Boardrider of the Month: Azza Graham

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If you’ve ever found yourself on a distant shore or in some strange and alien land, there’s one kind of person you’re almost certain to meet.

Australians are natural travelers. The walkabout is bred into them. You’d be hard pressed to find a true Aussie scrambling for a career job or jumping directly into a university after high school. After graduation, they’re pushed from their nests, set loose to traverse the globe and soak up an education of life.

For the most part, Australians are a polite breed and usually capable of performing tasks and undergoing trials that would make the average man recoil in fear. They’re also loyal friends and valuable allies. But they also drink like there’s no tomorrow, they leave no stunt or dare unchallenged, and have an uncanny knack for turning the most perverse of profanities into poetry.

Years ago, while on surf safari in mainland Mexico, I met an Australian who had just broken his board and I loaned him my 6’8” gun as I was on my way home. He was due to visit Florida after his Mexico trip and promised to bring it back. Not only did he bring it back, he moved in.

For three years or more, he worked, surfed, ate and drank his fill here in Cocoa Beach. He finally went back to his homeland, but still makes annual pilgrimages back to Brevard to see his friends and drink as many Busch cans at The Beach Shack as they’ll sell him. Usually on these visits he brings along a mate or two who soon become more like ex-pats than foreign visitors.

One such bloke, Aaron “Azza” Graham, is due in this month for a brief stay. Azza is as Australian as they come. He lifeguards at one of the most densely populated beaches in the world, Bondi Beach in New South Wales, just outside of Sydney. He’s a good dude and a charger of any size wave that comes his way.

So this month we’ve selected Azza for our Boardrider of the Month, not because he’s a hell-man in and out of the water, and not because he’ll steal our girlfriends and drink us under the table, but because he told me he’d punch me in the stomach if I didn’t.

So if you see Azza out and about, be sure to say “G’day.”

And it wouldn’t hurt to buy him a Busch can either…

How old were you when you started surfing?
My old man threw me amongst the waves when I was about four..

Where is your favorite wave?
Desert Point in Indonesia.

Where was your best session?
Cocoa Beach, 1-foot wind swell and 200 people on one peak. It’s still stuck in my mind.

Describe your dream trip.
Deserted island with a few mates, perfect waves and plenty of Busch cans.

What’s your favorite thing about visiting the states?
Catching up with all my mates from Cocoa Beach and drinking a load of margaritas.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
Slow N’ Low. They have the best ribs in the world.

What’s an Aussie’s best quality?
They love a beer and are pretty down to earth. They’re also very good at taming kangaroos.

As an Aussie, what are you most proud of?
Our country is so beautiful and untouched — it has amazing waves and beaches. To all you Yanks who havent been here yet, renew the passport and come for a visit. You want won’t to go home.

What would you say is the biggest problem with the States?
Crap waves.

With Australia?
Too many good waves.

What made you get into lifeguarding?
I think it was just a natural progression from surfing.

Describe a typical day on the job.
It can range from doing up to 200 rescues in a day, first aids, body retrievals, resuscitations, thieving and perving on lots of hot chicks. If you want to see what we do, you can watch our reality TV show on www.ten.com.au, and go to “Bondi  Rescue.”

What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you on a shift?
I paddled out to rescue this guy and when I got out there and put him on the rescue paddleboard, he was in the nude. It wasn’t a pretty sight. He had red hair as well.

What do you miss most when you leave the US?
Barbecued ribs, margaritas, Bennison’s barbecues, Busch cans, “The Woof Man,” the Cocoa Beach crew, the junk food, Slow N’ Low, and really cheap beers. Actually, I dont know why I ever go home. I love America…

Potentially Related posts:

1. Boardrider of the Month: Pete Hodgson
2. Boardrider of the Month: P.J. Byrtus
3. Boardrider of the Month: Loic Legallois
4. Boardrider of the Month: Keith Baldassare
5. Boardrider of the Month: Chris Osborne