Surfari

by Tim Baker

In a story for anyone who has ever dreamed of an alternative to the busy, micro-scheduled existence of work, school, shopping, and housework, surf writer Tim Baker and his family grab their surfboards and hit the open road  All surfers dream of shedding responsibilities and answering the siren song of the ocean swells, though for most, it is an ideal that recedes as family, career, and provider commitments overwhelm the wanderlust of youth. But surf writer Tim Baker decided to shelve the worldly pressures, pack up the family and a few trusty surfboards, and take a Great Australian surfing road trip. Inspired by the dreams of his youth, and in the face of looming middle-age, Baker and his wife Kirsten started in January 2011 from their home in Queensland, heading south down the east coast of Australia. Over the next six to eight months, they circumnavigated the country, as Baker documents the state of surf culture and the coastline, and the array of colorful characters encountered along the way. This is a lively, colorful handbook on how to trade your life for another variety, the delights and dangers that lay in wait for those who dare to chase their dreams, and how a family of four survive six months on the road in the close quarters of a four-wheel drive and a caravan.

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2011

About the author

Tim^^^Baker

Tim Baker has contributed to GQ, Playboy, and Rolling Stone, is the author of Go Surf, and is the coauthor of Bustin' Down the Door, Occy, and Surf for Your Life.

Reviews

[David Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both fascinating and monotonous.....

......just like long-distance journeys. An account of constantly travelling - setting-up, packing-down, and moving-on - always runs the risk of becoming repetitious and I don't think that trap is entirely avoided here. For periods of the book even the new locations don't seem wholly different from one another - but that is also the nature of this sort of travel. The rewards for persevering come from the discoveries of unexpected gems along the way; the people met on the road; how the family cope; and - most importantly - the very different facets of Australia (geography, climate, culture, history) between its Eastern, Southern and Western coasts. There were times when I could have given up on this book but, in the end, I'm glad I followed the Bakers through to the end of their journey.

[Steph Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the journey itself was one of adventure, unexpected interactions and events, family togetherness and reflective moments I struggled to immerse myself completely in the story. There were some real highlights to this Surfari and other times it dragged on a bit.

[Matt Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Baker's take on the the 'big lap' - the great Australian continental circumnavigation - is eons removed from the typical tour diary that many Brysonesque wannabes too often churn out. Instead he offers us a textured year(ish) long life journey. It teaches us plenty about a country whose idiosyncratic charms and natural phenomena are (quite bizarrely) too often ignored by its own inhabitants, but more than that it also offers a highly accessible and pleasantly honest warts and all account of fatherhood, marriage and friendship.

Rallying against creeping age, the rigours of parenting, and too many years spent clawing a buck as a sportswriter and magazine editor, and faced with the realisation that these time eaters had caused him to constantly put off plans for that one big surf trip, Baker decides to do it with family in tow. The kids are yanked from school, the Jayco is hitched to the car, boards are stacked on racks and off they go. What follows is includes less surfing than you'd expect for a book called 'Surfari', but surfers shouldn't be surprised - ''you shoulda been here yesterday' is a phrase heard often in coastal car parks. Happily though, we do ride some killer breaks in far away places, but even if they don't show on every page, the story remains rich and vibrant regardless. Instead of monotonous tales of tube hunting, we get splendid and rarely touched corners of our beautiful land described in exquisite detail, a multitude of eccentric and fascinating roadworn travellers sharing their own roadtrip stories, the challenges of modern family life laid brilliantly bare, and a kind of historical ode to surfer's Oz through the eyes of a man with a keen sense for the very real and deep cultural connection Australians have with its sea-edged perimeter. That's not to say its all salty 'Endless Summer' gloss. Punches are rarely pulled when it comes to the less attractive elements of our fair land, and Baker's keen eye, sharp wit and good humour in this context lift his tale to another level. All in all this was a pleasure to read, and it confirmed in my mind why Tim Baker is not only Australia's foremost surf scribbler, but quite clearly a thoughtful and skilled craftsman whose talents easily transcend the boundaries of his chosen field. Highly recommended. A quality read.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this. A perfect fit for the lazy days between Christmas and New Years.

[Woolly Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad!