The Party Wave

After a number of years of communicating via email I was finally going to meet up with Bruce "Snake" Gabrielson, on his arrival with his wife Kim at the Adelaide airport on Thursday the 21st of September 2000. I didn't have any worries or trepidation about meeting the bloke as I’ve been around long enough that hardly anything surprises me much these days. If anything I was curious, as to if the bloke had a sense of humour or not, after swapping emails for so long, he seemed pretty straight-laced. I spotted him first and I was pleased to see a smile on his face, which seemed to promise that he did have a sense of humour. He was going to need it over the next 5 days, having to put up with the likes of me. After picking up their baggage, we then walked to our car and gave them a short guided tour on the way to our home.

The living arrangements were such, that we had vacated our bedroom upstairs, with the girl sleeping on a little bed in the spare-bedroom and myself sleeping on the lounge downstairs. We had a cup of coffee and a bit of a yarn first, then we took them for a drive along the local and Mid-Coast. Again both remarked how similar the area looked to San Clemente, California. We showed them Hallett Cove, which is a rocky beach with a nice conservation park of volcanic origin, including a picturesque headland and a little hill called the Sugarloaf.

Both had taken their cameras, with Bruce recording the scenic area on his video camera, which he was talking to all the time while Kim was madly shooting away with her SLR camera. To my delight there was even a reasonable size wave breaking at the beach, which made the prospect for a surf the next day very promising. We then proceeded to drive further down south along the coast to Seaford, where we had a look at several of the reefbreaks, just as the sun was slowly starting to set. Bruce decided he wanted to purchase a pair of booties, as he seemed concerned about the rocks, so we stopped at Southport Surf & Skate. While he was trying on some booties I had a chat to the lady owner and handed her our Castaway Website card. She mentioned to her husband that our website was actually linked on theirs and he recognised us, pointed at the girl and said "and you are The Girl!" When we returned, we decided it would be a good idea to get up early the next morning to go for a surf, so after watching a bit of the Olympic wrap-up on TV and Kim checking her email we finally hit the sack.

Friday morning we got up at about 6 am, put the surfing gear in the car and went to check out the surf. The Mid-Coast had a little wave going, but we decided to head down to Middleton, where we had to stop at the bakery first, so Bruce and Kim could have breakfast, which consisted of donuts and cream cakes.

Although Middleton was as glassy as it’s ever been it was breaking inconsistently and it wasn’t too small either. So the girl wisely decided to take some photos while Bruce and I zipped up, marched down the road and then went for the paddle out through the bay. Once out the back I noticed that among the very few out there were Ian and Jock, a couple of regular locals. I introduced Bruce to them and then proceeded to get on with the business of catching a wave or two. The waves were decent size but were hard to catch with most having either long faces or were doubling up with the previous day’s onshores still affecting them.

The tide was about mid way through its coming in cycle but there was a tremendous amount of movement coming back out from the bay and heading a fair way in the southeasterly direction. I can’t seem to remember when I’ve seen a drift that strong and moving so far as that here. At one stage, while we were sitting out the back a seal popped up in the middle of us and was acting quite strangely. It had its head under water and its back flippers in the air, as if it was giving us a brown-eye. Seeing the bloody thing made me cautious, as it’s the first time I’ve seen a seal in these waters for about three years and we all know what creature they are a favourite of.

After a while it disappeared and we all got back to the business of trying to catch a wave. I managed to pick up a few and eventually got one of the larger ones coming through which seemed to have a much better shape than most. I got up to my feet and rode the big bludger for about twenty metres until it hit the next sandbar, then all the promising shape disappeared and I was left with the quick decision to ditch it and flick off, over the back of it. It didn’t take long before the realisation set in that conditions weren’t going to get any better, in fact things were getting worse, as a cross onshore wind had come in. I picked up another large belter and instead of doing anything fancy I proned out and rode it in, just missing the point by a metre or so, just for some excitement. I don’t think Bruce caught that many and if he did I didn’t see them, anyway I had a feeling that with the conditions being the way they were then a quick trip back to the Mid might work in our favour.

