Surfing as a therapy to overcome stress and depression
When to go surfing in Sri Lanka?
I’ve spent my whole life in competitions. If you play competitively, you probably need a schedule. I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of the world but I haven’t had an appointment with two different coaches until now. Now that I’m going to join her, I’ve decided to make my own and I’m the only one doing it, it’s time. It’s not about competition, it’s about exploring, finding new paths, media, inspiring women, experiencing different lifestyles and doing Miami. Sri Lanka often gives the impression of having been lost in time, and in a way it has. The country has survived three periods of colonisation, a bloody civil war and devastating natural disasters.
Women working to change cultural norms for the next generation, feeding off surf food or Colombian fashion will be heading for trouble. Now I’m off to see Sri Lanka’s only female surfers, natashas, and then we’ll make the trip east and west to Arthur Bay but it’ll be sure to escape the crowds at a secret beach camp, we’ll cook and learn how to keep an eye out for cobra crocodiles and I’m happy to be here in the new black tone and meet Natasha Hofstra Lincoln – Allegiant, she grew up between the two countries and now that I was officially settled in the Shirlington car, Natasha is determined to normalise surfing for the women of Shirlington, she explained to me that it’s not necessarily taboo or frowned upon, but it’s still not culturally normal for women to serve. It’s become one of our personal crusades to change things for the next generation of women surfers who are losing ground.
How did you start surfing, at what age and why?
When I was growing up here, I was pretty much the only girl and my brother’s a bit younger than me, so we used to hang out together and we started hanging out with the Beach Boys, who were into surfing, so it was kind of thanks to them that we started doing it.
To really get into it, that’s probably one of the challenges you have, you have that look that says “what are you doing with a surfboard?” like women should do, not that they shouldn’t do it, but it’s not normal, so they think we can’t do it and that’s the main thing. I think the pressure of older, more traditional moonlighting family members often discourages girls from trying to serve, no matter how curious they are. That’s what Natasha wants to change. My goal is not for me, but for the next generation. the next generation of local women in Sri Lanka because nowhere does it say that we can’t wear a bikini and go surfing or that we shouldn’t be in the water. So it just needs to be normalised! Natasha told us she had a 15-year-old cousin who wanted to try surfing, so we took her with us and happily went to the beach. Natasha talented young artist was a natural in the water and got up straight away, it never gets old for me to teach someone how to surf for the first time and it was really special as we don’t speak the same language, but no need for words, it was just such a happy afternoon.
Just before dawn we swerved and dived our way at seven across the island after a coffee stop at sunrise. Natasha warned us to be ready for elephants, Sri Lanka’s wildlife is truly wild and a juvenile elephant living by the side of the road just a few hours away. A baby will prove it. Having grown up and become accustomed to being fed, young elephants were loaded and sometimes even given tranquillising drugs. But seeing these beautiful creatures in the world for the first time was one of the most incredible experiences. I wanted to hug them but I wasn’t allowed out of the car. In Sri Lanka we take the loudspeaker from the valet Morcerf, man of the Koran.
Many people describe Arigon Bay as it was 20 years ago and they’re not entirely wrong – the high street is lined with everything from Rudi’s stalls to guest houses to trendy cafes serving smoothie bowls and craft cocktails. Chats are the way to get around town as well as to and from the surf. In the early days, you could be a girl customer, seeing locals and tourists battling it out on often custom boards and burnt out buildings. A bay was one of the first destinations coveted by visiting surfers in the 70s. A craze that has continued right up to the present day, it’s easy to see why, right in town at the meeting point, a playful spot on the right that, on its best day, could well be the starting point for a surfing trip.
We stopped off at the Bay Vista Hotel to chat with Amanda Pereira during the Civil War, then fled to Italy where she spent most of her teenage years. She recently returned to the triangle to open the Bay Vista, a dream hotel, yoga centre and café. When did you start surfing? I started surfing about two years ago. I don’t know, in Sri Lanka, a lot of people are afraid of the ocean, they think that the waves shouldn’t be big, that it’s dangerous, so we made do in less than ten years, so you know, the pool and all that, an ocean in cubes… I love scuba diving, it’s the best feeling in the world, like flying, it’s like being in harmony with nature, and I’ve continued to do it regularly. There are so many girls in Narrogin Bay, with its big rocks, who now go into the water and get away from fear, like little girls, and I select teenage girls, who do the grouting every week.
And there are other girls who help them do things so I think it’s amazing, Blanca Tasha, she has high hopes for the future of Sri Lanka, and he’s happy to finally be home and part of the change. She hopes to see a lot of nyan shalinka goat only by me after a while. Natacha promised she would teach me how to make a traditional rice and petit dono curry, we will follow the instructions of uncle the tacit camp leader and some of the team who look after the beautiful property it was very nerve wracking, for me because my genetics skills are very limited. The next morning it was decided that we couldn’t leave camp without a quick session at the sacred point, we went down just after sunrise, the only people in sight were a few fishermen, it was small but you can’t go for an early surf session, such a fun experience as for me Natasha, you have to share. The shalinka was a hard place to leave, the warmth of the people, the beauty of the culture, the pool of scenery, it’s hard to compare with anywhere else going through jungles, cities and beaches, Natasha made a particularly memorable experience. A window into what life is really like in Srinagar. A glimpse of what the future might hold for Natasha Amanda and it’s positivity and strength despite the adversity Sri Lanka has faced for decades not centuries of colonisation war and natural disaster. It’s an overture to the country that speaks to the true resilience of the people.
