obct said..
what a coincidence SV, it was around 68 that I finally convinced myself that I really wanted to be a surfer when, as an impressionable 14 or 15 year old, I was witness to the height of anarchy on Woopi headland and it involved a 58, I just can't recall if it was a wagon or a van, I think it was a van.
In those days you could drive down the bottom of the headland so you were not far above back beach. A guy turns up in his 58, walks over to the edge and start talking to some guys he knows, I was sitting maybe 50 or so metres aways watching proceedings and wishing I could be one of them.
2 or 3 other guys, that obviously knew the driver of the 58, walked around to the hidden side of his car, which was the same side I was on and proceeded to piss on the back wheel-arch and tyre.
The 58 had a light dusting of mud and dirt on the duco and the wheel, so even to this day I can still recall the artistry on the side of the van after the last pisser had moved away and one of his friends told the drive that he should come see the fruits of their labours. Copious amounts of cussing and laughter ensued.
I though it was the the funniest thing ever, it was irreverent, decadent, satirical, and so much more. I wanted to be part of it.
Sadly it wasn't to be, the 70s came along, and with them so did short boards and the drug culture, my focuses shifted to home and family and we lost our innocence.
I think that's why I enjoy our occasional Road Trips, we can pretend those days are still with us.
Now that too is a co-incidence OB. My first intro to surfing was as a bystander as well. I was about 11 or 12, and it was about 1970-71 when my father's beaten up Vauxhaul Victor was in a workshop getting another valve grind or water pump or something. He'd borrowed a mate's 48/215 (FX) and we were taking it back to his house in Powderworks Rd Narrabeen. Warren, the mate, was about to go to the beach. He had a surfboard longer than his car, and was tall, tanned and very happy to take me and have a crack at surfing. Dad agreed, and we had a fantastic arvo with me actually being able to stand up on Warren's board. Sadly, Dad thought at my age I was too young to surf. I couldn't lift a longboard, let alone paddle it out the back on my own. For the next 4 years I pestered him for a board. He couldn't afford one, so made the excuse that I needed to beat him in a swimming race before I could have one.
Eventually, he let me win a race. The next Christmas I was presented with a pink and purple tie died Wallace pop out. About 6 foot long and as ugly as a hat full of fish hooks. The romance excitement of surfing quickly died when all my Narra Boys high mates called me a **** for having a pink Wallace pop out. I was so embarrassed to take it to any local beach where the blokes from school would be..... When I did try to surf it, I had no help or guidance, and couldn't stand on it, so I gave it up as a bad joke. I eventually gave the board away to a neighbor a few years later for a motorcycle helmet and became an avid rider. At 50, I still remembered Warren and his 48/215 and his enormous longboard, and made a second attempt at trying surfing. I'm glad I did, except for the fact that I missed so many years of surfing.
Same as you OB, the road trips are a really great for helping us to recall what got us going in surfing originally. But if I see someone has pissed on my Kombi, I'll know where to look.....
The older Superoo stickers where pretty much available at any spare parts shops,I had one as a kid but it's long gone!....
