Memories of the '60s surfing scene
WELCOME back after what has been a very busy weekend around the region, and in Dunedin especially.
We’ve got a bit of a change of pace in store for you today. Hamburg freelance travel writer Aileen Tiedemann has been in Dunedin and sent us this fascinating insight into the early days of surfing in and around Dunedin and the Catlins.
Aileen recently interviewed Brighton resident Julian Allpress
(74), the cofounder (with a friend) of the South Coast Boardriders Club at St Clair Beach in 1966.
Julian says he gave up surfing about 10 years ago but has wonderful memories of the 1960s scene and all its mental and physical benefits.
‘‘It’s so healthy, I made a lot of friends and it kept us off the booze and any drugs that might have been around in those days.
‘‘Me and my best friend, Brian Muntz, were skindivers and bought popout Kahuna surfboards to paddle out to the reef. They proved to be very useful and we would jump off them into the water. Later we discovered they were also really fun to ride.
‘‘That’s how we got into surfing — we just copied what the surf lifesaving guards were doing — only when I got hold of one of the very rare surfing magazines from the US, I saw photos of guys surfing sideways and tried it.’’
He says in 1966 you had to go to the North Island to buy a surfboard.
‘‘The few board makers that existed back then thought they were gods and you had to beg them to make you a board. Ted Davidson from Mount Maunganui was one of the first board makers. He put a few on the roof of his car and drove down to the South Island and sold them all in a day.’’
It was the freedom that drew Julian to the sea.
‘‘When you paddle into the ocean you forget everything — problems with the bank, arguments with friends. It all doesn’t matter anymore when you’re riding waves. You’re just always hungry for the next beach.
‘‘You’d do anything for surfing. I only became an electroplater so that I would have money for surfing.
‘‘I loved the camaraderie. Jumping into our brandnew Fiat 500 and going on a surf safari with my friends and discovering beaches that noone had ever surfed at before — Murderers Beach or Cannibal Bay and Kaka Point, which are popular surfing spots in the Catlins now.
‘‘It was a big adventure back then. Surfing was more important than anything to us: even girls, alcohol or dope. I never wanted to be one of those beach bums that gave surfers a bad name. The only dumb thing we did was throwing cow dung at each other while walking over fields to wild beaches.’’
Surfing is also a great equaliser, he says.
‘‘In the water you are all the same, whether you are a doctor or a plumber.
‘‘The younger guys learned from us and so surfing skills got better from one generation to the next. In the North Island surfing was already a relatively popular sport back then. But new things always travel very slowly from the north to the south in New Zealand. And because the water does not get much warmer than 14 degrees [Celsius] in Dunedin, even in the summer, surfing took off slower.
‘‘We just wore togs, even in winter, because we did not have wetsuits. We had a fire going at the beach where we warmed ourselves up between surfing.’’
Aileen asked Julian what makes surfing in the South Island so special compared with the North.
‘‘Otago has lots of opposing beach lines — that’s why you can always find surf. People are very staunch in the South. It’s not about showing off but sharing your passion for surfing.’’
Julian hung up his board when he was 64.
‘‘I still live by the beach in
Brighton but I don’t enjoy surfing on my own. I miss the camaraderie.
Most of my surfer friends have moved away or stopped surfing.’’
Great memories, Julian and
Aileen. And for a definitely nonsurfer type I can see the attraction. Anyone else want to give it a go now? the start of the programme.
‘‘It was good to see younger crew members of Operation Deep Freeze “sharing an anniversary lunch.‘‘I served as captain’s steward aboard HMNZS Pukaki at the beginning of it, in 1963.’’
Thanks Ivan.