THE BRAUPS

The Braups now these were my main friends and still are today even though we are spread out all over the world. We did everything together surfed, partied and everything in between. We spent everyday we could on the beach and in each others homes on all the rest. We got up to all types of mischief and were always so close to getting into real trouble. We smoked weed and we partied hard and alot. The day we came up with our name I will never forget we were all together and stoned and when it came out it was just that is the name and it stuck forever. That and we wanted alt of money with motorbikes and chicks and cool stuff. Those were really cool days for us as alot was going on with our families that was not great and we all had each others backs. If you were ever around us you would never say we were friends we ripped each other apart and play tricks on each other all the time. I remember Zane and myself getting into a wax fight with this freakin crazy colourful wax called snake wax. It got so bad that we rubbed it into each others hair and it was funny at the time but not getting it out of your hair later. These guys were the Bomb in my day and will be my friends for life, they shaped me and even in the craziness of life guided me into alot of good stuff. Long live the Braups.

The older crew

The guys who were just a older then us were hardcore these guys did stuff nobody was doing. Guys like Charles Wilson, Craig Greening come to mind he was part of a guys made up of Gordon Turnbull, this guys surfed better than everyone and I think could have taken the world by storm. He did moves that others had only dreamed of, but he was crazy as was the rest of their crew. I remember getting a lift home with them once after a heavy night of jolling, they drove 100km on a freeway and were climbing out of the car, crawling over the hood and changing seats with the driver. Gordon won the Bear International surf contest and he won a car a week later he gave me a lift home in his new car but decided to reverse the whole way. These were some of the crazy things these guys did. They were always pushing the limits and sometimes they paid the price. But they were later the reason alot of us younger guys came though the ranks and pushed the limits. They were our inspiration at the time and they did things that just kept us all going these dudes are so crazy. There were others like Alfie Saville who was the clean cut surfer who landed a huge modelling contract and travel the world. He too could have become a great surfer he also surfed amazingly.

Some people part 1

The most memorable people that come to mind when I was growing up were all from around Warner Beach. First off was the Braups a group of surfers who hung together and pretty much did everything together. The way the name came about will not be revealed ever. But I will tell you more about the Braups later. There are a handful of guys who were older and kept us all inline. Back then if you did not respect the older surfers you would be buried in your boardbag in the sand and alot more. Alot was more painful and they kept you in your place not like today kids need to be slapped around a bit to keep them respecting there place on the beach. Then there were the older guys who would take you under there wings and push your limits in surfing. Mike Eaton was that guy when I was growing up I remember the waves were 6 foot and at 14 that was huge. He showed me were to jump off the rocks to get to the back and pushed me into bigger waves, this helped alot with my confidence in surfing. Then was the older crew of the Savilles, the Johnstons and of course Cheary, these guys ruled the beach and we looked up to them and they were the bomb to us. They were hardcore they surfed well they partied hard and were guys you did not mess with, of course we always messed with them and paid the price we were always running for our lives from rubbing Vaseline on their boards so they would slip off. They kept us in line but never over did it. There were always some guys who just lost the plot in the water and would throw punches and get beaten up. The one thing you could not do was come to our beach and mess with us we would then gang up on you and kick your arse. That is what localism was then. It was so hardcore that even when we moved to a neighbouring beach I would walk all the way to Warners to surf you would never change your local spot.

The Place

Warner beach was my local surf spot, the place we owned and loved. The place was amazing it had it all. There was a river running into the sea which we swam, fished ,tubed pretty much anything. Then there was the super tube it was awesome there was a hole in the fence so when it rained we all climbed though the hole and went bare bum down the super tube. There was a putt-putt course and of course a shop. The beach itself had two surf breaks the one to the left was called porpit and was a right handed break and it worked on a south westerly wind. The other was right which is called baggies and was a left break and worked on a north easterly wind and is pretty much the best break for me. It had a midbreak which you could get barrelled off your head. The rocks that separated the two breaks had a rock pool and when the swell was big would be the place we would hold on behind the wall as waves crashed over us. There were a few groups of people on this beach. There were the lifesavers would we called speedo kings and they have a club in the far side of the beach called Warnerdoone, then there were a group of surfers we called salt men that camped on a hill in the middle of the beach where there were no showers so they always had that salty look. There were the fishermen who all fished for a living and seemed hardcore. The ballies who were the older crew mostly parents and surfers from the past all pretty much cool dudes. There were all kinds of other characters that made up the crew at Warners

Surfing and the beach

The sports side and in my case mainly surfing is what and did and loved to do. The culture, lifestyle and all the amazing places you do surf in and around are the best. Its the complete package and when you want to escape from anything the sea is the best place to be. I started surfing when I was about 10 years old I had a busted arse surfboard, it did not matter to me as I was hooked right away by the power of the sea and thrill of riding a wave. I was always at the beach and loved being there. If we were not surfing we played 1 bounce which is a game played with a soccer ball and it could only bounce once between each kick. We played cricket anything we did we did it at our local beach. The sea was the best thing ever you could fish ,dive, swim or just sit and stare for hours as the sea rolled in, it was the life.

