Surfer Girls Kick Ass

by Tiffany Manchester

  ‘Sure, why not?’ she replied.

  ‘Where did you have in mind?’ I asked hesitantly. I mean, I was just getting into a new rhythm here, and time was ticking towards the start of the season. ‘And what about all of our training and smoothies and salads and shit?’ I was going to need some convincing.

  ‘Gotta live life, Zozo!’ she said boldly. I was getting the sense that this invitation was non-negotiable. ‘Besides I’ve got a room for two nights at a hotel in Surfers, so I say we make it a bit of a staycation. C’mon, we’re just driving up the coast for a weekend. Stop being such downers!’

  ‘No way! How’d you score the hotel room?’ Kiko put the magazine down and met us at the counter.

  ‘Well, it’s a slight work trip for me. I have a lifeguard manager meeting, but was thinking of making it a mini retreat for the weekend. Plenty of time for fun, hey! What do ya think, Zo?’

  Of course, it wasn’t really a question. But even if it was, the answer was the same.

  ‘I’m in, ladies! But only on one condition. Dancing must be involved!’

  ‘Yeeeewwww!’ they shrieked simultaneously.

  ‘Ha ha! I’ll take that as a yes,’ I replied.

  But S was already pulling Patty Sils (Patron Silver) from the cupboard and pouring us tequila shots.

  ‘Cheers!’ we chorused, throwing them back.

  CHAPTER

  35

  I slept soundly that night, which was a surprise considering I’d let go of two sponsors (and the cash that came with them) that very day. I had expected to be awake, nervous and uncertain of my decision. But then again, tequila has a nice way of relaxing the mind, now, doesn’t it?

  I woke up feeling rejuvenated, and decided to go for a jog along the beach. It had been a while since I’d gone for a run on my own now I was working out with the lifeguards, so I was excited to cruise at my own pace to my own music.

  It was unexpectedly serene. I felt calm, which was weird. When am I going to start freaking out about dropping those sponsors? I wondered. As I walked the last hundred meters or so back to the house, I noticed Kiko on the beach doing her morning tai chi and I joined in quietly, following her movements until she was done.

  We walked back to the house silently, pausing to rinse off the sand from our feet under the outdoor shower. As we did, Seth came flying down the stairs.

  ‘G’day guys!’ He was smiling a big, bright smile. ‘How ya…’ He tripped on the second-to-last step and stumbled his way to the bottom, recovering beautifully with the help of the handrail.

  ‘Hey Seth! Nice skateboarding reflex!’ I wasn’t about to let him get away with that without making a comment, because both he and Sophie would have had at me in a second if it were me tripping down the stairs. He smirked and shrugged his shoulders ever-so-innocently, then followed us inside. S was already up, making our morning smoothies.

  ‘G’day, lil’ bro! Like some smoothie?’

  Seth accepted and I was happy to receive my share too, but not before taking the opportunity to tease her.

  ‘Geez S, one minute you’re pouring tequila and the next it’s smoothies!’

  ‘Oh you just wait till tonight, Zozo!’ She winked at me as usual.

  ‘What are you up to tonight?’ Seth asked.

  ‘Oh just heading up the coast for a lil’ playtime,’ S replied innocently.

  I chimed in, ‘Well, also because S has a lifeguard thing there. So we’re gonna cruise together and have a little staycation.’

  ‘Nice!’ Seth replied. ‘Hey Zo, did you know they have a bunch of really good skate parks in the area?’

  I shook my head. ‘No idea.’

  ‘Yeah, mate, you should check ‘em out. I’ll get that board for you.’

  ‘Cool thanks, maybe I’ll get the chance.’ But to be honest, I didn’t expect to be venturing to a skate park on my own.

  ‘Thanks for the smoothie, sis. That was tasty!’ Seth placed the empty glass back on the counter and stood to leave but Sophie had other ideas.

  ‘Hey, why don’t you meet us up there tomorrow? We’re gonna hit the clubs, and I’m sure there’ll be lots of pretty ladies there, hey?!’

  We laughed, but Seth didn’t care. Besides, he probably knew the ladies loved him. Maybe he was even proud of it.

