15 May,2011 07:40 AM IST | | Dhamini Ratnam
With no less than five world-class waves and a bunch of international surfing tournaments that take place annually, D-bah on the Gold Coast in Australia is called Surfers' Paradise with good reason. But surfing in the Pacific Ocean is a stairway to another kind of spiritual awakening as well, Dhamini Ratnam discovers
Type: Extreme sport
Best from: Brisbane
You need: One week
Scott Dillon, tanned to perfection, looked through his crystal blue eyes and stopped smiling. The lines around his mouth disappeared. Waiting for us to quieten down, he said, "Now, here's the thing. Don't be stupid surfers," his voice carrying over the sound of the sea.
"Bring the hands in front of you when you stand, like you are directing
the wind," Dillon said. "Like you're doing the hoola hoop."
We were seven first-time surfers attending Dillon's surf lessons at Duranbah, one of Australia's most famous surfs in the Gold Coast. The other six were students from Switzerland and had a pretty good thing going -- they were part of a 'surfari' package offered by Dillon's company, Beach Bum, and their post-lesson plans included a stopover at a surf museum and pub-hopping through five bars at night.
The previous twenty minutes on the beach had been hectic.
Dillon made us all sit in front of him and proceeded to draw sand diagrams to explain intricate details such as sand banks and channels, in addition to how to avoid drowning.
Nodding solemnly, we had all watched his tapering fingers like hawks.
"Sandbanks are where surfers will wait for waves to come in and break -- they are also the safest areas for swimmers. Channels are deep bodies of water in between sandbanks that surfers use to get dragged back out to the sandbank for the next wave, but swimmers should avoid them at all times," he said.
Turning to the sea, Dillon pointed out the channels to us. The channels were darker, since the ground ran deeper.
Next to the channels, thick waves broke nonchalantly, leaving us pondering over Dillon's assertion. If what he was saying was true, those tall columns of water that broke without a stop, were actually harmless. That didn't sound right, but, as I soon learnt, an extreme sport is one of the few things in the world that helps you unlearn all the fears born out of your highly-prized rationality.
And surfing in a vast, unconcerned ocean is no less than a stairway to spiritual awakening.
That is of course, if you are not too busy remembering Dillon's yogic three-step process of standing on the surf board.
After pointing out the channels that we were to avoid "at all cost", Dillon had made us all lie down on our 10-feet long Malibus (gigantic boards with soft top and fins, made especially for beginners) and had shown us how to plant our legs firmly on the board.
"Bring the hands in front of you when you stand, like you are directing the wind," Dillon had said.
'Like the classic surfer pose', we thought.
Duranbah, or D-bah as the locals call it, is in the southern end of the Gold Coast, located in the eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. The area of surf between Duranbah and Kirra Point (up north from Duranbah) has five world class waves and is home to professional surfing contests such as the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro.
The classic surfer pose was to be seen everywhere. Although the day wasn't as sunny as the Australians would have liked (I, of course, wasn't complaining), surfers and swimmers dotted the horizon of the Pacific Ocean. Waiting for the next big wave.u00a0
"Time to go," Dillon clapped. We stood up and filed towards the ocean, dragging our surfboards behind us. Dillon walked in first till he was waist-deep and then made us wade in. We turned away from the wave and climbed our surfboards. As the wave approached Dillon shouted, "Go!," and counting the three steps in our heads, we stood as we'd been told and rode the wave.
Lesson 1: It isn't as bad as you think it is
Well, at least that's how it should have happened.
To begin with, turning away from the wave wasn't easy -- just as turning your back to something you 'know' isn't good for you in other matters isn't easy, either.
However, with Dillon around, we didn't have much time to chew on our apprehensions. Once the wave came with unerring precision, we were on our own.
What we eventually came to realise was that falling down or going under the wave wasn't as terrifying as we'd thought it would be. More importantly, letting go of fear was impossible if we used rationality to explain it away -- as I soon realised, when it came to standing on the surfboard on the majestic Pacific Ocean, every rational explanation I offered myself to go ahead and 'do it' wasn't enough.
