When:          Nov 1st thru Dec 15, 2002
Where:        All over Australia
Why:            To put on clinics, meet other footers, see the country, and have fun!

My father (Claude) and I met Matty and his father (Nole) at the ’98 Worlds in Sydney, Australia where we all became great friends.  During the 2000 Nationals I met up with Matty again and talked him into flying to Montana where I trained before the 2000 Worlds.  Matty then came to Orlando, FL where Gliding Soles originally started as well as to train and hang out.  I knew right there that I had an open invitation to Australia anytime I was there.  So, before I started my clinics I took a week vacation (Holiday) with Matty. 

We decided to visit his parents in Dulby where they own a 7,500acre farm where mostly wheat is harvested.  We drove through some rugged dessert three hours inland where there are more kangaroos then people.  I had to ask if it were possible to find some kangaroos and maybe go for a hunt.  It’s illegal to shoot kanga’s in Australia unless they’re eating your crops.  Nole said, “I don’t think we’ll be shooting any kanga’s but we’ll go find some and you can shoot some with your camera!”  Off we went early the next morning to find the rodent of Australia.  Most Aussie’s don’t care for kanga’s because kangaroos are pest in Australia!  Some roo’s will eat twenty percent of the crop in a year’s time.  As you’ll see in the *1st picture there bouncing through the wheat fields and all I can think about is that I want to get closer!  Nole said, “Hold on, there’s some roo’s over in that patch of trees mate!”  Off we went through some old crops and rough ground going 60kph.  Here we are bouncing all over the place and all I can see are trees and a wire fence next to us!  Nole says, “Here’s the bugger right next to us, can you get a shot?”  Just as I fired off four to five pictures he jumps right over the four foot barbwire fence and away he goes.  It was great fun chasing the roo’s in a little pick-up truck they call a Ute!  The other thing that’s funny about Aussie cars is that the El-Camino’s are the most popular.  The Ford’s and Holden’s (Chevrolet) are tricked out with huge engines.  The reasons these cars are so popular are because of the gas prices (98 cents per liter), which is just shy of $4.00/gallon.  Ouch! 

After a couple days on the farm we headed back to Brisbane so Matty could warm up for the wakeboard tournament coming up.  That’s right, Matty went from doing all four turns on his feet to putting a wakeboard on and mastering his own style of several inverted flips.  I took a couple rips on the piece of plywood a couple times but what I hated the most was skiing in the salt water!  Most skiers around the Gold Coast ski on salt water and tidal waterways just off the coast.  After the salt water gets into your mouth it becomes dry along with your skin.  The best thing to do is to bring Skittles or some kind of candy to get rid of that nasty taste afterwards. 

The weekend of the wakeboard tournament our mate Cory had a site picked out for us.  His parents own a 48ft. yacht where we tied up too for the night, which also gave us front row seats for the tourney.  Matty and I got roped into towing the slider out through the horribly rough waterways but the sites around us were beautiful! Matty ended up taking third in the tournament where all the best riders from Australia were competing.  Not to bad for an X barefooter.

I can’t forget to mention The Melbourne Cup, which is like Super Bowl for Aussie’s!  The Melbourne Cup is a huge horse race where the whole country takes off for holiday.  There are several races throughout Australia and on this day all the women and men dress up while going to their hometown races.  Matty and I decided to buy some old clothes at the Salvation Army and have our own means of “Dressing Up.”  Here I am with two ladies that wore unbelievably ugly hats.  These were not the only women with hats on like this because from what I could gather, whichever lady with the most beautiful (ugly) hat on won a contest.  Every lady had a huge hat on and the prizes for first, second and third were quit substantial.  Anyhow, I have to mention one of the guys we went with had a little too much to drink and streaked across the horse track, follow by   a police escort afterwards? 

We had to go to the casino afterwards because we were not lucky betting at the races.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Ocean’s Eleven that would be us in this picture.  Matty is on the far left.  Our deal at the casino was to put $50.00AUS on the Russian Rulet table.  Not just any table but on black at the first table we saw on the left side.  We walked up, put $50.00 on black on the first table on the left and crossed our fingers.  Watched the little ball go round and round with it landing on black!  We doubled our money and celebrated!  That concludes my first week of holiday in Queensland and now it’s off to Gizie and John Price’s house for the first clinic. 

