The Mission
Your mission if you choose to accept it.
Love it great post! Nailed it.
Haven't ventured into overseas (unknown) as of yet, but regularily do 1-4!
Blowie forgot the greatest surf adventurin' featured on these forums. That of the purely digital kind in front of the apparatus of choice.
The mission? Convince anyone else on here, or even yourself, that shit's for real. And it all happened exactly as self-described.
Yeeeew!
Day Trip - 10 < 100 kms?
Mate, you gotta spend some time living in Adelaide.
Regular day trips can cover 650km or more (Adelaide to Yorkes and back.. add on another 120km for the poor buggers doing the same from Victor Harbor).
I've done a couple of memorable Day Trips well over 1100km (sure, it was technically more than 24 hours on the road, but it was for the sole purpose of a single day of waves).
Ahh, the memories.
Love it Blowin, love all of them.
One of the best trips i ever did was in between OS Known and OS Unknown it was still Indo but it was to an area that i had no idea about this was before google earth and early internet days so nothing came up online, i just went traveling into the unknown, i didn't get epic waves but i got totally uncrowded fun waves and it was a total adventure.
Nice, Blowin.
thermalben wrote:Mate, you gotta spend some time living in Adelaide.
Regular day trips can cover 650km or more (Adelaide to Yorkes and back.. add on another 120km for the poor buggers doing the same from Victor Harbor).
Even living in Melbourne I'd often go straight to the exposed coast for a 500km return journey. Worth it.
Totally. I always measure road trips in album lengths: each hour is around one decent album. So three hours there is three cracking albums, and then three more albums on the way back.
There is another mission..... The "mysto secret spot" mission...... It might be 1/2 hour drive... Might be 4 hours..... But it only breaks on rare occasions ..... The right swell... the right angle/period.... The right tide... Winds..... often only turns on for an hour or 2....... And you often have to turn your back on several really good options.......
3 out of 4 times, it's mission incomplete..... And you wear it from your mates at the local - "where were ya!! It was pumping!!"
BUT!!!!!!!! When you complete that mission, it is often in the most memorable category...
Not a bad read blowy, Im yet to do number 6.
Although Africa is one place that i would love to explore, and i think that suits the criteria for no.6
Nice. Do ten 'number 1' trips - being 1/10 on the scale - add up to a 'number 6 trip'?
PS: I also blinked at his >100km day trip. Jeez man, how bad do you want it?!
Great list blowin! It's been a while since I've had a true trip into the unknown. Always a good bit of fun, but these days I am a sucker for the suburban surf (either here or abroad). I love the easy feeling of turning up to a place I know and people I know and trees I recognise, the whole deal. This morning went out for a dawn raid on the local points, listening to John Witzig being interviewed on ABC Radio at 4.30 and though "By god it feels good to be home".
I had to laugh along with Stu with the distances - a day trip in Tassie is usually a good 300-400, much more if you're making a point of it.
When I was younger I used to measure time in the same way Stu. I went through a pretty meditative stage where I had no stereo at all in the car - probably got some of the best waves at home during that period and drove around in a total daze of surfed out bliss and the whine of the motor. Though the heavy fumes of petrol coming from a leaky tank probably had something to do with it.
stunet wrote:Nice. Do ten 'number 1' trips - being 1/10 on the scale - add up to a 'number 6 trip'?
PS: I also blinked at his >100km day trip. Jeez man, how bad do you want it?!
Sorry Stu, are you taking the piss out of my misuse of the < and > symbols, cause I'm still not sure if I've got them correct ?
I've had >6 beers.
Known knowns, known unknowns, unknown outer knowns?
Blowin wrote:stunet wrote:Nice. Do ten 'number 1' trips - being 1/10 on the scale - add up to a 'number 6 trip'?
PS: I also blinked at his >100km day trip. Jeez man, how bad do you want it?!
Sorry Stu, are you taking the piss out of my misuse of the < and > symbols, cause I'm still not sure if I've got them correct ?
I've had >6 beers.
Just sorted the distances.
Make that > 6 beers and > 1 pleasant surprise and surprisingly pleasant bush bud Scooby at a mates house.
I've got nothing to add.
Good list.
I'm well overdue even just for a day trip.
Great list, spot on really.
What's the line on the sand between OS known and unknown? An organised surf camp in remote indo vs rocking up staying local (maybe as a first indo trip)? Could solo through ments on a tight budget, for the first time be an unknown or are we talking africa, sailing remote Pacific. I was lucky enough to get a definite unknown when younger but think you could Google all the relevant info/message boards and get informed pretty quickly now.
day trip can be 3-400km in vic.
Gets the juices flowing for sure..I dunno if it counts for unknown or not but I was staying with a mate in SW France on year,and decided a road trip across northern Spain was in order..Neither of us had been any farther west than San Sebastian before,and the only wave we really knew in Spain was mundaka do it was a bit of the unknown..So without a single known word of spanish between us we threw the boards,a tent and a few pillows in the old citreon and off we went..Few hours in and we are lost in the middle of Santander after taking a wrong turn,with literally no idea how to get out of the place.. Asking every car next to us at red lights if they "speak any English?".. Total rookie mistake..Lucky for us a very cheery Spaniard did and offered to guide us towards the outskirts of town..Now we've followed this guy for miles and now we are more than a dozen cars back in two lanes of road,when all of a sudden our new cantabrian buddy stops at a red light,gets out of his car and runs all the way back to the two stupid Aussies to mention we should stay close and we are to turn right at the set of lights..Then he runs back to his car copping all sorts if abuse from other motorists cause the lights have gone through two sets of green in the meantime..Never forget that guy,a true gentleman..We decide maybe buying a road map is not a bad idea about this time..So we spent the next few days driving down every dirt road and nook and cranny we come across searching..Only knowledge we had to go on was the swell was from the NW as well as the wind,and our trust map which we would look for likely looking coastlines that would offer protection.. We found and surfed waves all to ourselves not even knowing where we really were let alone what these waves were named..Was the heightnof summer so plenty of warm head high days..Camping in farmers fields for 5 euros a night,eating cheap seafood and drinking cheap wine..could tell sonmany more classic stories about that trip..Seriously stunning coastline.. So many great memories
thermalben wrote:Day Trip - 10 < 100 kms?