On our return to the Mid we found that the swell had picked up a bit, along with a slight sea breeze but not enough to spoil the wave face. It was a pretty good session out there and I really enjoyed it because there were only a few short boarders inside catching the left overs, while Bruce and myself shared the bigger stuff with another fairly competent longboarder. The tides were heading towards a dodge and Anzacs was working like treat, with the infamous shorebreak lining up quite nicely for some reckless end of ride hanging fives. On one occasion, a local guy clearly dropped in on Bruce, so Bruce decided he could do that to him in return. The session was short lived, as the girl had to work that afternoon, so I took Bruce and Kim to get some photos processed that she had taken, and then showed them around the beachside suburb of Glenelg. We checked out Rodney Fox’s Shark Museum and ended up having a pretty good meal at a Mexican Restaurant. Later that evening I took them into town and the Adelaide Casino, where I reckon Kim may have made a few bob on the Blackjack. At 10.30 PM we picked up the girl from work and it was while we were waiting for her that two cars decided to have a bingle right, smack, dab in the middle of town. No one was hurt except for some pride but it was a bit of entertainment for us while we were waiting.

On Saturday morning we were up again early, ready to go to for a surf but this time Kim had decided to stay home. There was not a breath of wind and this time we went out at Threepoles, with only a couple of locals out already. I couldn’t believe it; here it was a Saturday morning and as glassy as I ever seen it and hardly no one out. Of course we made pigs of ourselves with both of us getting some nice little gems of rides that thankfully the girl got a couple of nice shots of. It was just towards the end of our session that the north westerly wind sprung up making the surf a bit sloppy, so we thought it would be a good idea to drive down the coast to check out the scenic Fleurieu Peninsula. We picked up Kim and took the boards with us, just in case. At first we showed them Gull Rock and Maslins Beach, with their cameras getting a fair workout.

Further on we drove past Aldinga Reef and pointed out to them where Rodney Fox famously had been attacked by a white pointer. We went only as far as Yankalilla, as the girl had to start early that afternoon. Once home I ended up taking a little nap that lasted for a number of hours, while Kim and Bruce went for a stroll down to our local Pub near the beach for an evening drink.

Here’s the Girl's account of events of Sunday…

After two days of taking surf photographs of Ron Taylor and Bruce Gabrielson I decided enough was enough and I needed a wave for myself. We arrived at Threepoles at 7 am to find a 2-3 foot glassy wave breaking with only a hand full of guys out, a dodge tide and an overcast sky. After meeting and talking to a few of the guys from our club (Maladjusted Longboarders) who said that Middleton was epic the previous day, which made it sound like we'd really missed out on something. I felt like heading down south and so we drove another 50 km's to check it out, only to find conditions mushy and horrible. So back we went to the Mid, to find there were by then an extra fifteen guys out, fighting for the small quality waves. Not deterred by the crowd, I grabbed my board and Bruce and I went for the short paddle out.

The water was really refreshing and nice, considering the warm offshore wind that had in the meantime sprung up. I tried to find my position in the line-up, mingling amongst schoolkids on toothpicks, little frogs on boogie boards and big mals. Ron had remained on the beach to try to take some shots of us. Usually I am a bit intimidated by so many people out the back, but this time I thought "bugger it, I have as much right as they have, and they look like beginners anyway". I paddled for the first two waves but found out that I was positioned too far towards the nose of my board, with resulting into pearling. The last few sessions I've had have been at Middleton and in comparison the waves break differently here, so next time I paddled for a wave I leant back further. I caught the next one I went for with this different approach, got up and had a nice little lefthander. Quite pleased with my efforts and myself I paddled back out, where Bruce and I paddled for a wave together but both missed it. As the session wore on I caught quite a few more nice little rides, perfect for me in my learning curve. On one occasion when I was paddling back out back out I noticed a boy on a boogie board who was just paddling for a wave, looking over his shoulder, heading straight towards me and making a nuisance of himself by riding over the top of me, hitting the nose of my board. Calling to him "Man, watch where you're going!" he kept paddling and didn't even apologise. Aside from that I was really enjoying being out in the water again, which fortunately was nice and clean again, after the recent overflow of the reservoirs had been released into the water, making it very muddy, so much so that you were unable to see below your knees.

