Not pretty, not perfect, not warm
The last couple of months, the weather has been pretty crappy here, making it hard to get outside to run, to walk and to generally be outdoors. To be fair, it has been winter. But last weekend there were some wonderful, sunshine-y breaks in the weather. Sadly these didn't include any waves - through circumstance and timing, I hadn't surfed in weeks, but I feel pretty zen about that these days. There'll always be more waves, and in the meantime I still got to go for a long walk.
I rarely check the surf before I go for a walk, so I always wonder if when I get to the top of the hill if I'm going to see anything tempting below me. A few times I've crested the hill and found myself running the kilometre or two home to get my board and rush back to the beach, or kicking myself for not being more organised.
Other times I've been floored by the crazy, messy ocean in front of me - whitewash as far as I can see.
Last weekend was somewhere in between. It wasn't nice, but it wasn't insane. As far as waves go, it was just big, mushy, whitewash-y crap. Let me put it this way, there was no-one out at Manu Bay - not so much as a car in the carpark. Same at the beach. Closeout crud.
So when I walked down I was blown away to see two women on soft boards in the shorebreak, paddling into the crud and having a ball. Actually, I was stoked by the sight. These two women were learners and clearly had hire boards and the waves were cold and messy and uninviting and it was still pretty early and yet, there they were. Learners often get a hard time from more experienced, more skilled surfers, but in all of the world famous surfing paradise that is Raglan, they were the only two people stoked enough and committed enough to be out in the water. They were the only two who got up and got out there even though it wasn't pretty, wasn't perfect and wasn't warm. They were the only two people getting waves.
So great. And I was so, so jealous that I don't yet have the kind of buddy here yet, where we can convince each other to go out, rain, hail or shine, pumping or crud.
As far as I can see see, those women are as surfy as it gets.
I rarely check the surf before I go for a walk, so I always wonder if when I get to the top of the hill if I'm going to see anything tempting below me. A few times I've crested the hill and found myself running the kilometre or two home to get my board and rush back to the beach, or kicking myself for not being more organised.
Other times I've been floored by the crazy, messy ocean in front of me - whitewash as far as I can see.
Last weekend was somewhere in between. It wasn't nice, but it wasn't insane. As far as waves go, it was just big, mushy, whitewash-y crap. Let me put it this way, there was no-one out at Manu Bay - not so much as a car in the carpark. Same at the beach. Closeout crud.
So when I walked down I was blown away to see two women on soft boards in the shorebreak, paddling into the crud and having a ball. Actually, I was stoked by the sight. These two women were learners and clearly had hire boards and the waves were cold and messy and uninviting and it was still pretty early and yet, there they were. Learners often get a hard time from more experienced, more skilled surfers, but in all of the world famous surfing paradise that is Raglan, they were the only two people stoked enough and committed enough to be out in the water. They were the only two who got up and got out there even though it wasn't pretty, wasn't perfect and wasn't warm. They were the only two people getting waves.
So great. And I was so, so jealous that I don't yet have the kind of buddy here yet, where we can convince each other to go out, rain, hail or shine, pumping or crud.
As far as I can see see, those women are as surfy as it gets.
I'm loving it.
ReplyDeleteCan I link this here? It's very related to what you just wrote:
http://serendipitysurf.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/around-sydney.html
Of course! And thanks for the link to your post - totally on the same page, huh :)
ReplyDeleteI remember being that enthusiastic when I was learning to surf only a couple of years ago - I'd go out in anything as I was only trying to surf going straight anyway. Such a great feeling being that stoked!! Thanks for the reminder, Bec :)
ReplyDelete