AFTER a couple of days of shooting promotional footage in Noosa with Bob McTavish last week, the one-time “mayor of Noosa” – well, at least its point breaks – and I thundered down the road to Alex Surf Club for a legends lunch in aid of Mark and Bev Skinner’s Board Meeting charity.
This is a wonderful fund-raising group put together by Alex Headland and Mooloolaba surfers to assist local families in need. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when we were introduced to the little four-year-old beneficiary from last year’s Board Meeting whose rapidly deteriorating quality of life had been made more bearable by the purchase of a mobility chair.
The lunch itself, hosted by John Charlton, provided a leisurely opportunity to catch up with old mate Mark Warren and have yet another dig at him for being the only member of the Bronzed Aussies promotional outfit who wouldn’t wear a black jumpsuit back in the ‘70s, and for both of us to take the mickey out of McTavish again.
But the greatest part of the afternoon, for me and I suspect many in the audience who know their local surfing history, was the reunion of the Hayden Surfboards crew from 1964.
It hadn’t been planned as such, but here at Alex, across the street from the old Hayden factory, 50 years later almost to the day they met, were the key elements of the place that turned out the finest performance surfboards in Queensland in the mid-1960s.
Bob McTavish, the shaper, Bob Cooper, the glasser, and Hayden Kenny the boss. Only sanders Algy Grud and Russell Hughes were missing, both dead. The survivors are all over 70 now, and Coops and Hayden don’t get much change out of 80, but sharp as a tack and as funny as ever.
Hayden, who was probably the first boardrider to surf Noosa’s points in 1957, went on to become Australia’s first ironman champion and a pioneer in helicopter beach rescues, as well as one of the greats of surfboard production.
Oh, and son Grant wasn’t a bad waterman either. Californian beatnik Coops gave up dope and went back to the faith of his family and has remained committed while raising a family and enjoying a highly successful business and creative career, and still surfing until very recently. McTavish is still the biggest name in Australian surfboards and the smallest guy in the line-up, not to mention one of the great characters of our culture.
It was an afternoon to remember, and a lot of money was raised for a good cause.
Apology
I want to apologise to the many readers who were deeply offended by my recent flippant remarks about brush turkeys and how I wished they would all die or at least go away. These were callous and uncalled-for remarks. Being a man of goodwill, of course I wish no harm to these or any other of God’s creatures that think they own the place and prance around ripping up your garden and crapping on your car.
Although I did make brief mention in my previous article of people eating them, we all know that the brush turkey is a protected species. I respect that, and they’re also very hard to catch. However, should one happen upon a recent roadkill – and God knows they’re not very sensible in the traffic – the following may be of interest, courtesy of Jamie Oliver, who says: “No-one will recognise leftover turkey once it’s jazzed up in this spicy chilli with attitude.”
Turkey con chilli
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large casserole-type pan on a medium heat. Add onions, carrot, leek, peppers and chillies, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes. Add coriander stalks, cumin and paprika, and cook for another 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently until soft and delicious.
Shred the turkey meat off your carcass and roughly chop it. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper to the pan of vegetables, then add the turkey and take the pan off the heat. Add tomatoes and chickpeas or butter beans and stir everything together. Pop it in the hot oven for two hours.
While that’s cooking, make your guacamole by blitzing one of your avocados in a food processor with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chilli and coriander. Take the chilli out of the oven and scrape all the gnarly bits from the edge of the pan back into the chilli for added flavour. Scatter over your remaining coriander leaves and some finely sliced fresh chilli if you fancy then get everyone to tuck in.
Yum!
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Sunshine Coasters take Coast of Origin
There wasn’t a lot of surf on offer last weekend, but just enough for Sunnie Coast to take out the World Surfaris Coast of Origin Series, with prize money going to local clubs. Special shout-out to Noosa Malibu Club who took out the longboard division with stand-out performances in most heats.
