Rolf Harris?

ha ha, so he doesn't have a wobble board with him?

Indosnm - That's a great idea....sometimes when you're on the road I suppose it's just easier to leave the board behind (with someone safe who isn't gonna break it!) than carry it along with you as excess baggage.

Then you get to enjoy the beauty of having a board awaiting you when you decide to return to one of your favourite surfing destinations! Gold

Yeah it's good but you want to make sure you're going to go back there!
I've got most here with me, a few at home & at my bro's in OZ and a few rhino chasers in the cafe at Ulu's (because I'll only use them there, if I ever get the chance)

I reckon we could fill a bucket of dribble between us.

Th elure of Indo is pulling me back again. My kids are 7 and 4. I think it's time to show them the 'real world'. I took them to Whistler and Hawaii this year. They have no idea really.
My bro showed me some footage he shot in SA this May. That place named like a rock It was sick and only 3 guys out. The shark factor must be keeping dudes away.

Speaking of sharks. one of the local fisherman counted 22 great whites in 1 day of Stockton beach. 10 km from my house. It is turning into a juvenille feeding ground. You might of seen these guys catching them from the beach on TV. One of those guys live at the end of my street. His name is Mullet.

Got no idea who your uncle is.

Thunder- Don't know where boards will go next, fat ,thin, more fins, less fins, who knows?

From time to time I watch the televised surf comps. Saw one on the weekend - Billabong - some Aussie won it.

When they posted the yearly championship points I noticed they differentiate between Hawaiians and those from the US - what's that all about?

Okay, I've been to Hawaii several times and the 'locals' always say they're Hawaiian first and US last - can understand that, same with Kiwi's in Oz [ ], but is that all it's about?

Interesting point Sub zero- I'll leave it to a Seppo to explain that one.

mants, the "G" spot down at Streaky, good wave but I prefer the island.

Subz, that was probably the Sth African event at J Bay. Fanning won it.
These days I watch most comps live on the net if the waves are good. should check it out.

Yes, that's right. Wondered where it was as all the competitors were wearing boilers.

I realise Fosters is the sponsor (also makes Crownies), but were the dudes REALLY drinking that cats-spitz?? (Slow-mo reveals the truth!)

Was a bit amazed they christened the winner with a magnum-sized tin of Fosters - just like the old days of swimming at Bondi i.e. before the offshore sewerage treatment outlet ...

They could have done much better in the beer sponsorship department!
1 thing they have got going is that the first few beers after a day of surfing are really washing the salt out and might help em taste better!

C'mon guys there are far worse beers than Fosters.... I don't mind it. Reminds me of wood-chopping competitions.

But I agree they could do better.

If I could leave boards anywhere in the world i'd choose Biarritz, Oahu, Hamilton (NZ), Sydney, LA, Sao Paulo, J-bay, Maldives, Bali and Perth (That's 10 boards).

Factoring in shipping, if I can Save up ~$10K, i'm set!

Subzero- I too noticed that Hawaiin surfers on the WCT are referred to as 'Hawaiian' instead of American. I think that is a reflection on American society and culture - ie Hawaiians don't want to be associated with it.

What's the opposite of patriotism?

I'm enjoying reading this surfing thread. The rest is off topic.


But Duuude, Fosters isn't beer, neither is 90% of what we drink. It took me a long time to come around to this fact. To me, beer was beer. The term 'Maiden's Water' was used here a few years ago and I screwed up my face and thought "what the hell are they talking about, beer's beer?!". Whats wrong with Asahi?? Dickheads all of them, I thought.

I was wrong, totally wrong. There are a few exceptions to this, but I still fell pretty safe in my recently formed opinions: Japan can't make beer, Australia can't, America can but the popular beers are fake beers, Canada can make ok beer, England certainly can but like America they choose junk imported factory lager over Ale, France can't make beer for shit, Italy really struggles but they do better than the French, Portugal makes a perfect replica of Australian beer. The list is long. Mexico should be banned from making beer. A wise guy called Miteyak once said here that we had forgotten what real beer tastes like. He was right, and discovering what he meant has been a real beer drinking pleasure.

