(A) Bernard Farrelly was one of the greatest of Australian surfers in history. In 1964, he became the first nonHawaiian to win a major surfing contest at Makaha beach, Hawaii. After more than forty years, by then fairly forgotten in this part of the world, (a) he happened to be passing through Hawaii with his wife, and decided to go back to the beach for a look.
(B) But the other surfer soon paddled over. “Hey, Bernard,” he said, by way of greeting, in his thick Hawaiian accent. The Hawaiian remembered (b) him, and they talked of times past. They talked of Bernard’s winning in Makaha, of the beautiful waves in Hawaii, of what had happened in the beach since. This, Farrelly was thinking, is the real Hawaii experience, not the stuff on the shore.
(C) “Hey, Bernard,” the man spoke again as there came a big wave, and he moved his own board well out of the way, “you take this wave.” It was classic Hawaiian culture, where giving what you have is always the first order of things. Farrelly thanked him and farewelled (c) him at the moment the swell rose to a roaring beauty. With the setting sun, he was surfing his way back to his wife. “That,” he told her, “was the perfect wave.”
(D) Things on the beachfront had changed a lot. The beach and surf, however, were as pure and magical as ever, so (d) he was eager to ride on the Hawaiian surf once again. While his wife stayed in the car, Farrelly took his board out. The further out he got, the more freedom he felt. In the gathering dusk, just one other surfer was there, a large native Hawaiian. Farrelly, an Australian visitor to these shores, kept (e) his distance.