It is difficult to summarize the career of Matilda’s mid-fielder, Aivi Luik. She has done so much, achieved so much and had so many successes in so many footballing spheres that it is hard to get your head around it all. One of her most astounding achievements was the way in which she forced her way back into the Matildas team in 2018 after spending many years (and two world … [Read more...]
Battle of Palm Beach – the day the surfers stood their ground
These days surf life savers and surf board riders happily co-exist on Australia's beaches. In fact, many surfers are now serving members of their local surf life saving clubs. It wasn't always so. There was a time when the two tribes hated each other... and occasionally even came to blows. This fictitious yarn about a bad day at the beach is based on real events that happened … [Read more...]
Nothing ruins a good surf like a couple of blokes with automatic assault rifles…
A bad day in the surf normally means a nasty wipeout, a broken board, an argument with a thug, an injury (like a cut or a broken bone) or a selfish drop-in. In all your worst nightmares could you imagine a bad day in the surf involving blokes with automatic weapons turning up, just when the waves are good, to drag you away or worse? In this addition to the WAVES OF PAIN series … [Read more...]
The highs and lows of surfing Sunset Beach while competing at the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational
Rusty Miller has a surfing resume that very few surfers come even close to matching. He was the top ranked surfer in the USA in 1965, he was a four-time invitee to complete at the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational contest in Hawaii, he was one of the world’s most highly regarded big wave riders in the 60’s and he was reputed to be the first surfer to paddle out at the legendary Bali … [Read more...]
Still on the wing… (a life of music and rugby)
I reckon you could count the number of blokes that I have loved in my life (other than my brothers and my Dad) on one hand. There are some mates from my school days and one or two from the old neighbourhood where I grew up… and there was Al. Al wasn’t from the neighbourhood or from my high school. He was ten, maybe fifteen, years older than me and he came from New Zealand. I … [Read more...]