IRISH
The Invitation
With the hype generated by the Aussie Tourist Council about G'days,
shrimp on barbies, Paul Hogan wrestling with crocodiles in the outback
of NYC, and all the fuss about sailing around in million dollar sloops, a
valid visa and a seat on the next Quantas jet outta town has become the
hot travel ticket. At the urging of Stephen Hill, along with hard work on
the part of his Hardcore Enterprises, I packed my bags to follow nine of
America's top skate pilots on a demo tour of Australia, the likes of which
had never been seen on those shores. Stephen and his partner/brother Peter
had secured affirmatives from people claiming to represent or actually claim-
ing to be Steve Steadham, Tony Hawk, Jeff Phillips, Christian Hosoi, Mark
Rogowski, Rob Roskopp, Lance Mountain and Alan Losi. Mark Gonzales
was also rumored to be in the area, vacationing in New Zealand, cribbing
with Kiwi skaters Gregor Rankin and Lee Ralph, and operating with a
passport that said he was twenty-eight. The last pro visit to Australia was
a demo swing by Losi in "85, which served to whet the ravenous appetite
of a healthy skate populace. Luckily, Al was returning and was able to alert
our tour group to the finer points of the Aussie lifestyle.
In a country where traditions die hard and differences of opinion are
sometimes dealt with on the street, the logistics involved in entertaining
a carnival of skate talent on a hectic, whirlwind, seven-day, three-city, five-
demo, multi-ramp, beach bonus, non-stop skate trot through uncharted
territory made the odds for survival anybody's guess. That was enough
to convince me to launch myself to Melbourne for the first leg of the tour.
Australian Rules
"This could scratch football off the sports page..." crowed MC Matt
Wilson to the enthusiastic crowd gathered around the Torquay public half-
pipe off of Bells Beach, an hour's drive from Melbourne. Coinciding with
the Bells Surfing Festival, which was blown out early on a slack swell.
the first demo played to an overflow crowd. The average age was 14-18,
excluding the many parents toting picnic lunches and enjoying a huge sale
at the Rip Curl shop, a board's shot away from the ramp.
Our gang was already settling into the rigors of life out of a suitcase,
er, rather, skatebag, since each of the travellers had arrived at the Mel-
bourne terminal the night before with no less than four bulging sacks full
of gear, skates, clothing, stickers (by the thousands), tapes, Walkmans,
Watchmans, video cameras, duty-free goods, and a wide assortment of carry-
ons that may or may not have been declared upon entry.
My welcoming committee was headed by none other than the human
spring himself, Mark Gonzales. While we waited, Mark treated us to some
lessons on driving down the left-hand side of the road-legally.
The first thing you learn about Australians is that although they work
hard, they don't like to work a lot. In theory this is fine, but they holiday
like nobody's business, more like "no business at all." (Continued pg. 61)
Right: "Move along or I'll have you pinched for
trespassing." Rob Roskopp taps off a street swell in
downtown Melbourne before a warning from a
bathrobe-clad resident. Sequence: Tony Hawk doesn't
need a contest to open up his bag of tricks. At Torquay
he showed no signs of jet lag as he repeatedly went to
the lip with tricks like this alley-indy grab
to nose pick.
Preceeding page: Christian skies
out for an overflowing throng at the Torquay
ramp during the Bells Beach surf festival demo.
Top left: Australia's skate spot map is dotted with many
council-sponsored public parks which were eagerly lapped-up
when the hectic travel schedule permitted. Starved for a carve,
Jeff Phillips ate up a well rounded feast of skate
terrain at the Geelong facility near Melbourne.
ON