Scott Dillon has a Fountain of Youth philosophy
My surfing friend in Australia is Scott Dillon who owns a surf museum at Coffs Harbour, on the mid north coast of New South Wales – halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.
Scott asks the same question to me that Australian friends ask “What do you do in Taiwan”?
I answer: “Good food and very friendly people, plus it’s all different”.
Different it is. And there is nothing better than a complete change of everything in any holiday. Also I enjoy learning about Taiwan – the history, the culture and especially the variety and standards of cooked food.
Taiwan has an MRT that is 10 to 15 years ahead of anything yet to be built in Australia, same for the high speed rail. Sydney is planning something but plans keep getting changed so nothing is happening.
Australia could afford it – the exports of iron ore and coal are huge and are getting bigger as China grows.
Australia’s key problem is distance between towns and cities. Australia is huge and in many respects I see it’s still a frontier country. The cities resemble ghost towns to me when I return from Taipei.
Scott Dillon has seen many changes. He turns 83 this year. You’d think he was 33 by his talking and attitude to life.
Surfers love him. He’s the proof that nobody needs to grow old mentally.
Surfing is, anyway, all about eternal youth and a carefree spirit.
Scott would probably like to visit Taiwan with me, he said recently.
Meanwhile he’s off to Hawaii for a week in a beach high-rise apartment at Oahu next month, and taking a companion 1/3 his age.
This isn’t unusual for Scott. He’d be a good story for a documentary film. When he attends surfing functions, like a recent major one at Noosa Heads, Queensland, he had resort accommodation for himself and four young ladies all in their early twenties.
Meanwhile, I’m yet to see a decent surf wave in Taiwan. The typhoon’s should creature good surf somewhere?
Until recently Scott drove a V8 panel van – the trade mark surfing vehicle of the 1970′s. He still has the car but has a Mercedes as well.
Jan Li visited Scott Dillon’s Legends Surf Museum
