01x09 - Sharks in the Mind

[bunniefuu]

[rock music)

♪ Ah-ah, ah-ah ♪

♪ There's too much choice and not enough time ♪

♪ To find what's mine ♪

♪ Aiming for your head, get down ♪

♪ You're the only one in town ♪

[gentle music)

- Hey, man, was that a set, or was that a set?

- That was a set all right.

- Yeah, go girls, I told you.

- You guys k*lled it this morning.

- So what else is new, Edge?

- I think we beat you guys again.

Wanna take us on, Edge?

What? What is it?

- Did you touch my leg?

- No, I said the baby bear.

- Don't mess with me, Heath.

Did you touch my leg or not?

- Edge, I did not touch your leg.

- What is it, what can you see?

- Shark!

[tense music)

- What did he say?

- He said there was a shark.

- Vee-us.

[tense music)

- It was like, I dunno, being felt up

by a wad of sand paper.

- And you actually saw it?

- I don't want think how long it was,

three or four minutes just perusing really.

- Um, Matt heard you, didn't he?

What's he doing?

- Is he nuts?

[rock music)

- [Matt Voiceover] Come on little heart, down you come.

No need to beat so hard.

Not going to release fear hormones.

Because fear is the strongest perfume on the planet.

[rock music)

See, the fish know what's the go.

- What the hell you doing?

- Making sure I didn't look like a turtle

til I figured out if there really was a shark down there.

- You are nuts, aren't you?

- I would have been the last one

out of all of us to get the chomp.

You're wearing black and white.

Lots of contrast makes it easy for the shark to see.

A kilo of jewelry, flashes in the sunlight

looks like silver fish scales.

The rest of you were splashing about

like a herd of injured prey.

So, I got off my board because sharks eat turtles.

And from below, your board with arms and legs paddling

on either side can easily be mistaken for a turtle.

Anyway, so I went down, and I had a look,

the fish were calm

and they would have been jumping out of their skins

if there was a shark about.

- What do you mean if there was a shark about?

I know what I saw.

Are you gonna carry the can if we don't report it

and one of them ends up being dinner?

- So, four meters you say?

- Oh, easy.

I'm telling you we were less than meters off shore.

No waves, it was right there with us, I felt it.

- Surfers some times start up rumors

to keep the crowds at bay,

keep the waves for themselves.

- I heard Edge's voice when he first came in.

It was full of adrenaline

which made it go all high and squeaky

and I don't think he can fake that.

[rock music)

- Application for marine biology.

The Melbourne Preparatory College?

[scuffling)

Come on, spill ya guts.

- I'm applying for a scholarship

at this school in Melbourne.

They got a really good marine biology course,

kind of like a preparation for uni.

- Okay, I get it.

But, I don't get all the secrecy.

- I dunno.

I mean I wasn't sure how Deb and Simmo would feel

me already applying for a plan B,

in case I didn't get one of the WQS spots.

- Would they care?

- Might think it shows a lack of commitment or something.

I don't want them knowing, Heath.

- All right, I hear.

- I've got an interview before school tomorrow.

They're sending people down to interview the Sydney kids.

So, yeah, it has to stay between you and me.

My father's been a commercial fisherman

for the past years

and has specialized in crayfish harvesting

for the past years.

- Hauling crayfish is all well and good

but marine biology is a scientific field of endeavor.

- I was going to go on to say that

during the last five years, I've been sending data

to the National Marine Authority

on the King Island ecosystem.

Um, I've got summaries here of the findings,

I'm not sure if you're interested in having a loot at them.

[rock music)

- Wow, you look like you didn't sleep a wink last night.

- He had dreams of the fleshy submarine.

- Oh, the men in gray suits.

- How about Mister and Mrs. Great White?

- Yeah, laugh it off.

You'll be sorry when you're trying to surf on one leg.

- Bec, you're the local.

Have you heard about any shark attacks here?

- No, the beaches are netted to stop sharks.

- Which sucks as a solution.

For every shark they stop,

they k*ll a bucket load of other critters

like dolphin, dugongs and turtles.

- You are spending way too much time Matt.

- Guys, we training this morning or what?

- Ah, we thought training had been canceled

because of the shark.

- Oh, so now it suits you there's a shark?

- Um-hmm.

- What shark?

Three meters, eh?

It's only a little one.

- How'd it go, the interview?

- Mildly confident.

- Hey, Matt, your dad called this morning.

He said he'll be here this afternoon,

depending on whether or not the tides in the trip.

Something like that.

- We haven't had a shark round here for ages.

- So, you heard about the--

- Yeah, I heard.

- [Girl] So, no surfing til the life guards check it out?