Lesson 2: Scared? Don't stop
Fear, baseclimber Dr Glenn Singleman once told me, is a primal reaction. The only way to reduce it is to understand real risks, not perceived ones. Then, you learn how to overcome the real risks through training. Fear never leaves, he said. But, perhaps the only way to defeat it, is to do the very things that scare you, often enough.
Sydney-based Singleman and his wife Heather Swan hold the record for the world's highest Baseclimb and Basejump. In 2006, the duo climbed and jumped off Mount Meru, a 6,604-metre tall mountain of the Garhwal Himalayan range, in wingsuits. They had trained for six years before accomplishing the world record.
That's a lot of time to learn to control fear. One surf lesson isn't. What you do learn, however, is to let go, bit by bit. It took me 17 tries to finally stand on the surf board and ride the rapidly diminishing wave towards the beach.
Lesson 3: Be in control by going with the flow
Standing atop the board finally, hearing Dillon's cheering whoop in the distance, it struck me what I'd been doing wrong all this while -- apart from clutching the sides of the board ("place your hands palm down on the board, don't hold the sides"), standing off centre ("keep your legs wide apart for better balance") and not keeping my hands in the classic surfer pose, which I thought, looked a bit pretentious ("It keeps your balance right!").
I had been trying to control the wave -- every muscle of my body was employed in saving me from being thrashed by the wave, and directing my surfboard to slice through the water rather than ride over it. But if there's one thing you learn doing an extreme sport, it's this: The only way to control the elements, whether you are snowboarding in the Himalayas or power kiting in Goa, is by letting the elements take control of you. It's only when you are going with the flow that you have mastered the sport.
It was a lesson I had learnt while power-kiting last year, flying my 14-metre wide kite in immensely powerful winds on Morjhim beach. It was a lesson I was learning again.u00a0u00a0
Around us, surfers tunnelled through large waves (also called 'tubes' when surfers go under, instead of over them) and several got thrashed by the ocean. They emerged moments later, pulling their smaller, unstable yet more manoeuvrable boards towards them, and climbed them, lying in wait for the next big wave.
Surfers' paradise, indeed.
The writer's trip was sponsored by Tourism Australia and Tourism Queensland.
6-step guide to surfing safely
>>Don't steal a wave from another surfer. The one closest to the peak of the wave has the right of way.
>>If a surfer is already on top of a wave, don't attempt to drop in, i.e, don't take off on the wave in front of them.
>>Don't ditch your board: Surfboards are large and hard. If you let it go, it might knock another surfer on the head. Always keep your foot leash tied to your board.
>>If you are paddling back to the wave, don't paddle in front of someone who's approaching, riding a wave.
>>Keep your distance from other surfers lined up for a wave, especially if you are a newbie.u00a0
>>Avoid going surfing alone. In case of any accident, it's good to have someone looking out for you.
>>D-bah is no stranger to sharks either. If you encounter one, maintain eye contact with the shark, since sharks attack only from behind.
Getting there
By air: Fly into the Gold Coast International Airport or the Brisbane International Airport. You can drive down to the Gold Coast in 1.5 hours at the most. From Sydney, you can take a connecting flight to the Gold Coast that takes about 75 minutes.
By train: Airtrain links the Gold Coast with Brisbane domestic and international airports. Queensland Rail City Train runs regular services to the Gold Coast.
Places to stay:
> Peppers Broadbeach: The Gold Coast's first five star accommodation to open in a decade, it has over 500 one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments.
visit: https://www.peppersbroadbeach.com.au/
> Sea World Resort: A 4.5 star property, it has direct monorail access to Sea World, a theme park. https://www.seaworldresort.myfun.com.au/
>Binna Burra Mountain Lodge: A cosy mountain retreat nestled in the Lamington National Park. https://www.binnaburralodge.com.au/
>Komune: Located in Coolangatta, Surfer's Paradise, it's close to D-bah.
https://www.komuneresorts.com/
1 AUD =u00a0 Rs 48.4
TIP: Don't forget to carry a European charger for your gadgets. The plugs are thin pins.u00a0
