June 2021

Hi There Caddyshackers,

Ready for a winter pick me up?

Then let’s go surfing!

Don your wetsuits and embrace the cooler waters, swell is up and our surfboard tour is here to brighten your day!

Historically, we have been doing the surfboard competition tour for over 10 years.

You can view the gallery of our boards here.

We usually have 2 boards in a calendar year, one by a local Indigenous artist promoting sexual health awareness in the lead up to NAIDOC and one in the lead up to 1st December, commemorating World AIDS Day.

Dive back into the blog archives and check out the World AIDS Day boards from over the years.

We loved our 2020 surfboard by Local Aboriginal artist Lani B.

Aboriginal Surfboard 2021

This year, we are very excited to have a new, young and local Yuin Aboriginal artist onboard (literally) Lauren from Banggaada.

Lauren is a proud Wodi Wodi woman from the Yuin Nation on the South Coast of New South Wales. Banggaada means wombat in Dhurga language and is her totem. Lauren is also of proud Irish heritage and uses her art as a form of healing for herself.

What started out as a small endeavour for self healing, has turned into a medium and safe place where Lauren not only heals herself, but also inspires those around her to look after their own mental health and wellbeing. Her artwork is made to inspire those around her to connect to country and be proud of the land that they are on. Lauren’s artwork is a story telling medium and her Pop has always inspired her with his storytelling and has encouraged and uplifted her to tell her stories through her artwork.

Lauren is extremely passionate about the holistic approach to health and wellbeing, including sexual health. She is passionate about bringing more awareness of sexual health and wellbeing to her First Nations brothers and sisters across this land.

We met Lauren as we sat waiting to deliver an education session at Oolong House. The new smiley face from behind the desk started yarning and connecting with us. Once we heard she was back on Yuin country to focus on grounding herself and doing her art, we just knew we had to collaborate with her!

We jumped on her instagram page and fell in love with her awesome art and thought provoking messages.

Lauren will be designing this year’s Aboriginal surfboard and you can check it out at our stall at the Shellharbour & Shoalhaven NAIDOC events.

The NAIDOC 2021 theme is in – Heal Country!

Our long time followers will know how passionate we are at Caddyshack and are excited to see this theme emerge for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family, friends and colleagues.

This theme calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction.

“Country that is more than a place and inherent to our identity”.

NAIDOC.org

We encourage you to get out and attend NAIDOC events in your area and celebrate all that is culture and community.

Look for us throwing some Shucka’s (surfing term for hello) around this month.

See you in the ocean.

Until next time,

Peace, Love & Protection

x