- But, there are other surfers out there.

- Yo, Heath, those guys aren't my problem.

I can't afford to have any of you going out there

getting munched, I'll lose my job,

or at least get in trouble.

- And, Matt, in future, if someone makes a shark call,

you don't stay out to check out if it's true.

- Do you know how long I've been waiting for a morning off?

- About nine weeks.

- Exactly.

- Okay, everyone, don't get too excited,

there is a plan B.

- Ah, see they like plan Bs.

- Now I know you've all been paying out on Edge

for being spooked,

but the truth is, there's probably something

that spooks you all.

So, this morning's mission is to talk about

what freaks you out the most about surfing.

Maybe it's being held under

or being speared by your board

or maybe it's just fear of failing.

Now some fears are healthy

and they should be listened it

and some might be the very thing that's holding you back.

[groaning)

- That's me.

It happened to me when I first started surfing.

I didn't go back in the water for six months.

- So, that's Fly.

- I don't want to be a copycat,

but it's the same for me.

I had that kite boarding accident in Germany.

I got dragged under for longer than I want to think about.

- Good, that's good.

- So, the rest of you keep thinking until something

rings true for you too.

[heart beating)

Maybe it's not even a surf,

maybe it's just something that makes you feel uneasy.

We can try and work out whether there's real fear there.

- So, I was thinking, maybe Edge and I

can run you over to the marina to meet your dad

in the rubber ducky?

So you don't have to schlep on the bus.

Maybe we can sneak in a quick skurf along the way?

Huh, what do you reckon?

[rock music)

- So, you checked with Simmo

that we could use the Ducky, right?

- Oops, I forgot.

We'll check first thing when we get back.

So you want to go or drive or skurf first?

- What do you reckon?

- Wow, you got a serious case of the ah, ooh-hoo.

[splashing)

Know what I reckon?

Even if the shark has come round the peninsula,

I'll be going too fast to get jumped, eh, Matt?

- Great theory, Heath.

If you don't fall off.

- Me, I don't fall off.

[motor revving)

[pounding rock music)

[laughing)

Yeah!

Woo!

- I swear he's the biggest goose on the planet.

[shouting)

Matt, you all right?

You look a little weird.

You don't get seasick do ya?

- I do, actually.

- I thought you said you used to go out fishing

with your old man all the time.

- I used to spew every time too.

- Bummer.

- There it is.

[rock music)

[laughing)

- What happens if we actually catch something?

- You reel it in.

- I'm no touching it.

There's no way I'm touching a live fish.

- What if we catch a shark?

- Trust me, the chances of us catching a shark

with these tackle, are next to zero.

- Who taught you all this stuff, anyway?

- My dad.

We fished together most weekends.

- You spent weekends with your dad?

- What's wrong with that?

- My dad is the ultimate in embarrassment.

He tells the same awful jokes all the time.

He insists on talking to my friends

who don't want to know about it

and his clothes are so s.

- He sounds perfect.

- Try living with him.

- What about Matt?

He lived with his father on a fishing boat for weeks,

just the two of them.

- How bad would that be?

- He might have liked it.

- He didn't look too thrilled this morning

when he went off to see his dad.

- Whoa.

[rock music)

- I'll put the kettle on.

Tie up over there.

Hello, hello, hello.

- Hi, Dad.

Ah, Dad, this is Heath and Edge from the academy.

This is my dad.

- Hey, call me Ewan.

You too.

Well, you look all right, bit skinny.

- I'm fine dad.

- So, tea all around?

- Ah, they've got to get back.

- Really?

- Yeah, thanks anyway, we just came to say hi.

- Thought I'd get to pump you

about how Matty's really doing

whether he's holding his own.

- Ah, he's doing weller than holding his own.

- Eh?

So, he's future's all sun up.

- Yeah, whether he's star of the marine biology college

or master of the universe on the world circuit.

I reckon he's got it pretty sussed out,

whatever happens.

- You guys need a hand pushing off?

- Naw, we're all right.

[gentle music)

- My old hat, my cutting gloves,

favorite sick bucket.

- Still a chunderer after all these years?

So, how's it going?

- [Matt Voiceover] Do you think you'll be coming home

at the end of the year?

- How's the competition?

- [Matt Voiceover] Have you got a hope in hell of winning?

- What about the other boys, are they pretty good?

- - [Matt Voiceover] Cause if you've got no hope of winning

I can ask you outright,

do you think you'll be coming home at the end of the year?

- So, a strange thing just happened.

The guy here at the marina's offering me a really top deal

to trade in on a bigger boat,

a two-man boat.

And if I buy it now, I'll manage somehow to get it back

but if I wait, the deal will pass,

it will be out of my range.

