Eleanore Bock

Tell us your name and where are you from?

My name is Eleanore or Elle for short and I’m from the Blue mountains

Where do you consider home?

I consider home to be where I feel most comfortable, I’m always content somewhere by the ocean where I can hear the waves from my pillow.

What's your experience with surfing?

I actually broke my elbow attempting to surf whilst on a cruise in the Pacific. That was enough to teach me I lack the required coordination, but I’ll always admire those skilled enough to conquer the waves. One of my all time favourite fictional characters is the iconic Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont high, I think his incredibly stoned proclamation that tasty waves are life fulfilling was what influenced me to give it a go in the first place

What does a typical day look like for you? 

I spend my days either at work lifeguarding, studying for uni or training at the gym but whenever I get a good day of summer heat you can guarantee I’ll be trying to escape all that for the beach

What is your idea of happiness? 

A quote that really struck a chord in me is from ‘Into The Wild’, where Chris says to Ron “You’re wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships... It is in everything and anything we might experience”. I found this so important, as it’s easy to view the source of happiness as the approval of others or reaching a certain status or place in society. Instead happiness can be found in the smallest of things, from belting out your favourite tunes whilst driving to work, trying to bodysurf without swallowing half the ocean or enjoying a really really good bowl of ramen. Thanks to Chris McCandless I now believe happiness is something you actively must seek from your experiences regardless of whether they’re shared or not.