All the rest of the drugs

So have cover all the drugs I did except one which is from a cactus you might know it by the worm in a bottle of tequila it’s called Peoti or the common name is Mescaline it comes from the liquid in the centre of a certain cactus mostly found in the Mexican desert but it grows in other areas too. I only tried this one once and that was enough it has very spiritual way about it. The main thing about it is that everything to do with nature is brighter and more colourful while you are on it. The colour seems almost more amazing than they would in your normal sight. The rest of the man made things seem allot more faded and almost ugly in a way. The spiritual side is that when you close your eyes you would see Red Indian faces with all their feathers around there heads and not just me everyone that took this drug with me. So it seems that all who take it share a similar experience. I cannot tell you anymore about this drug except it are like LSD in that you sees things that are not there but it seems almost more peaceful and you are in an extreme sense of peace about you. Don’t know what the long term effects are but as with any drug there must be.
So that is about all the drugs I seemed to take there are others like I tried mandrax which sucked and then there is speed which today is known as TIK in South Africa but as Crystal Meth pretty much everywhere else. Tik is smoked now I just snorted it and it is wild it has very bad long term effects the main one is it is psychotic. Alot of kids are finding themselves in metal institutes and have incurred massive brain damage from it.

The E factor

Now we move onto probably one drug that has a quite but enhancing take on your mind and soul. Ecstasy or for short just E is one drug I really enjoyed taking because when you took it you could spend the whole night just dancing your arse off. I came from a metal and rock childhood and everything else was techno music until E came to town. I remember my first E was called a white dove and of course took it at a braai. This landed up being a big mistake as everyone else took Acid and here were me and a friend sitting against a wall for 4 hours just watching everyone. So to say the first E I took sucked is a understatement. But the next one was at a rave and that was crazy the music seemed to move though my whole body and at first you are a little weird but soon you don’t even care. The way the music moves you is amazing and you drink water and every touch is highly sensitive. But with every drug there is a down size one of the big downs to E is the next day you are totally wasted , you have no energy and the worse is you are super depressed. The reason I never took E again was I was at a rave and we had just arrived we had taken 2 E’s and when I walked onto the dance floor I looked up. The black figures floating above the dance floor freaked me out, they were swirling above everyone dancing and they were shooting down into people then back to the ceiling . I was so freaked out that when I went back to the guy I came to the rave with and said we need to go he just turned and we left. I don’t know to this day if he saw what I saw or if the look on my face convinced him. I never took E again I think I saw into the spiritual world and it was not the side I wanted to be a part of.

Effects of LSD

LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide), commonly called "acid," was discovered in 1938 and is the most powerful known hallucinogen - a drug that radically changes a person's mental state by distorting the perception of reality to the point where, at high doses, hallucinations occur. Although it is derived from a fungus that grows on rye and other grains, LSD is semi-synthetic. It is chemically manufactured in illicit laboratories, except for a small amount which is produced legally for research.

The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken; the user's personality, mood, and expectations; and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug 30 to 90 minutes after taking it.

Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

Users refer to their experience with LSD as a "trip" and to acute adverse reactions as a "bad trip." These experiences are long - typically they begin to clear after about 12 hours.

Appearing first are physical effects including: numbness; muscle weakness and trembling; rapid reflexes; increased blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature; impaired motor skills and coordination; dilated pupils; and, occasionally, nausea and seizures. One of most noticeable signs is laughter, often at things that aren't particularly funny and often uncontrollable.

