Surfer My Story

This story belongs to Kirra and her Uncle Wayne.

It's a tiny tale about Uncle Wayne's life

and the things he used to do.

You watch this.

Look at those! Yee-hah.

Yogi... What's that?

Yogi?

There you go.

Now it's time for Uncle Wayne to share his memories,

and take Kirra on a journey of discovery.

Kirra and Uncle Wayne live on the east coast of Australia,

which is a big country

a long way from the United Kingdom.

Australia is famous for its many amazing animals -

cute koala bears,

jumping kangaroos

and the amazing birds!

Australia is also famous for its beaches

and its big, big waves,

which is great for surfers.

And Uncle Wayne is a surfer.

Look, he's standing on top of a surfboard

and he's riding the waves -

this is called surfing.

THEY LAUGH

Wayne is going to show Kirra his very first surfboard.

It looks very old, doesn't it?

So, Kirra, when I was young I learnt to ride the board,

and my dad made the board for me when I was really young

and I learned to ride the waves.

What's it made of?

It's made out of wood.

Look at these old pictures of Wayne

with his very first surfboard when he was seven years old.

Here he is having fun on the board

with his little brother Robbie.

Uncle Wayne's love of surfing and the ocean

came from his dad John,

who was a lifeguard on the beach in Australia.

Uncle Wayne's family have lived in Australia for a very long time.

They sailed here from England a long, long time ago.

The journey would've taken them several months.

Imagine being stuck on a big ship like this

for all that time!

Uncle Wayne's great-great-grandfather John

was actually born on the big ship

that brought his family to Australia.

Lots of people have been coming to Australia from the UK

and other parts of the world for a very long time.

Most people build sand castles on the beach,

but Kirra and Uncle Wayne are building a sand surfboard.

This beach is called Kirra Beach.

Do you know what's so special about this beach?

I'm named after it?

That's right! You're named after it.

And it's a very famous surfing beach.

-Did you know that?

-No. I never knew that.

Well, yeah. There's lots of good waves at Kirra Beach.

Look at those waves!

This beach is special to Uncle Wayne for another reason, too.

When I was about 11 years old

my father brought me here

and I went in a surfing competition.

My very first surfing competition.

What did you have to do in the surfing competition?

Well, you have to paddle out into the surf

and ride waves to the shore,

and whoever rides the waves the best

gets to go through to the next heat.

Uncle Wayne went on to enter lots more surfing competitions

as he got older,

and started winning trophies.

He learned how to surf bigger and bigger waves

and travelled the world entering surfing competitions.

I have won many trophies for surfing.

My most special trophy was becoming

World Long Board Champion in Japan.

Wow! It must be brilliant being a world champion.

Hey, Uncle Wayne, will I be able to jump on a surfboard?

Yeah, let's try that. That'd be fun!

Cool. A surfboard made from sand!

Yeah, you're on a wave now! Off you go!

Wooooh...!

Uncle Wayne doesn't just make surfboards out of sand,

he makes real ones, too.

Look at how brightly coloured they are.

Well, Kirra, this is Uncle Wayne's workshop.

This is where we make all sorts of boards.

We make long boards, and short boards.

Why are all the boards different sizes?

Well, people have different sized boards for different sized waves.

We make long boards for when the waves are small,

so people can have lots of fun.

Then the boards get shorter,

so we can do lots of tricks.

Surfboards have changed a lot over the years.

They used to be made from solid wood, which was very heavy.

People learned, by using lighter materials,

they could make the boards go faster.

They also added fins like this,

to help surfers control how they could move on the waves.

Sometimes when I build surfboards we paint them and put designs on them.

Would you like to paint one of the surfboards?

-Yeah, it'd be great fun.

-Yeah.

They are drawing their design onto the board first.

What colour are we going to do the wave?

-Blue would look nice.

-OK.

Now, put it on inside your lines, and paint the board.

That's a girl.

Good girl.

OK, that'll do. How about that?

