Читать книгу Empire in Waves. A Political History of Surfing онлайн

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Kahanamoku’s surf riding was met with similar enthusiasm in New Zealand. At New Brighton, a coastal community outside the South island city of Christchurch, the Hawaiian was welcomed by a “great gathering of people, the pier and beach being lined with spectators, and the champion got a great reception.” Unfortunately for those present, Kahanamoku had to limit his exhibition to body surfing instead of “standing on the board,” as “the calm day had flattened the sea.”¹²⁷ Conditions in Wellington were more advantageous. There, recorded the New Zealand Times, an “unprecedented crowd” appeared at Lyall Bay “in anticipation of seeing the world’s champion swimmer . . . perform some of his famous feats on the surf-board. It was estimated that over 5000 were present, and the beach was black with people.” The Wellingtonians were not disappointed, “loudly applaud[ing]” Kahanamoku’s unusual aquatic “feat.”¹²⁸ Another display a week later left the “hundreds of onlookers” who had gathered to watch Kahanamoku “astounded . . . with his exhibition of surf-board riding.”¹²⁹ “There are numbers of high-class surf-shooters in Honolulu, and some white people among them,” Kahanamoku told an Australian journalist, “but, as with every other game, a few can do better than the great majority. It was with the few I delighted to be.”¹³⁰ In Australia and New Zealand, he in fact stood alone.