Dramatic changes in perception, thought, and mood occur shortly after the physical effects. These may include:

* vivid, usually visual, "pseudo-hallucinations" that the user is aware are not real

* distorted perceptions of: time (minutes seem like hours); distance (hazardous if operating motor vehicles or standing near balcony edges); gravity (sensations of floating or being pressed down); the space between oneself and one's environment (for some, a feeling of oneness with the universe, for others, a feeling of terror)

* fusion of the senses (music is "seen," colors "heard")

* diminished control over thought processes, resulting in recent or long-forgotten memories resurfacing and blending with current experience, or in insignificant thought or objects taking on deep meaning

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Then we started experimenting and to this next drug were anything but a freak show would be an understatement. Hello LSD gee this stuff is wack it really takes your mind and blows the top of your understanding way off. Acid for me even though I did it quite a few times is the most evil drug I have ever done. It starts off all like hey wow and ends off with they are all after me the world is going to get me. One funny time we all took acid I remember is the next morning I somehow have the ability to go to sleep when I want too this night or should I say early morning I woke up to go take a leak. I heard these voices I recognized in the garden, it was the guys I had gone out with the night before, they were hiding from each other in our tiny back garden and they thought they were at war. I can still remember hearing how serious they were as they pictured themselves in a real war. The things you see on acid explain alot about how some of these okes get their ideas for movies it’s out there. This drug also brings out your worsted fears or your biggest pleasures and unfortunately you don’t get to choose. Seen some people totally lose the plot and freak out which lands up making everyone there freak out too. If I had to some up this drug it would be a drug straight from the pit of hell.

Crazy days

The drugs got worse and I don’t care what other people say but but smoking weed it not the root of all drug taking it’s alcohol. The reason I say this is because I never wanted to take any heavier drugs than weed but when I got drunk boy I would take whatever there was going. I remember the first time I snorted coke was one night after I had been drinking heavy and a friend of mine asked do you wanna do a line. Well why not heard about it and now that I don’t have any kind of fear now I dive right in and that was the start of my snorting ways. Coke never was a big thing to me it was fun and you talk the hind leg off a donkey but it was ok. I could never understand guys who were addicted to coke and wasted so much money on it. Coke and dope became the norm and we pretty much did it whenever we could and it was crazy. Again we pushed the boundaries, we were in a pool bar in Cape Town and there were these wooden shelves to put your drinks on. No not us we had to chop lines and snort coke right there in front of everyone. Crazy days man!!!

Interesting Article

Is marijuana addictive?

That has been the 64 thousand dollar question! And, the answer to that question seems to ride solely on the chemical co-dependence theory. From time to time, I’m sure you’ve heard someone ask; is this substance addictive or that substance addictive, right! The list could go on and on couldn’t it? Well, to answer that question, nothing is addictive but any substance or activity can be used as an addiction! In other words, people choose addictive behavior, and there is a primary reason why they do. Have you ever wondered why some people can smoke pot, use a drug, or drink alcohol and walk away from it yet others can not?

If these substances were in fact chemically addictive or caused a chemical co-dependence by attacking key receptors in the brain, wouldn’t everyone who tried the substance once become addicted to it? The answer is yes! But, that doesn’t happen –EVER! However, the chemical co-dependence model has become a common methodology, which has been perpetuated by our own government agency the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA.) If you visit the (NIDA) website you will find countless CT scans displaying the chemical effects of psychoactive substances on the human brain. Now, I am not disputing the fact that marijuana, drugs, alcohol, nicotine and other substances do chemically alter the brain, however, so do other innocuous substances such as sugar and salt. And furthermore, that chemical alteration is not the root cause of the addiction and nor does it prevent addiction recovery.

The Root cause of Marijuana Addiction

I believe there is a common denominator or root cause of every addiction. So, whether you’re addicted to marijuana, drugs, alcohol, sex, food, or gambling, they all have a common thread. Plain and simple, the root cause of addiction is the emotional scars caused by family dysfunction. Patterns of verbal, sexual, and physical abuse, along with absentee parenting and substance abuse cause emotional trauma. This emotional trauma results in low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. As an addiction recovery coach, I have never experienced a single case of addiction that wasn’t rooted in family dysfunction – not one!

The Effects of Marijuana

There has been a great deal of controversy concerning the classification of marijuana as a drug. Is it a stimulant, a depressant, or a hallucinogen? Unlike most other substances such as cocaine, opiates, and alcohol, which are classified as either stimulants or depressants, marijuana seems to be quite unique since it exhibits the effects of all three classifications. The major psychoactive chemical in marijuana is called delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Therefore, as the level of (THC) rises, so does the strength and potency of the pot. Even though marijuana seems to induce mostly hallucinogenic effects, it also causes stimulation and depression. The effects of marijuana can vary from one individual to the next, but if you’ve been smoking pot, I’m quite sure you understand the changing dynamics of the experience.