  ‘I’ll see how it goes,’ he replied. ‘I have to teach in the morning, but I’ll be done around 11, so yeah, could be good times...’

  ‘You teaching those same kids?’ I asked curiously.

  ‘Yep, another guest session. I guess they had fun with me the last time so Zach asked me to do another one.’

  He made his way towards the door. ‘Righto, I’ll see you in a bit.’ And off he went.

  We loaded our surfboards and bags, and hit the road ourselves around noon. The Gold Coast of Australia was absolutely stunning, and sometimes I forgot how lucky I was to have ended up living here. This time, though, I took in the breathtaking beauty of the hinterland and glimpses of ocean as we followed the road to Surfers Paradise. I always felt a sense of freedom that came with being back in Oz – not just in the vastness of the continent and its unique landmarks like Uluru – but in the people, their outlook on life and how they took care of one another. Wherever I went, there always seemed to be someone willing to welcome me into their world, their home. Sophie’s family for one.

  ‘Earth to Zozo.’

  ‘Huh?’ I snapped myself out of it. S was trying to get my attention in the back seat, but I hadn’t heard her.

  ‘Sorry, I must’ve zoned out. What is it?’

  ‘Mate, you scare me sometimes. It’s like you’re off in a different world.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I am. I can’t help it. It just happens. But don’t worry, S, I always come back eventually.’

  Kiko was giggling in the front passenger seat.

  ‘You two! Honestly!’

  Kiko had tried to sit in the back seat before we left but I refused to let her. It seemed to me that she should sit next to her girlfriend. Plus, I didn’t want to feel like I had to talk to anyone. It was much easier to chill in the back.

  ‘We were just wondering if you brought snacks.’

  ‘You know it!’ I reached into my backpack and pulled out some chocolate almonds.

  ‘Will this do?’ I said as I leaned forward and dangled the bag in between their seats.

  ‘OMG, Zoelicious!’ S screeched.

  I handed the bag to Kiko and sat back to zone out again.

  We made it to the Hilton in about 90 minutes. It was a modern, four-and-a-half-star hotel only a block from the beach. The Australian Lifeguard Service probably gets a deal on hotels everywhere, I thought to myself. Either way… sweet! Kiko and I were pretty excited to check out the room, so we went ahead while S chatted with the front desk person, trying to figure out when and where she was supposed to meet people.

  ‘Let’s go, S!’

  She sprinted to catch up with us, still texting on her phone, and we all headed up several floors to see where we’d be staying. The room was epic. I had been wondering if it would be a tight fit for the three of us, but it was totally spacious! There were two queen beds, a cool living area, and a kitchenette. We even had an ocean view with balcony.

  ‘Damn S, you must be a bigwig to get this room, hey?’ Kiko was looking around mesmerized.

  ‘I dunno, Keeks, I think they’re just taking care of us. But we’ll take it!’

  Looking out at the ocean from the balcony I could see some lines rolling in. There were waves. They looked small, but it was kinda hard to tell from the 24th floor.

  ‘Ladies, I’m going surfing. Anyone else?’

  ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’ I’ve got a couple of hours before the first meeting tonight. Kiko, you in?

  ‘Um, well, you guys know I don’t really know how to surf, right? I mean, I
’m kind of a beginner.’

  ‘No way, more like beginnermediate!’ S said.

  ‘Okay yeah, well anyway...’

  ‘No worries, Kiko, we got your back!’ I tried to reassure her, like she always did for me.

  The waves were small but fun. It was mostly just beach break anyway. Despite being called ‘Surfers Paradise’, it was anything but paradise to a more seasoned surfer. But hey, we were all hanging out together having a laugh, so it didn’t matter.

  ‘Kiko, what’s this crap talk about not being able to surf well? You’re doing great!’ I was happily surprised to see her catch waves pretty easily, and even though she wiped out a lot, she still went for it.

  ‘Well, I can’t surf like you guys!’ she beamed back.

  ‘Well, we can’t tai chi like you either!’ I said in reply. ‘Why don’t you come over here? You need to sit deeper.’