Yeah, so it's a risk either way.

Buying it or not based on whether you're gonna

win this thing and disappear off to Hawaii

or who knows where or whether you'll be coming back.

- I wish I had the answer, Dad.

Know how to read them?

- I wish I could, son, I wish I could.

Last thing I want to do is put pressure on you.

Maybe I'll head over and have a natter with your coach

in the morning and see what he thinks.

And it will give me chance to see you strut your stuff

at the same time.

- [Girl] This is insane, Heath.

- I told everybody I needed the bathroom.

- [Girl] You didn't say the girls.

- Have you smelt the boys?

Anyway, I said I needed it for two hours

and two hours ain't up.

- [Girl] Well, tell that to my bladder.

Or my teeth which would like to be brushed

before tomorrow.

- You know in some countries

where they don't have tooth brushes,

they chew on the end of a stick

to make bristles.

[light music)

Oh, I can't believe you've all gone to bed now.

Ah, get in.

- Hey.

- Hey, your Dad doesn't know about the scholarship,

does he?

That even if you don't get the WCT spot,

you have no intention at all of going back to King Island?

- No, I don't want to get into it, all right?

It's more complicated than that.

But, yeah, I guess that's it in a nutshell.

- You don't say.

Hey, look at this.

- Two A.M. every morning.

And it's five degrees and you're wet

and your hands are so cold you can't even feel

the cray shells cutting into them.

Nothing in there.

By the time your back and unloaded,

you've already been working six hours before school.

And the smell.

- Well, fishing isn't for you.

What's the big deal?

- Nothing there either.

The boat is for me, that's the big deal.

My dad's been working his guts out since I was born

so I didn't have to start with nothing.

- Great, so you inherit something which isn't for you

and which is guaranteed to make you spew?

Well, I think our work here is done.

Sweet dreams.

Hey, anyway,

you can say good-bye to that WQS spot

as your ticket out of King Island

cause I've already bagged that one.

- Talking in your sleep already?

- But that scholarship, that's something different

all together.

That your dad needs to know about.

- I probably won't get in anyway.

- Yeah, right.

[rock music)

[laughing)

- I'll be taking apologies this morning.

So, ah, if you guys would like to make a queue.

- Very sorry I doubted you, Edge.

Still don't know why the fish were so chill.

- Forget the fish, stick with the sorry bit.

- [Girl] Can I have a look?

- Matt, carrier dropped this off for ya.

Now the lifeguards are doing another sweep of the beach.

So, Deb wants to do another session of that fear stuff.

- I got in.

- Cool.

[motor humming)

- Okay, guys, let's do this thing properly

or we can all do sand running til the beach is safe.

So, yesterday we talked about Anna and Fly's fears.

Did anyone come up with something else over night?

- I tried.

But, I kept coming back to the shark thing too,

so I guess it's something I really do think about

every time I get in the water.

- Good, so what comes up for us

when we talk about sharks?

Edge? You just had the big scare.

- [Edge] I dunno, being k*lled.

- [Deb] Fair enough, you have a strong survival instinct.

Matty, you had a chance to think about anything yet?

- Um, no sorry, I haven't come up with anything.

I'll keep trying.

- Now, what about you, Heath?

- I'm scared of going nuts and turning into a bum.

Well, not really the bum bit,

but the going nuts.

- Don't want to freak you, man,

but I reckon it's too late.

- Edge.

- I can think of something to do with surfing

if it makes it easier.

- No, that's okay, if that's your fear,

then that's what we'll work with.

But, we've run out of time today

so, none of you are off the hook yet

and we'll do more with this tomorrow.

[gentle music)

- Guess you gotta face the music sooner or later.

- So, he's not at the head of the pack

but if he puts his mind to it, he can still get there.

- So, if Matt's this far behind,

will he still actually be able to win?

- Well, it's early in the year, but there's not a doubt,

he'll have to stay completely on track.

[phone ringing) - Excuse me.

Yeah, g'day.

Okay, I'll be down to look it in half an hour.

I appreciate your time.

- No problem.

- I have to go and look at the boat.

We'll talk about all this later.

[mellow music)

- Just leave it, Heath.

- But-- - No buts, all right.

Did you see the look on his face?

The disappointment?

Did ya get a taste of what it's like?

- Yeah, okay, so the disappointment is a k*ller

but he's about to go off an buy something

based on a complete lie.

- Well, you can stop fretting about my dad's future, okay?

I've thought about it and I'm gonna pull out

of the scholarship anyway.

- You're what?

So, you're gonna go gut crayfish

and freeze your noodles off for the rest of your life

because you're too scared to tell your old man the truth?

