Gone are the days where we set off for the closest beach, whenever the time suited, with our towels and thongs. Those days got left behind along with the boogie board bag. Instead, now days, with each beach we go to, the surfing conditions must be carefully analysed and scrutinized. Words like ‘swell, current, white water, pipeline and break’ are of utmost importance. This is then followed by several minutes of intense staring at the waves and the other surfers, before lastly comparing this beach to the other possibilities. And here I was, thinking the most important part of deciding whether to go to the beach or not was the weather. How warm it is has no significance whatsoever, because it doesn’t effect the water. Silly me.
Then of course, once we’ve finally picked a beach to go to, comes the time consuming process of unloading the surf boards, taking the covers off, putting wet suits on, putting the unused surf boards into the car etc etc. Then this again in reverse when it’s time to go home. I can usually get through about 3 or 4 songs on my ipod from the time we get to the car to the time we actually drive anywhere.
And who could forget the new favourite pastime of sitting in the car (dad with his binoculars) and sussing out the surfers on whatever beach we’ve pulled up at. This includes in-depth discussions about the surfing conditions, as well as a commentary of the action, with both praise for a good ride, or laughing at a good dumping. Dad likes to think he knows the surfers ‘watch this guy, he’ll go for this one for sure.’ Or ‘just u wait, this local, here, he’ll finish with that beauty.’
What kind of crazy family am I holidaying with? However they seem to be having a whale of a time (pun intended). I’m almost at the point of joining them. Almost.