  ‘Ugh…’ I heard her mumble.

  ‘No worries, hun, it’s all good.’ I said, realizing she felt uncomfortable putting herself in a more aggressive position. ‘S will block the wave and I’ll tell you where to line-up.’ She looked over at S who gave her the thumbs up, and then started paddling towards me.

  ‘Perfect,’ I said when she got to me. ‘Okay sit here and watch how the waves are coming in. See how they’re moving towards us at an angle?’

  Kiko nodded and I continued. ‘Okay, you want to watch them closely so that you can position yourself in the right spot. The conditions are pretty predictable right now, so look for the pattern and trust what you see. It’s like in tai chi. There’s a rhythm you follow, right? Well, it’s the same thing, but with surfing you have to adapt to a rhythm that’s constantly changing. Does that make sense?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess. But how do you find a rhythm in something that’s always changing?’

  ‘Well, yeah, good question. Change is part of the rhythm. You have to be attentive to how the ocean moves and fluctuates and pulses. Anyway, don’t worry about it so much. The waves are small so you can pretty much catch whatever you want and just go for it. I just figured that while we’re here together, I might as well try to get you some sweet ones, right?’

  S and I caught tons of ‘party waves’ together, goofing around and cutting one another off, being silly and having a good giggle at each other’s expense. After a while, Sophie and Kiko decided to go in, but I stuck it out for another 45 minutes or so, wanting to work these shitty waves and practice inside moves.

  ‘Working’ the inside means being able to maintain speed, do carves, and as many cutbacks as possible without losing momentum or falling off the back of what are generally small waves. It takes a lot of skill to do this, especially when the face of the wave shifts as you go down the line. Our competition in Brazil has similar conditions, and it’s an area where I could definitely use more practice, so I seized the opportunity.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t an encouraging experience. I wiped out. A lot! Even though I felt focused, I kept tripping on my rails, losing balance, and generally being awkward. It wasn’t good. With the first competition of the season just down the coast at Snapper Rocks, where there’s an amazing inside section, there was much work to be done.

  I got out of the water, trying not to let the frustration get to me, and reminded myself that this was the weekend of fun. It wasn’t the time to get down on myself – no matter what. Instead, I had to listen, listen, listen, just like Teo had said.

  As it turned out, Sophie’s ‘meeting’ was a social, happy-hour event on the deck of the hotel pool. She texted me and Kiko, ‘Bitches! Already done with the meeting. Now socializing at the pool deck. Come!’

  I was back in the hotel room with Kiko, and it took no effort to convince us to join her. Duh. We wasted not 10 minutes getting to the pool. And when we entered the deck, about 30 people, casually dressed, were mingling.

  Almost instantly, Kiko spotted S on the other side of the pool, and we headed over. The atmosphere was incredible. There were lights in all the right places. With the palm trees, setting sun, and fit, tanned, good-looking lifeguards littering the area, let’s just say it was worth the effort of a little lip-gloss.

  Sophie looked at Kiko lovingly before closing her eyes and planting a kiss on her mouth. The sparkle in Sophie’s eyes was something I had never seen from her before. It was obvious to me she was in love. Still not A-OK with the PDA, Kiko pulled away, but this time she giggled ever so slightly, acknowledging Sophie’s sentiments. It was sweet.

  I left them to it, and headed over to the bar to get a cocktail and hunt down a snack. Of course, I was hungry.

  ‘How you going? What I can get for you?’

  ‘Hi, Corona please, ta.’

  He stuck a lime into the neck of the bottle, and placed it on the bar in front of me, smiling. With chubby cheeks, deep dimples and big lips, he was awkwardly cute, I decided, even though his brow was dabbed with sweat and his white, short-sleeved collared shirt was looking rather damp.

  I grabbed a handful of nuts from a bowl left out on the bar top, turned around, and leaned back to people-watch. I’m not big into small talk, so I was happy to hang back and watch the action from the sidelines. It was quite a scene. As I looked at the lifeguard crowd, I couldn’t help but wonder, are they all living the life of their dreams?

