Talk to me about going on an adventure and I will sign up on the spot. There is nothing quite like exploring the unexplored and the associated excitement. Mix an adventure with lots of surfboards, wax, and cold water mountains and you will see me frothing at the mouth!
I slept little on Saturday night in anticipation of the early morning surfing safari. 5am in the middle of winter is dark and cold, but minor issues like that are solved with carrots and a beanie. 4 mates climbed into a double cab, unlimited free diesel, 9 surfboards, 8 bottles of water, 5 bananas, 4 strange looking Taiwanese energy drinks, 3 cameras, 2 litres of Coke, a bad Roxette CD, and more than sufficient adrenaline climbed in with us.
Two and a half hours of driving saw us laughing ourselves silly, mainly due to the complexities of the male bonding routine. In other words, get together, have fun! Just past Shelly Point, we found Heaven, a gigantic heaving mass of cold Atlantic water. It looked like an incredible wave but required massive amounts of hard work to get even close to the action. We watched carefully as a local paddled out. 15 minutes later he was still valiantly fighting the invisible forces of the ocean with a long way to go. Heaven would just have to wait!
As luck would have it, Hell was just around the corner. It was just as big as heaven but required up to date insurance policies and a close relative specialised in orthopaedics. We watched in rapture as they huge waves thundered onto a reef just below the surface. There could be no mercy for anyone getting this wave wrong. Perhaps not even for those getting it right!! Hell would have to wait too.
Some locals lead us to a spot near Hell called Pastures. A great wave that provided us with hours of joy! Eventually, I stumbled out of the surf with most of my body parts numb and unfeeling, including a smile, physically frozen in place. Could the life of a surfer get any better?
Next stop was to be the legendary Elands Bay, reputably the most perfect left hand break in South Africa, the jewel of our adventure. An hour further up the West coast revealed a tumultuous, wind blown, maelstrom of chaos. EBay was closed for business! The dictionary of local surf was hastily consulted to solve this adventure dilemma.
I slept little on Saturday night in anticipation of the early morning surfing safari. 5am in the middle of winter is dark and cold, but minor issues like that are solved with carrots and a beanie. 4 mates climbed into a double cab, unlimited free diesel, 9 surfboards, 8 bottles of water, 5 bananas, 4 strange looking Taiwanese energy drinks, 3 cameras, 2 litres of Coke, a bad Roxette CD, and more than sufficient adrenaline climbed in with us.
Two and a half hours of driving saw us laughing ourselves silly, mainly due to the complexities of the male bonding routine. In other words, get together, have fun! Just past Shelly Point, we found Heaven, a gigantic heaving mass of cold Atlantic water. It looked like an incredible wave but required massive amounts of hard work to get even close to the action. We watched carefully as a local paddled out. 15 minutes later he was still valiantly fighting the invisible forces of the ocean with a long way to go. Heaven would just have to wait!
As luck would have it, Hell was just around the corner. It was just as big as heaven but required up to date insurance policies and a close relative specialised in orthopaedics. We watched in rapture as they huge waves thundered onto a reef just below the surface. There could be no mercy for anyone getting this wave wrong. Perhaps not even for those getting it right!! Hell would have to wait too.
Some locals lead us to a spot near Hell called Pastures. A great wave that provided us with hours of joy! Eventually, I stumbled out of the surf with most of my body parts numb and unfeeling, including a smile, physically frozen in place. Could the life of a surfer get any better?
Next stop was to be the legendary Elands Bay, reputably the most perfect left hand break in South Africa, the jewel of our adventure. An hour further up the West coast revealed a tumultuous, wind blown, maelstrom of chaos. EBay was closed for business! The dictionary of local surf was hastily consulted to solve this adventure dilemma.
(Picture by Stevo, our photog)With fresh tears glistening in the sand, we retreated back to Pastures, where we passed a couple more hours of enjoyable wave sculpture. With weary limbs and a complete reliance on power steering, we were homeward bound.
It was a great adventure made truly memorable by the amazing waves that we had the privilege of taming. The success of the day had nothing to do with waves though. Instead it was all about the shared adventure. But deeper than that it was about four men shedding their defences and really bonding on a level that was meaningful.
It was a great adventure made truly memorable by the amazing waves that we had the privilege of taming. The success of the day had nothing to do with waves though. Instead it was all about the shared adventure. But deeper than that it was about four men shedding their defences and really bonding on a level that was meaningful.
It was a remarkably powerful experience for me and something that I think all men should regularly do. Not necessarily putting yourself at the mercy of the sea but spending time on an adventure, no matter how silly it may be. I feel absolutely revitalised, ready to kick my life up a gear!
1 comment:
Everyone needs an adventure sometimes!
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