get on every wave. Its almost like they believe that their surfing for their life and their future is full off flat spells if they don't get every single wave possible!

I found surfing in Indonesia a real eye opener. The worst localism came from the Aussies who had perched in and set up camp for several weeks! The real locals, the Indos surfing on old boards layered with gaffer tape, treated all newbies no matter what skill level with a respect almost unheard of in the west. Interesting. Maybe it will all become clearer as I progress and start surfing better quality breaks.

25 things about me

This post is not about surfing. I wrote this list two years ago when a friend tagged me in their list on facebook. I never published it.................I finished the remaining two last night and quite liked it..........I felt it was wasted sitting as a draft but I don't think I want to share it somewhere as public as FB. My unread blog seems much better!

Most things haven't changed since 2009 however I am pleased to report I have broken my addiction to crappy American crime shows (11)!

25 things about me.
1. I wish I could speak another language
2. I love lying in my bed at night with the window open and the wind blowing, just listening
3. Learning to surf is one of the hardest (but the best) things I've ever done
4. I wish I played the guitar more then I do
5. I wish I wasn't so obsessed with keeping fit and eating well and could just let go
6. I could easily run a marathon or complete an ironman but the thought of spending a few days in silence really scares me
7. I hate that all the people I love are spread through out the world
8. I am appalled by government (and the general populations) inaction in relation to the environment
9. I can't believe I studied health and physical education as an undergraduate
10. There is nothing better then falling in love with the characters in an amazing book (and there is nothing better then falling in love)
11. I hate that I get sucked into crappy American crime shows in the evening
12. I dream of living in the bush by the sea living off the land
13. Sometimes I feel that I that I am a complete fake and am bullshitting my way through life
14. The one thing I love most in the world is laughing, big, loud, belly laughs that hurt so much
15. Wine, cheese and chocolate are the best
16. I love meeting people who I connect with...........easily and simply
17. I am so cynical about marriage but I really wish I wasn't
18. Animal cruelty is the one thing that really makes me feel helpless
19. I am trying so hard to minimise my impact on the world but I am afraid that it is not enough
20. I wish I could take my feet out of my mouth
21. I pretend to be so tough
22. I find live music and the people that create it so inspiring
23. The sea soothes my soul - el mar, mi alma
24. I want to write and publish the story of my grandparents time in Papua New Guinea in the 50s
25. I hope that I don't see the extinction of the last remaining large mammals in my lifetime

The surf posse

You have to have a surf posse. It makes surfing so much more fun especially when you have a break all to yourselves.

When I moved to Melbourne in 2006, I started surfing with Mickey, Grant, Ivan and Matt on a regularly basis. We were all at a similar level, some of us better then others, some with more surfing nous then others. We were all pretty keen to get better, surf more and where willing to get up early and make the 90 minute drive out to Philip Island or the West Coast.

I spent my formative surfing years with these guys. I mastered duck diving, brought my first short(ish) board and spent many Sunday mornings with Ivan throwing rocks at Mickey and GPs windows dragging their sorry arses out of warm beds away from even warmer girls. We even managed a few surf trips down the south coast of NSW and the islands of Indonesia.

Now in West Oz surfing predominantly by myself, I really miss the reliability of a regular surf crew. I am sure that those out surfing appreciate that I no longer arrive at a break in a posse of five but there is something comforting about exploring a new break with a familiar crew.

Mickey, GP, Ivan and Matt are all on their own surfing journeys. I'm counting on the fact that one day they'll get over to the West Coast ready for an obligatory 'down south' road trip.

Flat spells...............

Its been 10 whole days with minimal movement in the water and there is nothing on the horizon. Flat spells are a reality of surf especially in Perth over summer. Its a great time to catch up on errands and pick up on some new hobbies. Like kitesurfing!

I've been thinking about giving it a go for awhile. Everyone else is doing it and Perth is the perfect spot for it. Every afternoon without fail, the Fremantle Dr arrives, turning all waves to mash and driving everyone off the beach. You can almost set your watch by it. 100s of ex surfers now set up their new fangled kiting gear and head west off Cott, Leighton and anywhere else.

I think I'll just stick to surfing, considering I'm so average anyway, I don't want to spread myself to thin!

Indonesia

It is a beautiful full bodied woman, In-doNEa-sheya.......it fills my dreams. That smell, the sounds, the air, thick with jasmine, moist, hot, that feeling, the taste. There is something very special about that place. It haunts my dreams.

I went to Indonesia for the first time last year, with a few mates and a few surfboards. I'd only been surfing for around 15 months consistantly, so I was pretty sure I'd be way out of my depth. I still had this feeling that I'd find some waves I'd feel comfortable in even if it meant surfing at Kuta Beach for weeks.

The first few days I was absolutely petrified. I remember being out at Kuta Reef just overawed by the sound as the wave broke. I was so relieved when a boat arrived to pick us up and take us to dry land. I paddled over without catching a wave.

It took a while to settle in to the waves but we found cruisy surf spots to the west and in Lombok and I started to become more comfortable in the water. The further east we headed, the more comfortable I felt and by the time we reached Sumbawa, I was happy enough to paddle out at Lakey Peak and take a few waves.

I feel that when you hear about the famous breaks around the world like Pipeline, Teahuapo, *insert famous wave here*, you hear about them on their penultimate day. But even the waves have their bad days, when the wind is not quite right and the swell is coming from a different direction. Its at this time, that nufty's like me can head out and have a play! At any rate, there is always a learner wave somewhere around the corner. The Hawaiians don't start surfing Pipe as soon as they can walk! I'm happy to find the fat, soft, mellow wave and have my fun. I'll leave waves like Pipe to the real heroes.

Why I Surf.....

I've always wanted to surf. I remember when I was 15 being in awe of the guys running down the steps, board in hand at the Cove. I even signed up to surf lessons with Mr Walker at school down at Leighton and conquered standing in the foam.

I've been in and out of the water for as long as I can remember at surf club and in swimming pools. My mum sent me off to swimming lessons every summer, so I'm a good swimmer and pretty competant at reading the surf. Rowing surf boats has given me the best education in how waves work, where they pick up, when to dig in and when to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I finally committed to surfing when I moved to Melbourne in 2006 and actually brought myself a board. A 7'2 minimal, custom designed by Dicko from Torquay! I met some crew through RMIT Outdoor club who were at the same level as I was and away we went. Weekends were spent at Philip Island at YCW with my crew Ivan, GP, Mickey and any others who came along for the ride. I was 28.

Its been a pretty hard journey, one step forward, two steps back. Everytime I feel like I'm getting somewhere, I go out in a break that is way above my ability and lose my cool or I suck on a wave I know really well and get in everyones way. Its just surfing....the changing environment means that everyday is different. I wish I had started younger but I don't think I had the confidence to mix it with the boys out the back.

I always figure that every surf will teach me something. Whether its in perfect 3 - 4 foot waves in at a nice, cruisey break or 1 foot mash flattened by the Fremantle Dr! Its also a great sport to teach patience (which I really struggle with!). I've spent so much time bobbing around on my board, waiting for the perfect Bec size wave to come in and pick me up.

I'm having a great time checking out unfamiliar breaks in Western Australia where I am currently living. Last weekend, Nathe and I went to Muttonbird bay in Albany. I thought I knew most of the incredible places in this state but this spot took my breathe away. There was something special about beach breaks as far as the eye could see, a protected cove for young families and a nice-ish wave for Lplate long boarders.

Why I surf, I'm not sure.....catching a wave just feels so good.