Welcome back to Hang 10 with Birdie, where we catch up with friends Birdwell has made along the way, in and out of the water. In this edition we’re sharing a wave with Gold Coast native Ivy Thomas. Growing up in Coolangatta, minutes away from Australia’s crown jewel, the mind-blowingly perfect Superbank, Ivy was shortboard shredding at the tender age of 12, but it wasn’t until she borrowed her first longboard at 16 that everything clicked. Eschewing the competitive lifestyle for the pure stoke of it all, the 19-year-old goofy footer still lives on Queensland’s east coast, home to some of finest (and longest) waves this world has to offer.

 

 

1) Which three people, living or historical, would you invite to dinner? Why?

• Dusty Springfield
• Janis Joplin
• Patti Smith

Three iconic women from three different genres of music. They would have some insane stories amongst them, and I would love to learn about how they grew up. How their childhood and adolescent years affected which genre they would pursue as a career.

 

 

2) Where are you as you answer these questions?

• Sitting in my front yard, throwing my dog a stick.

3) If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

• Sitting at Rainbow Bay (my home break), drinking beers with my mates and watching the sun go down after surfing all day.

 4) Guilty pleasure?

• 90’s hip hop

5) Is there a day in your life that you’d like to live over again?

• A day in Costa Rica. Travelled by boat to an uninhabited island – a nature reserve.

 

 

6) What’s in your car trunk (or van or wagon) right now?

• When I had a car… usually way too many bikinis, towels, a couple of pairs of shoes, and wetsuits.

7) What’s your favorite word, or one you use all the time?

• ‘Hell yeah’

 

 

8) Best compliment you ever received?

• I was once asked if I was natural or goofy.

9) Favorite wave?

• The stretch of sand from Snapper Rocks to Greenmount, the Superbank, my home break.

10) Coolest animal you’ve bumped into out in the water?

• A group of big stingrays cruising around together. Was pretty surreal.