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LITTLE AVALON. Or should that be "LITTLE ABULON" (thats French for good tucker)
Just south of the Avalon rock pool is a well known little surfing spot known as ‘Little Avalon'. A substantial little reef sticks up about 60m or so from shore, just inside the reef is a rocky gutter, foliaged by weed, then the shore line.
In my early days at Avalon, the intrepid would "attempt to body surf " a frantic left and right reef break, break is the operative word here. The break worked well / better at mid tide, waves would stand up over the small reef. You had to be quick and stupid or many abrasions were the result. It later became reasonably well known to the BOOGIE BOARD SET.
As an aside, an old mate, Adrian Partridge was dabbling in molded fiberglass, he made for me what was arguably the first "Belly Board" made from polyester foam and woven glass mat, red in color, and boy did I have some great waves on this rather abrasive surfing device. About 1958 / 9 I recon. "Bragging rights" will allow me to tell you that I caught several waves from the north point to right in front of the Surf Club.
Right that's out of the road, back to Little Avalon.
Very early my inquisitiveness led me to snorkel the gutter inside the reef, low and behold it was crawling with single shelled molluscs' or uni-shelled slug things, AKA; ABULON, Marine Snails, Mutton Fish, Pawa, Abalone, family HALIOTIDEA, genus HALIOTIS, bloody yum bloody yum. This exquisite marine edible had been introduced to me by my Aunty Kina Wharepapa during my school days. Traditionally you clean and wash the ‘muscle' then beat the crapp out of them to tenderize the very tough flesh, WRONG you dickheads.
Aunty Kina, (Kina, Sea Urchins, good stuff also), had the secret ingredient, Paw Paw juice. Soak the cleaned and sliced Pawa in Paw Paw juice or the crushed fruit. An hour or two, tender and flavored.
OK, what next, eat the bastards that's wot's next. It was a closely guarded secret, the Abalone gold mine. Rule #1; only take what you need, rule #2; keep it a secret.
And for me that worked, however Trevor Fuller a good old mate tells me the "plantation has been wiped out", oh well the bounty of the sea is our right to plunder, like buggery. Now just down the road was a Café, (?) Jack and June? Later Jimmy and Margaret Robinson Milk bar. I would take the cleaned Molluscs' to the milk bar, now here's the go.
Through the mincer, some chopped onion, salt and pepper, some bread crumbs, some flour. Make some patties and cook on the hot plate, make a coupla Abalone Hamburgers, procure a milkshake with 3 eggs and ice cream, go back to the Surf Club and fill yer guts. Cholesterol these days is down to 6.5, from 9.5.
I was a young "man" of 17 / 18, I had the "drive" of fully loaded lead "H" for hard pencil, and regrettably I had no ‘body to write to', correspond with, exchange notes with, or even shagg.
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