Initially, there is a stimulating and euphoric effect that elevates heart rate and blood pressure. This stage is frequently followed by a hallucinogenic phase where some may experience impaired vision, delusions, and even paranoia. And the final phase usually results in a mellowed or somewhat depressed state, which often exacerbates anxiety and depression. This may seem to be counterproductive since most individuals using marijuana habitually are doing so to cope with anxiety and depression. However, for some the former euphoric and hallucinogenic benefits seem to out way the later depressive phase.

How to Quit

OK! I’m not going to mince words here. Will power has nothing to do with quitting. Absolutely, unequivocally nothing at all! If you really want to quit smoking pot you’re going to have to face the issues that are causing your anxiety, depression, and emotional distress. Fix the root of the problem and smoking pot will become repulsive to you. Start by examining your history. What types of dysfunctional patterns have contributed to your emotional pain? Were you verbally, physically, or sexually abused as a child? Were you forced to parent your siblings or worse one of your parents as a child? Or, did one or both of your parent’s abuse alcohol and drugs? How have these patterns caused your anxiety, depression, and/or low self-esteem? Once you uncover these negative patterns, you must take the action necessary to liberate your self from them. This is the foundation required for empowering yourself and restoring your self-esteem, which is a vital component to addiction recovery. Let’s face it! If you really felt a strong sense of self-worth would you be engaging in self-destructive behavior?

Regards,

The Addiction Freedom Coach

For more information on how to overcome your marijuana addiction subscribe to my free 40 page e guide below…..

Part 4

In those days it was still known as a loser thing to do to smoke dagga. So it was all very under cover and secretive, this also being a draw cards to being involved. People looked down on smokers of the herb and we looked at them and just thought you guys don’t understand. You were not just included in our group if you smoked weed and even in the group there were smaller groups. It was all a very involved network and we felt like we belonged. I can still remember the days we would be out surfing and when one of us got out the water it was a sign that it was time to light another one. If you were not quick you would miss out and then you would be straight will everyone else was stoned. The beach life as a kid was great and I loved surfing and I loved belonging to something. My family life was not the greatest and by the age of 11 my parents were divorced and it was just me and my 3 sisters and my amazing Mom. I say this because she brought up 4 kids on a sectaries salary and we never went without food or roof over our heads. So I grew up pretty quick without a father, but for me life was better without my Dad there was peace in our home and till this day my sisters are all amazing woman. Just a bit of backround of my home life as there was one in all of this. I was now the man of the house and even though it was along time before I should have been it was time.

Part 3

That was a long time ago and this was the start of many years of my friendship with the wacky weed. Times that followed were all about taking more risks when doing the deed. We even started to smoke weed at school and then even in bars and we never seemed to get caught. Of course there was never any planning we just did it. I remember once being in Durban at a popular club and there was about 5 of us sitting at a dark table near the dance floor. We broke a bottle and made a bottle neck right there. I can remember the bouncers running all over the place and looking at everyone but nobody knew it was us crazy days. There were many days like this and we became close friends and our main connection to each other was Mary-Jane. We ate certain foods to deal with the dry mouths and we even started growing our own dope in and around our houses. We were young we surfed and we smoked weed and the world was a beautiful place to be. We all came from different places in life some had money so as myself had very little but we all stuck together.

Part2

I remember just before i took that first pull of the joint that i was finally doing it and at the same time a nervous excitement about the illegal side of it. I heard the whispers of all the others and the fear that went with it. There we were sitting next to the railway tracks the cool night breeze blowing around us all waiting to see the effects of what we had just taken part in. Nothing we all felt normal, all except the pro of course. He casually said “ nothing ever happens the first time you smoke”. So we got down immediately to doing this a second time, again silence consumed us, every now and again the sound of the smoker coughing and spurting. Suddenly as if something had taken over our bodies and the laughter started, uncontrollable we laugh at nothing and could not stop. We went down to the beach and just continued to laugh and laugh. I have never laugh so much before and been so paranoid at the same time like someone was watching us and following us. I will never forget that night the start of 14 years of smoking weed. The night ended and I was so nervous to go home because everyone would know so i stayed over at a friend of mine.

The start of all things

This is where it all began in a small town on the south coast of Africa . I was part of the surfing culture and smoking weed and surfing just went together back then. My first time I tried Durban posion was when i was 13. There was about 6 of us first timers and we had got all ready for this very nervous experience. It was Friday night and we were ready to take the step so many older surfers had already taken. Per pressure had nothing to do with it it was time to do this.
After alot of debate we decided the train track was the safest place away from any cops. There we were 6 kooks and a pro smoker.