Appreciating the Small Things
Photo of Avalon Starick at Currumbin Alley captured by Cisca Studio
Never did I ever think I would say ‘I want to move to the Gold Coast’. Growing up never visiting Queensland, I only knew this part of Australia by the theme parks and Surfers Paradise. I quickly discovered the ‘Goldy’ offers so much more than this stereotype.
Moving to the Gold Coast has been the best thing I could have done for my early 20’s. The sunshine, oh the warm sunshine, has filled my days with activities and warmed my soul. I love the active energy everyone radiates up here with the best part being able to surf basically every day!
One thing I was particularly stoked by was the epic number of female surfers who shred or are just willing to give surfing a crack. After travelling the whole east coast it’s easy to say that Rainbow Bay takes the cake for the most gals in the line-up. Growing up I always lived right on the beach and surfed occasionally but didn’t do it on the regular until about a year ago. It was one of the most intimidating things I’ve done considering I was learning back home or up the coast where it was a rare sighting to spot a fellow female in the water. The only other thing that might top the intimidation scale is fitting out a van and needing to buy tools and materials in Bunnings. I think a whole blog post needs to be dedicated to the scariness relating to male dominated activities. In saying that, surfing has become part of my every day, and I think working through that initial intimidation has well and truly built my confidence and shaped me into a stronger character. I know it would have been different if I had of learnt to surf at Rainbow with a bunch of gal pals supporting my every mistake, but I made it up here now and for that I am so incredibly grateful. I know I’m still learning myself but if I could give any advice to all those gals wanting to jump in the water but are a bit scared, is to just have fun and give it a crack. That probably kind of sucks to hear but I promise that just getting in the water and paddling, copping a couple on the head, falling off then popping up and laughing about it will build your confidence. If people see you smiling after being totally wiped out, they’re not going to judge you, they’re going to love that you’re having so much fun.
The endless hours I have spent surfing in the bath-warm water with no need for a steamer amongst so many others who are also floating in their happy place has been a dream. Living in such a magical place can never be taken for granted. Being this lucky must be appreciated in small ways every day.