This was a four-day clinic starting on the 13^th of Nov. till the 16^th.  We skied on a river connected to the ocean and again skied in brackish water (saltwater).  The skiers involved in this clinic were Ryan and Mitch Groen, Gazella Price and Cameron.  We footed hard for all four days on great water!  Very well protected area just South of the Gold Coast.  I only had to travel 30min. for this first clinic but it gets hectic after this.  Before this clinic we went to a small tournament that I attended where I met the second man ever to go off a barefoot jump.  Russ explained to me that the first man went off on his head and he was there to experience it.  When it was Russ’s turn he told me that he went off the jump, landed it and never went off it again!  He was happy and content with his accomplishment!  While at the tourney I spotted this unique handle that I had to get a picture of.  This toe strap was constructed in 1970 or there abouts.  It was made with real leather and is still surviving as well as still being used. 

If you haven’t heard of Gizie and Cameron you’ll see them skiing at the 2003 Sr. Worlds in Winter Haven, FL at Cypress Gardens early Oct.  They’re the best Australian skiers on the Sr. Team with Gizie, the only women in the world doing a feet to feet toe turn and Cameron doing multiple turns along with line backs and fronts!  It was a pleasure to work with them and can’t wait to foot with them in the future.  Ryan and Mitch Groen, sons of Freddie and Brenda Groen will also be skiing at the Jr. Worlds for New Zealand.  These two are coming up fast with a sweat private lake to ski on so they’ll be doing turns and jumping ski high soon!  Ryan is only twelve now completing turns on his feet and Mitch is only eleven doing back one foot wake crosses.  It was also a great experience for me to coach them because they are the future of our sport!

I was lucky enough to meet the great Brett Wing on my last day at the Gold Coast!  He was the one that paved the way for barefooters and invented several tricks.  Some of those tricks being the toe-up, toe-back and feet to feet toe fronts.  He’s the only barefooter to win three consecutive world titles and still show skis at Sea World of Australia!  I asked him how he feels while now being 43 years old and how his body was holding up?  He replied, “You won’t believe it but I feel like I’m still 20 years old and everything I do on the water feels just as natural as it ever has!”  I asked him if he’d be interested in taking barefooting up again to possibly ski in the Sr. Worlds and he replied, “I don’t think I’ll get back into barefooting but if I did I’d train for two or three years to make sure I was footing at my capability.”  Although Brett retired after only being 20 years old from the untouchable barefooter at worlds events he went on to becoming an accomplished three-event skier.  His nephew Joel Wing is one of the best three eventers in Australia and I got to catch up with him on my next destination. 

I flew out of Brisbane on the 17^th of Nov. going to Canberra, New South Whales.  Canberra is the capital of Australia where the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) is located.  Little did I know, I wasn’t just doing clinics there but also involved in tests at the AIS.  The AIS is Australia’s Olympic Training Center and we were being compared to all athletes from waterskiing to Olympic athletes.  The great thing about Australia is that their Federal Government stands being the barefooters due to the medal count at the past Jr.& Sr. Worlds and elite worlds.  The ABC (Australian Barefoot Club) receives funds for the year and I was lucky enough to be the spy from the states receiving Aussie funds.  We went through various tests like psychology tests, body fat tests, endurance tests, explosive thigh tests and several more.  I was mostly there to train the Jr. Team so we skied either in the morning or afternoons.  Many of the three event skiers were wondering what I was doing there so like I said before when I had to introduce myself I referred to myself as the “American Spy.”  They didn’t seem to like that so much! 

I was lucky enough to see and ski on the first World Barefoot Waterski Championship site.  The site was beautiful and we let the wakeboarders have that version of the river while we went to an even sweater spot.  Just North of the site was a 3mile long straight away where it was just wide enough to barefoot while on the boom.  The trees overhung the weedy banks where there was also no backwash.  I learned that the 2000 World Overall Champion (John Pennay) and Sharon Stecklemburg trained at this location for several years.  Quite an honor to be able to see the site that the best have trained on. 