- First of all, you don't gut crayfish, all right?

Second of all, you don't know what it's like.

You don't know what he did for me.

After my mum left, he did everything.

- Yeah, well, that's great that he did,

because he's your old man,

he's meant to, it's part of the gig.

And that doesn't mean that he owns you

for the rest of your life because of that.

Now, I can't believe how you can

deliberately stay in the water with a four meter shark

but you can't talk to your old man?

I just don't get it.

[mellow rock music)

[motor humming)

Just remember that your mind is an excellent exaggerator.

What you're feeling now is probably times worse

than what it's actually gonna be like.

Okay, I'll here, but I don't want to have to come in there

and write notes for ya.

- You're the most annoying friend I've ever had.

[light music)

- [Matt Voiceover] Heart rate through the roof,

sweating like a sauna.

[door squeaking open)

- Where's the boat, dad?

- Look, I know it's sudden,

but by the time they go back,

they already had a buyer lined up for our boat.

They needed an answer straight away.

And he took another % off the price of the new one.

It was just too good to miss.

Look, I don't want to rain on your parade,

but, I gotta be honest with you.

The odds of you making it don't look great.

[heart pounding)

- [Heath] What you're feeling now

is probably times worse than what it's actually

going to be like.

Okay, I'll be here, but I don't want to have to

come in there and write notes for you.

[heart pounding)

- Dad, I'm not coming back.

You're gonna have to cancel the order

and get the boat back.

- What are you talking about?

I can't cancel the order,

they guy already had a buyer for the motor,

they're ripping it out today.

- What time?

- Matt. - What time?

- I don't know, some time today.

- Come on, we don't have time to waste arguing,

we gotta get that boat back.

[rock music)

- So, is there anything we can do?

- The engine's gone, the hull's gonna be junk.

[tense rock music)

♪ Running out of time ♪

♪ There's nothing I can try ♪

♪ There's nothing I can try ♪

♪ Running out of time ♪

♪ There's nothing I can try ♪

♪ There's nothing I can try ♪

[water splashing)

- Ooh, Simmo.

- You take my Ducky without asking?

While there's a shark out there?

Please, tell me there's an explanation.

- Yeah, um, see we're helping Edge.

It's like a face your fear technique.

- You weren't with Edge, he's down the beach.

I'm onto you, Heath.

Your big fear is the truth.

It's too simple for you.

You gotta paint and decorate everything.

- That's not true.

Come on, ask my anything,

I'll answer it plain and simple.

- Why did you take the Ducky without asking?

- Cause I knew you'd say no.

- Why would I say no?

- Cause with a shark out there,

it's risky and dangerous behavior.

- Why does it never feel like progress with you, Heath?

- I don't know, Simmo.

- Next time, ask.

[siren blaring)

- That's a shark alarm.

- The shark's coming round the headland.

Another beach is closed.

[horn honking)

[rock music)

- Hey, Matt, is that your dad?

- Hey, Simmo, can I take Matt out to meet his dad

in the rubber duck?

- You just don't know when to let up do ya?

- What, you said ask next time.

- No.

- Why?

- 'Cause it would be reckless and dangerous.

- Please, Simmo, we'll go straight there and back

and Dad'll look out for us.

- It's your responsibility.

[motor humming)

- Welcome aboard.

So, what do you think about the new vessel?

- But, Dad, you're not, I thought..

- I made some calls

and there are a couple of lads on the island

that wouldn't mind a bit of training.

And as much as I love the old boat,

this one new one, well, she's got some lovely features.

Look like they've got something in their sights.

Might be trying to herd it out to sea.

Maybe have a word to the Coasty,

see if they want me to chaperone it down the coast

a couple thousand miles.

In which case you better shove off

cause I've got work to do.

You keep your head in.

If I hear you're slacking I'll be back up

to kick you up the bum personally.

- Aye, aye, captain.

- Same goes for you too, eh?

[light rock music)

Well, what are you waiting for then?

Shove off.

[upbeat music)

- How do we know whether the shark's really gone?

- Or whether it just chucked a U-turn

under Matt's dad's boat and has come back

to finish us off?

- Or whether it's angrier now

from all the harassment from the lifeguards?

- Come on, we're wasting perfect waves.

- I reckon sometimes your fear just runs out of puff

and you get on with it.

[music intensifies)

- Come on!

[sloshing)

[rock music)

[splashing)

[waves sloshing)

[rock music)

♪ Ah ah, ah-ah ♪

♪ There's too much choice and not enough time ♪

♪ To find what's mine ♪

♪ Aiming for your head, get down ♪

♪ You're the only one in town ♪