What colour do you think we should paint the person, Kirra?

-Green.

-Wow, that'd look good, wouldn't it? There you go.

Kirra, you could come and paint boards with me any time you like.

Great!

Nice board, Kirra. Looking good.

Now it's time for Kirra's surfing lesson.

Look at the seagull.

You know, when I was a young boy,

surfing was a new sport in Australia.

How did you know what to do?

We'd watch other people ride the waves

and try to do what they did.

So, let's have a lesson.

-What do you think, Kirra?

-Yeah, it will be great fun.

-OK!

OK, Kirra, let's start this lesson.

First, I'll show you where to lie on the board,

then you can follow what I do, as I get back up. OK?

So get down on the board.

You lie on the board like that, OK?

You ready? Get down... and we lie on the surfboard.

Put your hands on the rail

and lie on the board like that. OK?

How does that feel? Is that good?

Maybe just go forward a bit more.

So we paddle, we put our hands out from the surfboard

and we paddle like that.

When we're catching a wave,

we put our hands on the rail there,

and we stand up slowly like that.

Put your back foot down, put your right foot down, and we stand up.

Whoa! How about that?

We're on a wave now.

And you ride the wave to the shore and then jump off like that!

There you go!

Well done, Kirra! You'll be surfing those waves in no time!

Nowadays, people surf in lots of countries around the world

including here in the UK.

But people started surfing on the islands of Hawaii

hundreds of years ago.

Hawaiian chiefs surfed big waves

to prove how powerful they were.

Surfing was made popular in Australia by a Hawaiian

called Duke Kahanamoku,

who won gold medals for swimming at the Olympic Games.

On a visit to Australia, Duke wanted to go surfing

but not many people surfed there back then,

so he made his own surfboard and showed people how to surf.

Soon lots of people in Australia knew how to surf

and love doing it.

Just like Uncle Wayne.

Nowadays, some daring dogs even learn to surf, too!

Woof woof!

Let's get back to the beach.

Wow, look at us!

We're ready to hit the water.

-Let's go, Kirra!

-Let's go!

Kirra is wearing a special wet suit to go into the water.

And there is Demi, the lifeguard,

just making sure everybody is safe.

Jump over those waves!

Good luck, Kirra!

Do you know how to do push-ups, Kirra?

Here, you're up on this little one.

Here comes the wave - she's on, and she's riding the wave!

Wow-wee! Fantastic!

Back out to sea to catch another one.

Well done!

Bit more practice, and you'll be as good as Uncle Wayne!

Kirra's back on shore with her daddy watching Uncle Wayne in action.

And away he goes!

Oh, there goes Uncle Wayne!

Look at that fancy footwork!

Here comes a wave.

And he is on his feet!

Uncle Wayne makes surfing look easy.

Oh, I wish I could go surfing in Australia.

Kirra, it's been great spending time with you,

teaching you about surfboards and all about the ocean.

'It was great fun.

'We blew some bubbles.

'We looked at your old wooden surfboard.

'We made a surfboard sand castle.'

It's looking good!

'We played in the sand.'

There you go.

'We painted a big wave on the board.'

Kirra, you could come and paint boards with me any time you like!

Great.

'Uncle Wayne gave me a surf lesson.'

So we paddle, we put our hands out from the surfboard

and we paddle like that.

Lay down at the back of the board.

'I went surfing.

'I caught some waves.

'I watched Uncle Wayne surf.'

Oh, there goes Uncle Wayne!

What's been your favourite part?

My favourite part was painting the surfboard.

That was great, wasn't it?

Remember we painted the little man on the surfboard?

He looked good, didn't he?

What was your favourite part?

My favourite part was when we were at the beach

and catching those waves!

Can I get a big hug?

What a fabulous heap of fun!

That was Kirra and Uncle Wayne's tiny tale

about being a surfer.

Now Uncle Wayne has shared his story with Kirra,

it's time for Kirra to start her own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?