As the week came to an end it was time to travel to Renmark, South Australia by bus for fourteen hours.  We left on the 22^nd of Nov. to travel straight West across the dessert and to hit a couple Roo’s on the way as well!  We arrived early the next morning and got some practice jumps in on the Murrey River.  The organizers of the event were Bart & Jack that operate “Footing Fever Barefoot School.”  Just so you don’t get any idea’s about two guys running a ski school Jack is actually Bart’s girlfriend Jackie.  If you happen to see her at the Jr.& Sr. Worlds make sure you call her by Jack because she does not go by Jackie!  I learned the hard way and I know she really doesn’t like it.  Remember, Jack!  These two put on a great tournament with the crowd exceeding 3,000 spectators!  Brenda Groen got an excellent shot at my first jump in the finals.  I’ll explain the tournament quickly and if you were a barefooter competing in this event you had your work cut out for you!  The skiers were Brett New, Peter O’Neil, Mike Taylor, Brendon Wright, Benny Greenwell, Freddie Groen (NZ), Jamie Burke (NZ) and myself.  The start dock was about 1,000ft. from the first turn that would line you up for the jump.  As you made that turn you’d have to stop tricking and get ready to go off the ramp.  From the start dock to the first turn you’d be barefooting in pure darkness.  After you landed your jump you’d have time for one trick.  You would enter darkness again and have a 180degree turn headed back towards the crowd and jump course.  You then could start doing more tricks through the backwash, as your goal was to get back to the dock for an additional 1,000 points.  If you completed this cycle it would’ve been a 1min. and 50 sec. ride.  Believe me when I say that your thighs, back, fore arms and feet were completely spent by the time you got back.  It was quite the trick, jump and endurance tournament all in one!   

I was the leader from the first round with a couple stragglers not to far behind.  The one to worry about was Brett New, the current World Jump Record Holder.  I new I could out trick him but he for sure could out jump me as well as jumping more consistently.  As he was first to ski before me he put the pressure on with the highest score of the tourney.  I opted to do all line turns before the jump and some quick tick-tocks but I ski rocketed off the jump for a crash in front of the crowd.  It was all good and I had a great time!  Brett New took 1^st, myself closely behind with 2^nd and Peter O’Neill rapping up 3^rd.  It was a cash prize event and I won $1000.00 AUS that converted to $500.00 USD.

I stuck around to do a two-day clinic on the Murrey River with Bart, Jack, Jamie Burke, Freddie and Brenda Groen.  We had some awesome water but the weather on the other hand made me thank Bart for having a bimini top several times.  It was windy, cold and raining all day.  Everyone learned something new and was ecstatic about what they accomplished!  Here are a couple pics of us:

From Renmark I got together with Martin Ayles out of Adelaide, South Australia and the one and the only Donna Schmidt.  Martin Ayles is a motivational speaker along with being successful in real estate.  If you’re interested in reading his book it’s called “You Need a Rocket!”  A reality check to really get your life moving!  This book explains what Martin has been through and how he motivated himself to work hard and get himself out of the hole.  Financially and emotionally! 

Donna, Martin and myself footed for two days but more importantly Martin explained to me that he didn’t want to get up early or ski really hard.  I was quite surprised but as we only had three people for the day there wasn’t a worry in the world.  Just good clean fun with no stresses!  If the name Donna Schmidt doesn’t ring a bell it will soon because she was the first woman ever to jump inverted behind the boat!  We’ll be seeing this young flame (or should I say bon fire) in the future!  She has more energy then anyone I’ve ever seen! 

We enjoyed ourselves fully and skied behind a Matrix.  This boat has such a beautiful wake with lots of spacious room inside.  Martin told Matrix that originally made inboard boats that we wanted an outboard Matrix.  They’ve come up with some different designs and this boat has the potential in being the next outboard Malibu!  The Matrix has more than enough speed with a flat, low wake and mid size gunnels.  If any outboard boat comes back to the states it will be the Matrix! 

It’s now mid noon on the 28^th and we’ve decided to head back to Adelaide to get refreshed.  Marti decided to show us around town and stop at a local pub to get a couple drinks.  I learned about the beer fast in Australia!  In Queensland they mostly drink XXXX!  Nobody in South Australia and Victoria drink Four X but what they like mostly is the Victorian Bitter (VB).  The light beer in Australia doesn’t mean it has less calories, it more stands for much less alcohol!  Well, we weren’t going to stay out too late because I had to catch a 6am plane to Sydney but once the cavalry moved in it was all over!  All of Marti’s friends came out and started ordering the shots!  I was feeling pretty good and it was time to go to the next club.  I was hesitant to go at first but when I went outside and saw the limo waiting for us I had to say, “Game On!”  Nobody new what I meant by that!  We took off across town to one of the best-known clubs in Adelaide where Marti had all the connections.  Skipped everyone in line and got in for free.  You can use your imagination for the rest of the story.

