And so it has carried on. The days have continued, never stopping even in the midst of trials, tribulations, challenges, pleasures, beauty – anything can happen, from death to birth and I feel as if it all has happened within these last 6 months. And none of the events, the occurrences, the people – have made time stop or slow down.
Roy (CSA’s national director, my boss, the man who lives in the flat above me with a beautiful wife & two insane blonde children) had an idea to do a Road Show, to travel up and down South Africa’s coast line – visiting Son Surf clubs, encouraging leaders, running surf competitions and showing Christian surfer films. As the planning went along, more and more holes began to open up, causing a hectic planning period far from the ideal ‘Road Show’ event. Everything, from no vehicle to massive waves, to awful weather, to a tight budget – created an experience I think none of our staff will forget: the first ever trial run for South Africa’s Road Show Tour.
Our first stop was Mossel Bay, a place known for sharks and a rad downtown vibe and great history. So we headed west on the garden route our team split into 3 different vehicles, with another vehicle headed east from Cape Town to meet us. We arrived in cold rain and mammoth size waves. Just in time though to head down the stairs to the basement of a local surf shop where we had our first event: a Son Skate jam session. I think we were all surprised and stoked at how well this event turned out, loads of kids with a couple great skaters who grinded the small ramp and a couple beginners who left snot stains at the bottom. With loads of skating and prizes to hand out we had a blast and then closed our evening with showing the groms the ‘Walking on Water’ dvd and launching CSA’s new ‘When a Surf/Skater gets saved’ promos.
The next day – the surf competition day – was cancelled due to messy, massive waves. So free day for the staff. Had sushi at a pub and a family-vibe night at the house we stayed at. The next day we made it to church, where Roy preached, then headed to the beach for some lunch, sun and surf before getting back on the road to head back to Jbay. And as we headed east, so did the rain.
A few days passed and we were back on that African tar, this time we had 3 cars – one, the one I was in, was myself and 6 men. So all seven of us packed like sardines made the drive to East London. The EL weekend couldn’thave gone more perfect, Friday night we had the opening function – with Janie Bay as entertainment and food and filling in on Saturday’s event.
Saturday the sun shone all day, giving us an American spring day in this south African winter. All day long the sun shone, the waves came in and the surfers had a blast, it was a perfect surf competition – with everything running smoothly and everyone smiling. That night we had the prize giving and the closing function, filled with coffee and chatter to top off the sharing of the gospel and the prize awards. A perfect day followed by a perfect Sunday – off to church (by the way this was a small local church with the entire back wall as a giant window which overlooked a beautiful river and large hills – a beautiful scenery to worship in) after church we had a relaxing Sunday afternoon, filled with naps, walks, surfs, and some rain just in time for our braai.
Monday to Thursday we called the Mdumbi Backpackers home. With tribal huts as our sleeping domain and a small café to keep us out of the noon rain.
I’ve been up South Africa’s entire west coast, up to the northern border – and it was indeed beautiful. And this, the eastern cape, the Transkei can’t really be compared to that, because it was so gravely different in sight and culture but it was indeed just as beautiful. We had to take our 4x4 up and through the back roads, through the gravel and dirt that was dispersed around the pot holes. Taking these barely made roads, we traveled through mountains to get to the top of the Mdumbi. There our backpackers sat, just barely separated from the local tribes and indeginous lifestyle that still exists there. In our little huts we could overlook the sea below, as the hills climbed on forever so did the swells in the ocean’s tide. Every day was full of surfing for part of our group and every night was full of conversation by the fire side that filled our indie, hippie wood carved café with smoke. And every night the stars came out to dance, so glorious and bright and innumerable.
So there’s the outline – just the outline as to what our little adventure of a road show looked like. But within this outline there were many things that happened, many and a plenty things that made this trip unique to the individuals on it and the people we met along the way. So next to come: some colour for this picture.
This picture was taken in Mossel Bay - just around the corner from where our surf competition would have taken place.
The roads we took through the Transkei to get to Mdumbi & the backpackers we stayed at
And this is where we surfed - and the beach I ran along in the morning - in Mdumbi
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