THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM....
Heaven! Bliss!
An ecstatic cry.
Propelled by pure energy, clear waters streaming beneath me. Sheer exhilaration, all thoughts evaporated, totally 'being there' - pure being in that moment connecting and immersing with Nature, flowing with it. Bliss!
Suddenly, The world looked different.This was a high, a joyful experience that inspired me to drastically change my life, and send me on a quest seeking more of this addictive ‘blissful ‘experience.
But what was Heaven to me made life Hell for my parents.
I was born into a family tree dripping with a full crop of military heroes. A lineage full of military honors, a Danish Knight, Australians awarded for bravery - even The British Sea Lord in World War 2 was a close relative.
My father had grown up with such pride in our lineage he didn’t simply walk, he marched. I was to march in those footsteps.
“The Major” had visions of me parading around Duntroon, the Australian military college, with well- earnt honors. The battle plan: advance towards a distinguished military career.
But I didn't march down that path, a new path called me, I started focusing on and chasing waves...and bliss
Major Harry Ernest Chatfield Gjedsted. Served in New Guinea,Singapore, Malaysia, Crete,Cambodia. Awarded AOM
Alfred Ernie Montacute Chatfield, First Sea Lord,Minister for Co ordination
Defence, British Navy. My Grandmother's father.
My father's father. Wounded in France, healed and returned to fight in Bullencourt, where he was mortally wounded
Would I march in my Father's footsteps?
No way!
1949 - DID I CHOOSE WHERE I WAS BORN?
Home to the Mafia’s marijuana growing 'industry', Griffith is an Australian country town in the 'fruit growing' area'.
Was it prophetic I was born there? My parents would not have appreciated the irony, in later years I would joke about being "one of the biggest heads" to come out of Griffith due to my attraction to smoking ‘marijuana heads’.
We soon moved to Sydney near the famous Bondi Beach where as a toddler I developed a love for the ocean, screaming with delight, jumping in and out of, and even catching waves, loving the feeling of the sun and of sun-dried salt on my skin.
Abruptly, I was torn from the beach in another move to another Australian country town, Orange.
It was a very dry existence and being Piscesan, I felt like a fish out of water.
Fortunately, we soon returned to a quiet leafy suburb nestled amongst the wealthy streets of Sydney's North Shore.
We visited family friends at Bondi. In the son’s bedroom, like the icon in the opening of the film 2001, stood a beautiful gleaming
fire engine red surfboard. Like the ape in the opening of the movie, I reached out, touched the perfectly smooth finish, and felt a surge of excitement and a powerful sense of connection, destiny!
I felt waves of excitement as I studied his surfing magazines, projecting myself into the pictures of beautiful beaches, transparent waves, and surfers 'flowing' with the shape of each wave.
I had to experience this!
The surfing influence was starting to seep into the culture, 'Stomps' with live bands playing the new 'surf music' every- one ”stomped “ around mimicking of being on a surfboard. The new genre of surf films were becoming very popular.