The thing that really makes me laugh is that many Aussies in Australia scoff at stuff like Stella, Heineken, Peroni etc, claiming it is 'posh imported beer'. They then drink VB and feel all down to Earth about themselves. What they don't understand is that those "posh" imported lagers are the same shit quality €1 per can factory bubbly yellow beer substitutes just like VB. The irony is that buyinga quality imported beer in Oz is quite hard, and even then, it isn't posh, its beer. The other thing they don't get is that the negative emotion towards "imported" only holds water because Asutralia is itself so isolated plus defensive/resentful about foreign things being 'upper class' (its a hang-over from the English working class habit that grew from being a harmless character spot in Mother England to a fuggin swollen blister when relocated to remote Australia). An amazing example of the incredible closed mindedness in Australian beer drinkers was when Boags made a debut in Sydney. It was marketed heavily and became quite popular after a very slow start. All the guys I drank with were struggling to pronounce it (bow-ags) and had some funny attitude towards it, as though it where from a strange place. Only in Australia would a very nearby island called Tasmania be a point of differentiation for both beer and people. So what hope would an Asian person or German beer have in Suburban Aussie-land? It is amazing how beer drinking preferences mirror the social mind. Another example, amongst true beer drinkers, is how people in Düsseldorf and Cologne use their respective distinctly different local beers as a proxy for tribal rivalry between there cities separated by only 50km's

Having said that, when I go home I drink VB or something like it. But I know it aint real beer as I pour it down my throat. And yet I drink it by the bucket.

This has all been discussed at length and is material for another thread anyway, not this one.

Just got home from work and read my post above. It sounds way more stick-it-up-ya than its supposed to. So, sorry bout that. Not all beers are equal, but beer is still beer in everyones own back yard. Drink and enjoy.

I missed that clip first time round. Good effort, getting all techy on us. I really missed out in Fiji, it gets me down.

:D

Some of those had me laughing out loud....in particular - mexico, france and portugal

Corona, Kronenbourg and Cintra - 3 of the best. Ha!

Spud sounds like you're from the traditional school of beer drinking. I am like you... that's why I will go back to belgium and germany anytime even though there's no snow or surf to speak of!

On a completely different subject - do you think I'll be able to find some decent bindings to fit my large size 12 boots in Hakuba this season? I remember you saying you've been, if i'm not mistaken....

I agree. Beer in Germany is so good, so simple basic and pure, so available and so cheap. Germany is the beer king of the world. The best thing is that all these varied types of beer are an everyday thing, like milk and bread. It isn't even taxed as alcohol and there are laws prohibiting shit beer! You can buy it almost anywhere, service stations, corner store... it is a part of life. If beer was all there was in life, I would never leave Germany.

Don't get me wrong, a cold Australian style beer is ok to drink coming off the beach or after a long drive or what ever. But I see it more as a cold bubbly alcoholic beer style of synthetic drink rather than pure good frothy beer. The best way to have good beer on Oz is to make your own, a rewarding hobby, I can tell you that much.

But sorry man, I don't know about Hakuba gear shops, I have been there but never in the town during business hours. It is likely that there will be less large bindings than medium, so your selection might be restricted. Best asking one of the Hakuba locals.

This is a surfing thread you blokes. Something as important as beer should have it's own thread.

My 2 bob's worth. Beers beer. I don't give a shit. I'd drink wet sand!

The only beer i can't drink is warm canned beer from the cupboard that my inlaws give me when I go over to England. It's just wrong!!

I don't care how many hundred years they have been doing IT.

It is not possible to drink warm beer, its like trying to eat cold porridge. Being served warm stubbies of crap lager in London bars was a regular event. When the mouth is crying for the sensation of cold crisp beer, there is nothing worse. You feel it with you hand and your heart sinks.

If I stay in Germany much longer then I reckon I'd struggle to drink Australian beer ever again. Like the people, Australian beer is all the same.

I met some guys in Fiji. They wouldn't talk to me because I could tell the difference between VB and Fiji bitter. Both are fake beer, but you can tell the difference. They blind folded me and I always got it right. They thought I was a snob because I even bothered to differentiate. How un-AngloAussieSaxon of me.

Are you sure that's why they wouldn't talk to you ?

About Beer: In myopinion beer should be served at what i call basement temperature 12-14 degrees. not colder than that. stomach pain and less taste.

Spud, where in Vaterland are you located?