Another little kid out there on a boogieboard asked me if I'd seen the stingray on the surface, which unfortunately I'd missed. Bruce and I caught a few more and after an hour and a half conditions got worse and so we decided we'd had our fix for the day and went in.

It's Ron here viewers, you don't know how much effect that story has had on me, especially the part about he kid. He was a beaut little bloke and it made me feel a bit sad that I never had one myself. I guess I'm too old and selfish now and I don't think I could handle that kind of responsibility...Pity! That afternoon I wanted to catch up with some work while Bruce and Kim wanted to see the city of Adelaide, so the girl gave them a map and the train schedule and dropped them off in town on her way to work. I believe they had a good time going to the museum and doing some sightseeing. On Monday we went down south and even though conditions weren’t favourable we took the boards with us just in case. We checked out Middleton first, which wasn’t all that good and then did the obligatory trip to the bakery to witness another sugary Seppo breakfast. With the surf being so poor we took them sightseeing to Horseshoe Bay, Victor Harbor, the Bluff, Rosetta Bay and Kings Head, stopping the car here and there to give them plenty of time to take some pics.

After we had taken them to Waitpinga Beach and were on our way out, we saw a mob of kangaroos grazing along the side of the road in a paddock. Bruce and Kim grabbed their photographic gear and voiced their enthusiasm while looking through the viewfinder. This was probably the most exciting moment of their trip in South Australia, which was later confirmed when the girl asked them what had impressed them most. We promised them more native wildlife and a little later we took them to the Urimbirra Nature Park in Victor Harbor, where they could cuddle a koala and get up close and personal with native animals.

Tuesday was basically the last opportunity to go for a wave before Bruce and Kim had to leave for Sydney, so we went down south, as there wasn’t much happening in the Midcoast. The South Coast was only a fraction better, with the slight onshores making the already lumpy waves a little less desirable and that much harder to catch. Bruce and Chris Bowen, from our club, went out first with myself following a few minutes later. It would appear that some of the blokes there are entering the water with a certain amount of trepidation, while I guess others are waiting until the recent events have slipped back into their subconscious mind. Who could blame them! I have to be honest and say that the thoughts of what happened on the West Coast, prior to this was clearly in our minds. Chris turned to me while we were out there and with a sheepish grin on his face said, "Hey! It smells a bit fishy!"

A young lass on a shortboard came out shortly afterwards and joined us. In my usual manner I greeted her with a, "How ya going?" She replied that she was a little nervous and the only reason she was out there was because she wanted a wave and we had broken that invisible ice, so to say. A little later several others joined us in the 3-4 foot poor quality surf, with hardly anybody venturing out beyond the first break. We weren't out there all that long and after we came in the wind dropped considerably, improving the conditions remarkably. I was extremely disappointed with my early session and after a half an hour decided to go out again, as I always do if I have a bad one. I managed to do a little better, enough to keep me satisfied for the day. Bruce at one stage had a bit of a struggle paddling back out through the whitewater after having caught one wave that he rode in further than most with local knowledge would. He later told me that he was about to give up, because he was getting tired of being pounded. How well I know that feeling but that’s one of the things I like about Middleton, because even if you don’t get the wave of your life very often there, at least you know that you’ve had a decent workout trying.

When we got back home, there was still plenty of time left in the day and the girl suggested to my horror that we should go play some tennis. Kim and Bruce took up the challenge, with myself looking on in awe of the bravery that our visitors were showing. For I had played tennis with the girl a few years before and gave it up, as playing tennis with her is a life-threatening situation. They survived that encounter well enough and later that evening Bruce and Kim invited to the local pub for a farewell-dinner.

On the last day we only had a couple of hours left to spend together before we took them to the Adelaide airport, so Bruce and I hung around watching the Olympics on TV. We finally dropped them off, where the girl gave them a little farewell-card and 2 souvenir Olympic pins, shook hands and farewelled them good-bye and then returned to our now quiet home.

Anzacs

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Photos by Sibylle Martens

© R Taylor/ S Martens

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