By Annette Campbell
Amanda Williamson believes she’s found her key to being fitter, happier and generally healthier than she’s been for years.
So what is her magical, mystical elixir?
“I’m learning how to surf!” smiles this 33-year-old mother of three and police officer, from Jervis Bay, near Nowra, NSW.
“It’s so much fun and as a bonus I’m fitter too — and it also cures any frustrations of the day. I start feeling better the second I get out there.”
Amanda’s husband Warren, also a police officer, has surfed all his life and often encouraged his wife to join him, offering to teach her the fine art. Amanda has always shared his love of the ocean and was keen to give it a go, but there was no one to mind the kids, Tara, five, Casey, four, and Luke, three, while Mum and Dad hit the beach together.
So Amanda enlisted the help of a local surfing instructor, Tony Chapman. “As it happened, Tony’s wife wanted to learn too, so we did it together,” says Amanda. “My first lesson was a couple of months ago now and it was so much fun, but much harder than I thought … and exhausting!
“We learnt some basics on the beach at first — things like how to paddle, then stand. Then we went in the water and started trying to catch a few of the little broken waves in close to the beach.
“I started getting the hang of standing up … I actually stood up on the first day! Then, as my confidence grew, I went out the back a little further and started trying on the unbroken waves. I went again the next day and all the following weekend.
“I’d been a fitness freak until I had my kids, but I’ve done nothing for five years, so the day after that first lesson, I was sore through my whole body. It’s physically demanding, like you’ve just been to the gym for two hours, but you feel so good afterwards.”
Apart from the fitness boost, Amanda says she loves the feeling of wellbeing that surfing gives her.
“For me, having three kids so close together, when I can get a little space away, I think it makes me a better mother and a better coper,” she explains. Now Amanda’s keen to encourage us all to get out there and make our pipedreams come true.
“You’ve got to do it,” she says. “We all get tied up with work and motherhood, but it’s still really important we look after ourselves, too.”
Surf’s up …
To find a surfing school near you, look in the Yellow Pages or surf the Web.
Tony Chapman’s website is: [www.ucansurf.com.au
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