The quest

On August 9th 2010 I turned 49 and entered my 50th year on earth. To celebrate or perhaps try to deaden the impact of this momentous event I decided to set myself a challenge - to surf 50 beaches in my fiftieth year. In my 49th year I had also set myself a challenge - to get fitter and to run the city to surf. On the 8th of August - the last day of my 49th year I achieved that.

There is a famous Chines quote that sits behind the motivation of my quest -"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Lao Tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC).

My journey begins with a single break - Smiths Beach on Phillip Island in the State of Victoria, Australia on October 3rd 2010. The day is a classic Spring day - about 22 Celsius, blue sky and a very light wind. The car park is full and the surf is small (about 2ft) but clean. I commence my quest with my 12 year old son, Sam who is starting out on his own surfing journey. We both catch a couple of waves - he in the whitewater and me out the back. I have a couple of classic wipeouts - yes, even in a 2 foot swell and this perhaps lets you know the level of my surfing skill. I do however get one great ride - down the face, gliding up and left and then shooting off the wave. For me, it's that one ride every time I surf that gets me back to surfing - it's such a great feeling. I also love just sitting out the back on my board and just sitting!!

At this point I have to add that surfing with Sam means going out to get something to eat. After our Surf we go to the cafe/fish&chip shop at Smiths and I have the best salad wrap I reckon I have ever have - it's a knockout. Sam has chips, a couple of calamari rings and potato cakes and he rates them about 8 out 10. All in all a good start to the quest.