No Wrong Turns: How to Surf, by a Wannabe Surfer

by Kelsey Mulyk on

I believe the time people put in working, running errands, going to the gym and all the other daily stuff we feel we have to do starts to take its toll on how we live and think. This is a big reason why Tom and I decided to pack up and leave for a little while…to put things in perspective, do a bit of work on the road and to surf (ok…learn to surf for me).

My surfing experience is limited to three times…once in New Zealand, once in Australia and one time in Costa Rica where an encounter with a jellyfish put my surfing attempts on hold. But now, since we have stopped in the Baja and there are some good learning beaches, I have decided to dedicate a few months to surfing, though the extent of my abilities so far is to stand up on my board. I’m working on it.

A few things beginner surfers need to know and remember: it is not as easy as it looks. No matter how athletic you are, expect to fall over and over and over again; practice makes perfect. Coordination, decent physical fitness and sheer determination (stubbornness…call it what you will) to get back up and keep trying are ideal traits if you want to learn how to surf.

Get the right gear

Extreme beginners should rent a foam long board. These range from 9 to 10 feet long and are wider than most surfboards, which provide more stability allowing more opportunity for “newbies” to pull themselves up. Make sure your board has a leash to prevent it from getting away from you or from maiming some poor innocent bystander — drawing blood isn’t a good way to make friends.

You are going to be out there for a while so a wetsuit is vital. Keeping warm while you are battling the waves helps you focus on learning to surf instead of wondering why you can’t feel your feet.

Figure out your lead foot

Your lead foot is the foot that feels most comfortable in front when you are standing on the board. If you snowboard or skateboard you won’t have any trouble figuring out which foot feels more natural as your lead foot; if you have no clue ask for assistance at the surf shop. Or have a friend stand behind you and, when you are not ready, give you a little push…whatever leg comes out first to prevent you from falling is your lead foot. “Regular” stance is left foot front, while riding “goofy” refers to those who prefer their right foot forward. If you still cannot figure it out you just have to get out there and see what feels best to you.

Take a Lesson

From my meager experience it is valuable to either take a lesson or have a seasoned surfer walk you through the motions of surfing on the beach. Walking into the ocean without any idea of what you are supposed to do is a waste of your time and the surfboard rental fee.

How to stand up on your board

(Explaining this definitely makes it sounds much easier than it is.)

  1. Lie down in the center of your board with your feet just hanging over the tail end and your head facing the top (the “nose”) of the board.
  2. Grip the “rails” (the sides) of the board and push yourself into a “push up” position and drag one knee through your arms so you are in a crouching-lunge position.
  3. Use your front foot and push yourself up to stand.
  4. Try and stand with your feet about hip distance apart with your lead foot in the middle and you back foot closer to the tail end of the board.
  5. The most important thing you can do to keep your balance is to try and keep your feet around the center of the board.

Walk through these steps a few times on the beach before hitting the waves. After a couple run-throughs, pick up your board, strap on your leash, imagine yourself catching a wave and get out there. Though I would never call myself a “surfer,” in the past few weeks I have managed to stand up on my board. I am definitely not consistent but with a bit more practice I can only get better. I should warn you: once you start to get the hang of surfing it’s hard to think about anything else but getting back in the water. Oh yeah and one more tip from this wannabe surfer: keep your mouth shut when you wipeout.

Man used hedgehog as weapon

by Iva Skoch on

I have noticed that some of the quirkiest stories come from Australia and New Zealand. I wonder if it is because major news organization are run out of the UK and we all know how Britons like to tease those from down under.

This story is no exception. Although it was originally reported by the New Zealand Herald, the BBC now has it on their site. “A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon,” the New Zealand Herald has reported.

William Singalargh, 27, had hurled the hedgehog about 5m (16ft) at a 15-year-old boy. It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks. It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown, though it was dead when collected as evidence. Mr Singalargh is due to appear in court on 17 April. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

The police spokesman said the suspect was arrested “for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog.”

I wonder how long it will take TSA to add hedgehog to their list of illegal weapons.

Air New Zealand fumigates its passengers

by Jeffrey White on

I’m going to admit to a little ignorance about this strange story in the New Zealand Herald this morning, concerning an Air New Zealand flight yesterday that was fumigated with passengers still on board.

A man is complaining of a sore throat, and a baby caught in the noxious fog gagged and threw up.

Passengers were left with no official explanation for the spraying, but one traveler who spoke to the Herald said that one of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officers who carried out the spraying explained that the airplane had its “bio-security certificate” expire and thus needed manual fumigation.

