WELCOME TO THE CLUB
JOHN TOWNER HAS STARTED EACH DAY the same way for almost 40 years. On the “best beach in Australia”, the septuagenarian tackles at least three waves – it’s the official minimum – before hitting the showers and then indulging with a cuppa at the local surf life saving club. “We just look out on the beach, watch the waves and try to solve the problems of the world,” Towner laughs.
When he says ‘we’, Towner is referring to the Dingoes, a group of dedicated old salts who have assembled at the Gold Coast’s Currumbin Beach, bodyboards in hand, seven days a week, 365 days a year since 1982. They consider it a form of therapy – Towner insists each outing is worth two hours’ sleep – and there are no egos allowed. No wetsuits either. A few Dingoes succumb to wearing rashies during winter, but the choice is not without risk: “We take the rinse out of anyone who does that,” Towner explains.
Towner, or ‘JT’, is the Dingoes’ captain and a long-standing member of the Currumbin Beach Vikings Surf Life Saving Club. Before relocating to the Gold Coast and joining the club in 1976, he spent 15 years with the Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving Club on
