National Treasures – First Surfboard (2004)
Synopsis
Warren Brown gets the lowdown from former world champion surfer Midget Farrelly on the first surfboard in Australia.
Curator’s notes
Surfing may well be a quintessential Aussie pastime but who introduced us to the modern-day art of boardriding? Warren Brown gets the lowdown from former world champion surfer Midget Farrelly.
He tells the story of Duke Kahanamoku, a champion Hawaiian swimmer, who showed Australians how to ride a wave at Sydney’s Freshwater Beach in 1914, using a board he built himself from a lump of local timber. Huge, heavy and completely finless, the first Australian surfboard has pride of place in the local surf club.
This is an episode from the first series of National Treasures, hosted by political cartoonist, columnist and history 'tragic’ Warren Brown. Brown draws on a fascinating mix of national treasures from public and private collections to give a snapshot of an historic moment and illustrate the uniqueness of the Australian experience.
The ABC broadcast National Treasures in 2004.
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