Growing up my family never went on a camping Adventure or better yet hardly ever went a holiday where our boat didn’t come along. So, water sports is and has always been a huge part of my life. My parents are originally from Victoria, and in Victoria especially country Victoria owning a boat is quite common practise. In the tiny country town my parents grew up in, every weekend it was a hole town affair to go down to the local lake and put the boat in and have a crack at some water sports. My parents or should I say my Dad was so mad keen on raising his kids growing up with water sports as a weekend hobby that they moved to sunny Queensland. I have to say I think it worked quite successfully as my eldest brother has gone on to become a professional water skier for the past ten years. In 2019 he in fact actually managed to win the world titles in Malaysia, however as he won he also broke his foot in three places. But he certainly didn’t mind as for him it was literally a dream come true.  Not to worry at the time of this article he is completely healed up and over the weekend had his first comp back and managed to score a podium spot. He came 3^rd place at Moomba Masters held in Melbourne. As not only water skiing but all things water sports is practically running through my veins, I thought I’d write this little guide on some of my favourite items and why.

Well I think I should start with my all time favourite, a tow tube. If you want to have an absolute blast on the water, then tow tubing is certainly the way to go. I can only begin to tell you the amount of great stories I have of tow tubing with my brothers and my mates. My Dad is truly a loving father but is absolutely evil when behind the wheel of a boat towing an inflatable tow tube.  He loved throwing us on the whip trying to get all three of us to fall off the 3 Person Tow Tube at once.  Not only that his other favourite trick was to rip donuts until the placid lake looked like the open ocean in the middle of a hurricane. Then laugh and laugh as us boys would hang on for dear life before going bouncing out of the boat tube. So, although this may somewhat sound like torture, it was all the best of fun. The type of towing tube  we had growing up,  was a flat curved design. This was great for us as it was a 3-seater tow tube which was perfect for a family with three sons. Not only this but the flat design of the curved tow tube allows you to feel all the bumps of the wake that makes for added fun. Plus makes for a perfect battle ground for three brothers to try and throw each other off.

Now let’s go from one extreme to the other. A Stand Up Paddle Board is in fact my second favourite piece of water sports gear. It’s probably pretty clear I’m quite a fan of the extreme adrenaline junky activities but despite this I also love riding my stand up paddle board. There’s something about the peaceful tranquillity of going for a stand up paddle board ride through a river way or lake. I feel I almost reach a meditative state when stand up paddle boarding, I think it’s probably a mix between the trying to balance once also rowing. I think trying to combine these two tasks helps shut your brain off and forget about some of the stresses of day to day life. In fact I love stand up paddle boarding so much at the time of writing this article I’ve got two inflatable stand up paddle boards packed in my car ready for my camping adventure this weekend. I’m heading to a camp ground in Kingaroy with a beautiful river that flows through the centre, perfect for a morning ride on an inflatable stand up paddle board. The campground is in fact a family owned and ran working dairy farm.

Although it may seem pointless because it’s quite similar to a Stand Up Paddle Board but I do also really enjoy going for a good Kayak. Unlike a Stand Up Paddle Board, Kayaks are good for those longer distances not that a Stand Up Paddle Board is bad but I find if you truly want to go on a trek then a Kayak is the way to go. As a Kayak is far easy to paddle and get around on. But also a Kayak has the added benefit of being able to store gear as well, so this is super handing for long trip. If you really want to take your Kayaking trips to the next level with the ability to store gear. You could even camp over night somewhere and have a multiple day Kayaking adventure.

So there you have it, these are my top three favorite pieces of water sports gear. Growing up with water sports my entire life I’ve endless days  tow tubing, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. That why I think you’d be crazy not to give a go, so maybe start with my three top favourite pieces of gear and get out there and have some water sports fun!