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The Avalon Underground
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Author
John Witzig- Publication
- Surfing World (13.4) - Volume 13, Issue 4
- Year
- 1970
That there is nothing special about the little kids at Avalon is beyond dispute. They are any kids. At any beach. But they happen to be at Avalon. And they happen to be great.
Perhaps they're finding out about freedom and all the good things inherent in surfing.... or perhaps they're not. Perhaps they just like going surfing after school and before school.... and during school. Whatever it doesn't seem really to matter. Motivation and all those things don't seem to worry them too much. Kim just likes hanging in Ted Spencer's car.
* * *
I asked Jonty who was the Leader of the Avalon Underground.
"Me," he said.
There's Jonty, Kim, Peter, Carl, Stephen, John and Nigel—he makes the boards. They are all about fourteen. Nigel is perhaps a little older—he's probably the best surfer though some of the others seem to think that he knows it. Kim likes to hang in cars—other peoples. John likes—no that is too mild by far—is positively addicted to choo-choo bars. His mouth is usually black and he has the disconcerting habit of wandering past your car and lobbing a choo-choo bar through the window. Stephen is the quietest of the group—they all leave their boards at his place at North Avalon. Jonty is funny and little, but then none of them are very big. Jonty can glass too. Carl drinks ten cups of tea a night. Peter's father is a doctor. He hopes that Peter won't follow. He knows that his fourteen-year-old son reads the papers as thoroughly as he does.
Peter'II probably go to University.
Carl's father works at the markets. Carl will probably do the same—he likes the people and it will give him plenty of time to surf. His family have five dogs one cat and twenty bantams. Nigel has a dog that he sort of doesn't like and sort of does. His parents wanted him to join the Navy for seventeen years. He didn't think that was such a good idea.
Jonty lives at the castle—it's a wandering stone house on the ridge over-looking Avalon and Pittwater. Nigel lives amongst the trees below—the board shop is under his house. He did a board from a reject blank and the foam collapsed. It was watermelon coloured. He thinks he'll have to replace it. He does a lot of jobs for nothing. He builds nice boards but he's embarrassed about some of his earlier efforts. The shop isn't very big. It's small. About twelve by six.
Stephen rides one of Nigel's boards. He's nearly inhibited compared to the rest of them. They talk quite a lot. Quickly. Short disagreements. Fun fight-outs. A lot of the time they say some funny things—some of the time they say some very wise things. They all love surfing. Peter knew who St. John is. The others couldn't pronounce it.
They go to school locally and surf at Avalon, in the north corner when the wind is from the northeast, at south Avalon when the wind isn't from the northeast, and in the middle quite often. They go other places when people will take them—like the guy from Hornsby in the ute—"He's a good guy" said Nigel. He is open-faced and serious.
They sometimes go to Palm Beach in the bus. The conductors don't like their boards and sometimes they don't go to Palm Beach in the bus. Kim likes going to Palm Beach with Ted Spencer. Nigel says he doesn't like going to sit in people's cars.
John lives on top of the cliff above Little Avalon, "In one of those brand-new spanking houses." His father built it. He wants to be a bum, but Carl doesn't think that his parents will let him. Kim's ambition is to go overseas when he is seventeen and work for Rodney Sumpter. But he might make sandals. Really, he has lots of plans. They change pretty regularly. He works in the cake shop at Newport on Saturday mornings. He wanted to take the first morning that he worked off. Kim and John are friends. John's life revolves around getting a Ted Spencer "White Kite". If he does well in his exams he might get one.
Carl has been sick every time he has been to Queensland. Twice. To Byron four times. He knows that his mother knows that he gets homesick after two weeks. Her bakes are divine. Jonty's family used to go to Byron Bay a fair bit. That was when they were going to buy the "Black Stump". Now they go to Blackheath. He goes to Blackheath, but still goes to Byron and Yamba. He has a Wilderness surfboard. Peter and Nigel got to Noosa and Byron with Nigel's parents. Stephen's got at least as far as Seal Rocks and Kim and John seem to have made it up the coast too.
The wall at North Avalon is a special place. It's where everybody hangs. It had a sign stuck up there for a while. It said "North Avalon Happiness Sign". Nobody sits at the wall who isn't wanted. "Wanted Dead or Alive: Jesus Christ!"—that's painted on it.
The kids leave their clothes and boards there. In winter, they usually have a fire going. Kim is a good wood collector. Everyone uses the fire. Even occasionally Ted Spencer.
Carl has given up smoking. Some of the others haven't started and some have. Jonty has his hair long. The others would like to. The headmaster didn't like Carl's curls or Kim's fringe. It was Kim's pride and joy. He used to dread getting it cut.
Jonty wanted to get a lift home from the beach. "Aw, g'wan, Paul". In the back. "OK".
And so the leader of the Avalon Underground went home in the back of the bus.
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