Envy.

Every cloud, no matter how broad, has a silver lining and this Covid-19 cloud’s can be witnessed in Klitmøller, Denmark, a town of 1000 hearty souls in the far northern tip of the country.

Klitmøller, long called “Cold Hawaii” because of its reputation as a windsurfing destination, has seen a boom in real surfing participation these past six months as Danes, unable to travel to California or Australia, content themselves with its slop.

Vahine Itchner, who started the Cold Hawaii Surf Camp with her husband and moved to Denmark from Tahiti, tells The Local DK that business is through the roof and also, “You can’t really know what kind of waves you’re going to get. It’s always different waves. If you go to a perfect surf place like Bali or Tahiti, you know exactly how the wave is going to break. Here, it changes all the time.”

Changing windy cold waves sounds awful and not inviting and not like a silver lining but Itchner knows that Klitmøller will become more famous than Cardiff Reef or Bells Beach because Denmark is the only country on earth that is hygge.

What is hygge?

There’s no direct translation in English but, roughly, it means “cosy” and those who have traveled to Denmark will know, first hand, that nothing beats it. You can be hygge in the summer, spring, autumn but the best hygge is winter, all curled up post-surf in front of a flickering fire, hot toddy or chocolate in hand, Billie Holiday playing softly on the turntable, slippers on feet, watching Saoirse Ronan in On Chesil Beach while rain pitter-patters on the cottage roof.

Absolutely fabulous and far better than stripping a urine-soaked wetsuit off in a dull parking lot, or car park, deflecting glares from Joel Tudor or Maurice Cole.

I would be a Danish surfer if I could be.

Would you?

There will be blood.

And here we are and here we go, the year 2020 rounding its final bend but with many, many surprises still possible. Will Killer Whales take back the sea? Will the world agree to go back under Covid restriction lock and key? Will Donald J. Trump take out Joe Robinette Biden as Most Powerful Man in the World™?

Will the nicest man in surfing, Adrian “Ace” Buchan, bring the meanest industry on earth to its knees?

Australia has put forward a plan for how it will come back, economically, after the pandemic passes and it hinges growth to an expansion of use and sales of the country’s fossil fuels.

A good idea?

According to Ace, in a recent Guardian interview, “The interest of fossil fuel in Australian politics is becoming something of an international joke. It’s fine for us to kind of sit back and shake our heads at what’s happening with, say, Donald Trump in America, but people are doing the same [here] … the influence of fossil fuel in our politics, it’s just crazy. You have a government in power that is picking and choosing when it listens to the science. Renewable energy prices are low – there’s non-fossil fuel energy storage options available. Gas just isn’t a transition fuel that’s going to lead to a safe climate. I feel like that ship’s well and truly sailed … I think switching to renewables rapidly is the only responsible path. The science is super clear.”

And POW!

Right in the kisser.

But do you know how people say we don’t get the hero we need, we get the one we deserve? Well, we certainly don’t deserve Ace but I would gladly line up behind him to bring down nasty, stinky oil and gas. To be honest, I would gladly line up behind Ace over any cause and imagine he will, someday, benevolently rule Australia, putting a stop to Kelly Slater’s environmental terrorism etc.

Speaking of, where are you on TESLA? I mean, besides rich from sage investment advice served here daily. Are you ready to spring into an electric car directly or still on the fence, waiting for a few more bells and whistles?

More as the story develops.