The plane had come from Fiji and was fumigated on the tarmac of Auckland International Airport.

I can sum up my ignorance thusly: Just what is a airplane bio-security certificate? It seems to me that this is something particular to New Zealand; there is, after all, an official agency called the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Bio-security New Zealand. But then again, maybe this is something so common as to usually be ignored.

What doesn’t seem common is dousing a bunch of passengers with chemicals while they sit in their seats, covering their noses and trying not to breath too much. One man described the ordeal as like a sauna, only without the heat.

Next time your pissed sitting on the tarmac be at least thankful that the plane’s doors do not fly open and man in gas masks come on board.

No Wrong Turns: San Francisco’s Japantown

by Kelsey Mulyk on

Winding down the coast led us to San Francisco, which is one of my favorite cities in the world. It has a great vibe and extremely friendly people. The freeway was crazy but we managed to cross the Golden Gate Bridge into the city. The first night we decided to stay in a nice hotel, as it was my birthday (so we thought, but it was actually the following day, I guess we really lost track of time). I chose Hotel Kabuki, a Japanese-style hotel, for my so-called birthday treat. Tom and I lived in Japan for a year and I often miss the oddities that I discovered while living there.

The hotel is located in Japantown. Japantown in San Francisco is one of the oldest settlements of its kind in the US. It was apparently much larger at one point but after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were put into camps by the US government leaving the neighborhood vacant and open to others looking for a place to settle. Though many Japanese returned to the area it was never to be the same. The area has recovered well and offers a vibrant little community teaming with sushi restaurants, shops, izakayas, and all those cute characters like Hello Kitty.

Hotel Kabuki was nice though not very Japanese. The décor was an eclectic mish-mash of Asian cultures with a few Japanese traditions thrown in the mix. But the king-size bed and fancy sheets won us over in the end.

Oddly enough we ended up eating Chinese food that night, even though sushi was the plan. It was one of those nights where Tom and I performed the “I dunno where do you want to eat?” game for about half an hour before the hunger pangs were no longer bearable. Then San Wong’s popped up before our eyes and Chinese food suddenly sounded better than anything we had ever heard of. Trying to hide the growls escaping from our stomachs, we ordered seven or so dishes. I expected them to be the comparable to those at home but this assumption was way off. We could have fed my entire family, including my 17 year-old brother who eats anything that moves, with our meal. It was so embarrassing because we barely put a dent in our dinner. We both hate to waste food and did not want to insult the restaurant staff. To make matters worse I ordered noodles with plum sauce, which turned out to be noodles with blackish sauce, and a very…shall we say, distinct taste. I tried a little and Tom did too but it was not at all what we expected. So we did what anyone else in our position would do, we exploited Tom’s accent. He politely explained he was from New Zealand and did not know that dishes were so huge in America and apologized. The servers giggled and told us not to worry. Whew! If you are strapped for cash in San Francisco this is the place to eat. The best deal on the menu according to Tom….a gigantic bowl of steamed rice for a dollar.

“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.

How would your travel plans change if you won the lottery?

by Abha Malpani on

An Aussie backpacker won US$830,000 in a lottery after he impulsively decided to buy a ticket when he arrived to New Zealand. Before becoming a millionaire in Kiwi-land, the plan was to travel around the country for a few months, fruit picking on the way. “However, we will now be able to travel in a bit more style,” he says.

This story made me wonder: if I won the lottery, how would that change my plans?

Honestly, I’d still backpack. I repel 5-star hotels. Other than a luxurious bath, they really have nothing to offer and they make me feel like I am living in a posh, protected bubble that hides everything real the place I’m visiting has to offer. Paying a fortune for a clean bed makes no sense to me and often makes me feel sick.

This feeling was reemphasized lately when I went to Barcelona for work and I was put up in the Arts Hotel — the most expensive hotel in the city. Everyone spoke English, I was surrounded by every nationality except Spaniards, a measly and tasteless coffee cost me €5(!!), and there was no place in my vicinity (other than a grubby Chinese restaurant) where I could eat for less than €20. I would much rather have stayed in a cheap little hostel in the city center where I would meet cool people (who don’t have a pole up their backside or a $ sign on their forehead) and have access to cheap local food and bars where the Catalans hang.

So if I won the jackpot, I would invest some of the money in assets that would generate consistent revenue so I could spend more time more often on the road; the rest I would give to some cause. What would you do?