Flew out the next morning on the 30^th of Nov. not feeling very well but just made my plane to Sydney.  The hosts in Sydney were the Crouch’s or like Peter O’Neil calls them, “The Squats.”  I started the clinic in Liverpool, which the 1998 Worlds were held where I captured my first World Slalom Championship title.  There were four to five footers per day and I spent three days at this site.  We had awesome weather with lots of great talent!  The barefoot club in Liverpool have there own private boat launch and basically a private river where nobody else is allowed to ski on.  The skiers worked on a little of everything along with many jumps.  It was great to be back at this site because aside from winning the slalom event I clinched the Team Overall Medal for the US with my first jump in the finals.  After working with students there for three days we headed back to the Crouch’s to ski on their river with family and friends.  Here we are at 6am to get the glass water before the wallys come out! 

Left Sydney on the 3^rd to meet Peter O’Neil at the Melbourne airport.  We stayed over night at Pete’s parents house in Ballarat and got everything packed for the four-hour trip to Mulwala, Victoria.  We met up with all the Jr. skiers in Mulwala where the Elite Barefoot World Championships will be held in 2004.  The private lake is very similar to Terre Mere lakes in Houston, TX.  They are much longer lakes and owned by the Mulwala Ski Club.  Unfortunately we couldn’t use the lakes because of the serious drought that Australia is in right now.  The Murray River boarders the states of South Australia, Victoria and New South Whales and runs for several thousand kilometers.  We actually skied on the Murray River again but several kilometers East of Adalaide and Renmark.  The main run we barefooted on was in front of Gavin Williams’ house and factory, which is the owner of Intensity and Williams’ wetsuits. 

If our main run was blown out we headed down river to the “Secret Straights.”  This peace of water was found by helicopter and only outboards can get through the shallow and narrow waterway that leads to perfect glass!  It’s about a ten-minute trip through a stream just off the Murray River that nobody knows about.  It’s extremely dangerous to get though but once there it’s always worth it!  Everyone is looking for stumps just under the surface of the water while the boat driver is looking for that perfect line so we don’t get hung up.  It was like going through the jungle on an adventure to peace on earth.  The Secret Straights is shaped like a horseshoe so you always have perfect water.

The following day we ended up skiing back out on the river and just before everyone had there last set the boat suddenly died!  I take off the engine cover and inspect the engine but could not find the problem.  As we realize that cell phones don’t work out here it could be quite some time before someone rescues us.  Twenty minutes go by and how lucky are we to see the marine patrol pull around the corner.  He comes straight to us and asked if we need a ride.  Saved in Australia by the Marine Patrol, who would’ve ever thought!! 

We visited the Malwala Ski Club one night for a couple drinks and some excitement.  This will be the host hotel for 2004 Worlds and this isn’t your normal ski club!  The Malwala Ski Club is the largest club in the world by members!  One reason for the club being so large is that the whole town belongs to the club.  They have their own restaurant, bar, casino, show ski lake and private lake.  This will be the perfect venue for the worlds with the private lake only a couple kilometers down the road from the club and hotel.  We watched the ski show practice directly out the windows of the club while having a couple cold ones.

It was time for Pete and I to leave and head back to Melbourne but we decided that we had to make one last pit stop to visit an old foot’n friend!  Brett Sands, the wild and crazy guy from down under!  We stayed at Brett’s place on the 9^th of Dec.  The next morning we all got up and went to town in Brett’s boat for an early breakfast.  As we got back there were plenty of eager students waiting to go for a ski with Brett.  Pete and I had a four-hour drive back to Melbourne so we took off to go visit the other Brett, Brett New.  We arrived in Rye around 2pm, which is an hour South of Melbourne directly on the coast.  Met up with Brett and got the tour of the town on the coast where the best surfing can be found.  The shoreline faces the South where many of the strongest winds and waves come from.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go surfing because of the weather not being warm but there were also no waves.  Can never go to Australia without learning a couple new drinking games.  Here’s Peter and Brett after the drinking game.  Spent two relaxing days there and packed for my journey home.     

I was in Australia for almost a month and a half traveling from the Gold Coast all the way down the East Coast and over to South Australia.  Eighteen days of clinics, seven separate locations and many kilometers later it was time for me to go!  Australia is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and I encourage everyone to try and take a trip to the continent that’s down under, literally.  I’ve seen things that I can’t explain and things that I won’t explain but the memories and people will always be with me in my travels.  I thank the Aussie’s for the great hospitality, the open arm invitation and their great friendship!  Traveling can beat you down at times but in the end it’s always worth it!  I’d do it a hundred times over if and when I get the opportunity again!  Thanks again to my Aussie mate’s for a super and exciting trip!  Can’t wait to do it again!!  

KSO