Mate, you gotta spend some time living in Adelaide.
Regular day trips can cover 650km or more (Adelaide to Yorkes and back.. add on another 120km for the poor buggers doing the same from Victor Harbor).
I've done a couple of memorable Day Trips well over 1100km (sure, it was technically more than 24 hours on the road, but it was for the sole purpose of a single day of waves).
Ahh, the memories.
Wow check out the size of Ben's carbon footprint :)
Yeah Saltman but he did it in a Prius:)
The Chinese philosopher Laozi rightly claimed that every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step .
Whilst that unheralded champion from the shire Bilbo Baggins told his nephew , Frodo , that "it is a dangerous business leaving your front door , if you don't keep your feet you never know where you might be swept off to ".
Both were on the money, though it is a surfers lot to follow the swells, the wind and their hearts to places unknown in the name of the perfect wave.
So it is my pleasure to bring you a handily inconclusive guide to the art of the Surfers Mission.
1- Out the front door.
Unless you're a godforsaken Blowin, everyone has a local.
This local might be visible from your bedroom window or it may be a two hour drive from your home.
The Local is more a mindset than an actual place of residence. It's where you feel most at ease in a line up, where you know the crew and your place in the hierarchy and its history. It's where people acknowledge your presence, if only begrudgingly.
The local is usually the home of your greatest surfing performances , as the comfort of the place allows your confidence to soar and you may surf to the best of your abilities .
Conversely the local can instill conformity and limits to your style as familiarity breeds complacency and the familiar can be entirely uninspiring.
It's the scene of many surfing low points as you'll surf any kind of dirge during those low moments of the soul whereby you are surfing for pure release rather than adventure or excitement.
For many it's also the place of comfort and security and they will draw a feeling of contentment from this that trumps any foreign experience regardless of wave quality.
Adventure Rating : 1/ 10
2 - Down the road ( <50 kms )
The local is putrid. Wrong swell, shit wind, non existent banks.
The next step is to take it around the Headland or maybe a bit further.
A run of the mill, unplanned outing . Familiar surrounds and faces. Still comfortable . Back home for dinner regardless of conditions.
Adventure rating 2/ 10
3 - Day Trip ( 50 > 500 kms)
The region is besotted with chronically shit conditions or there is a likely locality that will be working / pumping.
This ain't a new experience for any but the green grommet that will be allocated the most airless/ fart ridden corner of the vehicle.
Usually a team mission decided upon in the car park of the local and enacted with a satisfying air of spontaneity where fuel is a communal expense , jokes and past stories are shared and the crew member with the least self esteem is made to chase after the car on foot at various times performimg the Tailgate Shuffle to the amusement of those not on the recieving end of this public display of humiliation.
Surf can be all time and displays of bravado or stupidity are likely to be retold during similar missions for years to follow.
Adventure Rating 3/10.
4 -Road Trip ( 500 > 5000kms)
The Road trip is where shit gets serious.
We're talking potentially thousands of kms and maybe weeks from the local.
Whilst still well in the realm of spontaneous outings, the road trip involves a more meticulous planning regime.
Crew need to be seriously vetted for surfing ability, financial liquidity, availability for extended durations , ability to charm members of the opposite sex and most importantly a character assessment needs to be made to determine their suitability to be cramped in the very limited confines of a car for long periods of time .
The proper Road Trip is the rival of any form of surf adventure - caution to the wind, into the unknown, living in the moment with the potential to reap world class waves.
This is the trip that separates the wheat from the chaff. If you get a return invite on a Road Trip then you know that you're made of the right stuff.
Either that or all your mates are as much a bunch of fuckwits as you are.
Adventure Rating 7/10
5- Overseas ( known )
Overseas is a legitimate step regardless.
You're in a foreign country and its going to take more than just an outstretched thumb on the side of the road to get home if things go pear shaped.
Foreign currencies, laws, customs and languages will all conspire to complicate your mission for better and worse.
Many a character deficit has been revealed once the security of Oz has been left in the metaphorical rear view mirror. Many more have truly found themselves once released by the confines of the familiarities of their upbringing and the oppressive dictates of society.
Different countries are not by definition better or worse, it's up to the individual to flourish or fail once the psychological crutch of home has been removed.
New perspectives, philosophies , cultures , religions and flavours of both food and potential sexual partners are revealed.
A variety of surf that was previously unimagined is now a reality.
Some wish they'd come years earlier , some wish they'd never left home.
Adventure rating 7/10
6 - Overseas ( Unknown)
So now we're down to it.
The real thing.
A foreign country, an unfamiliar foreign country, with little or no precedent amongst your peers.
Limited knowledge on waves, locations , accomodation, transport or viability as a potential surfing destination full stop.
No crowds, world class waves or stranded and broken with no way to access help in a strange and distant land.
Could go either way.
Fortune favours the brave.
Still so many avenues for those willing to roll the dice.
Do it at least once in your life, if for no reason than determine who you really are
Adventure Rating 10/10