Surf lifesavers must be prepared for any situation, including errant huge pink flamingos.
Five friends who carried a five-meter-wide inflatable a kilometer out to sea on Australia Day have spoken about their humorous rescue after being dragged back to Stanwell Park Beach between Sydney and Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales.
The strange vessel, which cost the party $700, had begun drifting near sharp rocks when rescuers realized the five companions had to be saved, regardless of their wishes.
Blake and Kyle Lisk, together with Mitch Loveday, Tye Barnes, and Jayden Raval, owners of the Flamingo, agreed that they had gone a bit further than intended.
On Australia Day, five men were rescued after their enormous pink flamingo inflatable appeared to be in peril.
Blake, a resident of Wollongong, stated that the party used swimming fins to propel the flamingo over the crashing waves, but the shark buoy became an irresistible mooring point.
Blake, 24, told the Daily Telegraph, “We kicked out with the west wind and got a kilometer out with the shark buoy.”
Unfortunately, we did not encounter any sharks during our time there.
Blake and Kyle impulsively purchased the flamingo, named HMAS Flamingo, while they were “bored out of our minds” during Covid lockdowns.
“It was about $700, so Kyle and I split the cost, but we didn’t take it out of the box until Mitch called on the holiday and asked if we still had the flamingo,” Blake explained.
Once at sea, the five-metre-wide, three-metre-tall floatable provided a stable platform for the companions to enjoy a beer, cheese, and crackers.
After unsuccessful attempts to tow the flamingo, the men were driven back to the shore on jet skis.
They were so at ease on the flamingo that they refused a police boat’s offer to tow them back to land.
However, as the wind picked up, the flamingo began to rapidly move south, causing the lifeguards to fear that the large bird would crash onto the rocks.
After a failed attempt to tow the flamingo and its passengers back to shore, the five guys were transported to the beach on jet skis before the inflatable was brought in.
The Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Surf Life Saving Club said on Facebook, “If you were at the beach yesterday morning, you would have seen this now-famous giant flamingo heading south faster than we believe they expected.”
The ‘infamous’ pink flamingo has returned to the beach after the Australia Day festivities.
Blake, however, insisted matters were under hand.
“The original (and executed) plan was to float out from Stanwell Park to the Shark Buoy, then have the NE wind pick up and push us to Coalcliff,” he said to the lifeguards.
Rob Deakin, a surf lifesaver from Coalcliff, described the rescue as “preventative” on a day when 71 other rescues were performed.
Blake referred to the cruise as a “excellent display” and stated that the group was considering purchasing an even larger inflatable for their next “adventure.”