  They certainly seemed happy. Then again, you never know what someone is truly feeling on the inside, no matter how they present themselves on the outside. I mean I must seem happy a lot of the time, but deep down, I had a lot of crap to sort out – crap that contributed to a fair amount of personal disharmony, even though most people wouldn’t know it by looking at or talking to me. I didn’t notice her approaching, but the next thing I knew, S was standing in front of me.

  ‘Hellooooooo! Zozo? Zoooeeeee!’

  ‘Oh crap, hey!’

  ‘Where were you just now?!’

  ‘I dunno, S, just off in lala land again. How’s things?’

  ‘Really great. Let’s go get dinner. We’re starving!’

  ‘Oh thank God!’ I downed that last mouthful of Corona, turned around and put the bottle on the bar, acknowledging the bartender with a smile.

  ‘Have a good one!’ He said with a charming grin.

  ‘Where are we going?’ I asked as we met up with Kiko by the elevator.

  ‘Just down the street. Apparently there’s a choice Mexican restaurant called Cheeky’s Taqueria with the best margaritas. What do you think?’

  ‘Oh hell yeah, I’m in!’ Honestly, I was ready to eat anything by then. But Mexican couldn’t have been better.

  The restaurant was more like a cantina where you order at the cashier, take your number, find a table and they bring you your food when it’s ready. It’s casual dining. And man, this place was popular! We had to get in line to order our food, while Kiko sat down at a table to reserve it for us. After putting in the order, S joined Kiko at the table with a free plate of homemade corn chips and salsa, while I sauntered over to the bar and showed the bartender the receipt with our drinks order.

  ‘A pitcher of margarita, please.’

  ‘On the rocks or blended?’ she asked.

  ‘Um, on the rocks I think.’

  This place was packed, but they seemed to keep things moving fast. They must have it dialled in, I thought to myself. Carrying the pitcher and three glasses while weaving around people to get to our table was interesting, but I handled it like a champ. The only time I spilled any of the margarita was when I was pouring it into the glasses.

  ‘Easy, Zozo, easy!’ Sophie cried out as margarita dribbled down the pitcher.

  ‘It’s the stupid ass spout! It’s not me, I swear!’ But as I laughed I was spilling even more.

  The drinks were delicious, and we discussed the weekend agenda until the food came. S still had a big day of meetings the following day, so we decided that tomorrow night wou
ld be our big night out, and we’d keep tonight low key. This suited me just fine, since when our food came, the portions were huge! Though the food was amazing and I was starving, I couldn’t even eat half of my meal. I had a fish burrito, which I swear was the size of a melon. It was covered in sour cream and filled with the goodness of local barramundi, beans, and rice. It was exactly what I needed to satiate the hunger.

  We all needed takeaway boxes, and as we walked outside into the warm air of Surfers, it was insanely congested with people wandering the lit up streets lined with bars and restaurants. I’d say it’s a cross between Disney World and Vegas. It was the perfect kind of chaos us party goers were looking for!

  Back at the hotel, S and Kiko hopped into their bed and I got in the other, the one closest to the door. We flipped the channels, eventually settling on some romantic comedy from the 80s called Can’t Buy Me Love. It was hilariously cheesy. But hey, a chick flick is a chick flick. Hard not to love, right?

  I heard S snoring not long into the movie, so I assumed they were both asleep. I spent a little time wondering, wandering in lala land, thinking of Teo and hoping I’d see him again soon. I must have drifted off soon after…

  CHAPTER

  36

  I snuck out for an early run the next morning, before the others were up. I ran about 5km up the beach before turning around to make my way back.

  The beach was quieter than the night before, but there were still plenty of people getting in their morning workout like me, or walking their dog with coffee in hand. Then of course, there were the late night stragglers who’d passed out on the beach, now stumbling around, slowly getting their bearings.

  I stretched as I cooled down after my jog, then decided to do a little meditation to finish off. I was feeling anxious about the start of the season coming up in only four weeks, and didn’t want that to get in the way of enjoying myself this weekend. Even though I didn’t really know how to meditate, what I did know was what Teo had told me: I needed to have patience.