Surfing USA! No Surfing Adelaide!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Well, we did try surfing once. It was such a cold day that even the instructor (Mona’s host mother’s brother) refused to go in the water haha. So he roughly told us what to do and then pushed us out into the waves. To no surprise we returned to shore soon after, having spent more time underneath the board than on top.

I felt a few glimpses of the board catching a wave so I could imagine it being fun once you’re good at it but we spent the majority of our time paddling out, trying to get on and off the board and yelling at each other about how cold we were ;-). So it’s definitely not something we were able to cross off our bucket list with a lot of confidence. We’d love to give it a go another time! Maybe next time we visit Australia (fingers crossed!)?

[Steve Dunning]

Great to see another pic from little old Adelaide South Australia! Some great surf beaches.

 

Steve Dunning (Adelaide Hills)

 

[Jung Roe]

That’s a massive and impressive surf board Lisa you braved, and Mona you look  like you’re ready to go back in to ride a few more waves!   When it come’s to an adventure you’re both troopers.  Thanks for sharing that great photo.  Don’t forget they have some big waves on Vancouver Island Long Beach on the westcoast of BC should you have another itch for a surfing adventure.  🙂

[Howard]

Thank you for sharing your story and photo Lisa. I’m not at all surprised about your experience. The same happened to me with my one and only surfing experience at Cronulla beach in Sydney just after I’d turned 15 in the mid sixties. My school friend had one of those huge ‘Malibu’ boards of the time. They were much longer and heavier than the ones in your day.

Like you, I struggled to paddle out through the waves, upside down mostly before eventually having to swim back to my board that had washed ashore ahead of me on the waves. We didn’t have leg rope in those days!

In the 1980s I took up sailboarding and stuck with it until I eventually became very proficient in moderate to strong winds. It helped when I purchased a wet suit and a harness. The harness meant I could sail longer without my arms getting tired and the wet suit meant I could windsurf in colder weather.

My recommendation to you and Mona next time you plan on surfing in cold weather is to purchase a wet suit. They do help to keep you warm and also help with buoyancy when swimming. Depending on the time of year in Adelaide, you could probably get away with just a vest, like I did sailboarding. Sounds like you didn’t have much of a surfing coach!

I don’t know how you managed to paddle out on that huge board of yours. They are better for beginners though as they are more balanced when you are learning to stand on them. As for your baby sister, she certainly looks the part with that sun bleached, messy hair surfer chick look of hers.

“We’d love to give it a go another time! Maybe next time we visit Australia (fingers crossed!)?” Well don’t forget your ten year anniversary is due this year. You could easily add a couple of concerts to your holiday itinerary to help pay for your trip. It would be wonderful to see you back again and we’d travel from all over Australia to see you! Just love that video of you singing at Uluru and just wonder what you could do at the Sydney Opera House!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Thanks for the tips, Howard and your offer to help get us back over to Australia again! Oh how we’d love to do that! But at the moment it’s all a matter of time and we’ve got a bit too many things going on. But we will try to come back for sure one day!

About the photo: Thinking back, I actually don’t remeber using surfboards THAT huge so I think they gave us those for the picture only.

And I forgot to address the German video you guys have dug up. It’s funny how suddenly lots of comments popped up on that old news post from back in 2009 that still included that video. Someone must have found it in the library so it popped back up in the “recent comments” section. You guys are sneaky clever detectives 😉

[Jung Roe]

Well Lisa, regardless of the size of the surf board that was really impressive to go out in that cold water just the two of you to surf for the first time like that.  Really enjoyed reading your account of your first surfing adventure while in Australia!  Outside of music, you and Mona are so interesting and adventurous too.  It’s so wonderful to be able to hear things about your lives outside of music.  That’s another great thing about being here at the MLT club.  And thanks Howard for asking this great surfing question.

[Howard]

Yes Jung, it never ceases to amaze me too, just how adventurous and fearless the twins are. Not just a powerhouse of self made musical talent, they are fluent in at least two languages, articulate, well informed and have an adorable, self deprecating sense of humour. Hard to believe they’re human actually! I’m just disappointed I wasn’t there to make sure they had a more rewarding introduction to surfing. I hope the experience hasn’t deterred them having another go if the opportunity presents itself. However, I do think they might enjoy sailboarding more, especially if they are provided with the appropriate gear. I much prefer they enjoy safe water sport activities like these, rather than jumping out of aeroplanes, parachutes or not!

On that note, I hope they’re not still riding those motorbikes. I know that might sound hypocritical coming from a Moto Guzzi rider, but I’m not an uninsurable asset!