Saturday, March 3, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.
Stefan Hunt and Jonathan Durant emerged from Lake Mead and shook like penguins on the Las Vegas Marina dock.
Each Aussie wore a black jacket, black slacks, a white dress shirt and a black tie as they surfed, with a rope, in the wake behind John Greenwood's boat.
The duo from down under wanted to add a touch of class to the occasion, for the 49th state of their six-month "Surfing 50 States" odyssey. They bought the outfits for $46 at a thrift store.
"To dress up in Las Vegas," Durant, 25, says.
They saw the "Legends in Concert" show at Imperial Palace.
"We met Elvis," Hunt, 19, says. "And I got a kiss from Marilyn Monroe."
They lucked out Feb. 23 at Lake Mead. An early morning boat ride fell through, then they waited for hours until they spotted John Greenwood slipping his boat back into the lake.
"They ran up to us, and we thought they were waiters," Greenwood says, "or that they were going to tell us that we couldn't go out."
This week, they left for Hawaii and concluded their mission by surfing the North Shore of Oahu.
They surfed an irrigation ditch in Utah, a hill of sugar beets in Idaho, rice paddies in Arkansas, snow in Vermont and under the Gateway Arch in Missouri. Dressed as Dorothy and the Scarecrow, they surfed the Yellow Brick Road at OZtoberFest in Kansas. They surfed Lake Michigan from four states.
Eight-foot waves in Alaska, and the Icy Waves Surf Shop in Yakutat, were a highlight.
"The wind was offshore, the waves were clear," Durant says, "and there were bear tracks on the beach."
Durant of Melbourne had known Hunt, from the Sydney suburb of Manly, from surfing camps in their youth.
They logged more than 20,000 miles scooting around the 48 contiguous states in an old black ice-cream truck, with "Surfing 50 States" painted on a side, that was supplied by Costa Mesa, Calif., surfing empire Hurley.
Both worked two and three jobs for eight months to gather $20,000 for the adventure, and Hurley paid for insurance for the rig and gave them 800 T-shirts to peddle at $10 apiece.
Hunt says that extra $8,000 was vital to their budget.
By either bunking with people they met or in the truck, they achieved a major goal by spending nothing on lodging. They spent $5,000 on truck repairs. And at 8 miles to the gallon, fuel sucked up a big chunk of the budget.
They flew to Hawaii, with Honolulu-to-Sydney flights already purchased, with less than $500.
They have more than 75 hours of videotape, which they'll turn into a documentary that they hope to release in the fall.
"It will be interesting to see how it turns out," Durant says. "We'd like to come back and show it in every state, maybe even at Sundance or CineVegas."
Durant and Hunt don't drink alcohol or use drugs, belying an image of their sport often shown in movies and other forms of popular culture.
"We wanted to show in the movie that you don't need to drink or do substances to have fun," Durant says.
They also wanted to show the true nature of the country. They said Australian media mainly portray Americans as arrogant, bloated, ignorant and selfish. They vowed to travel with open minds.
The vast majority of people they encountered were accommodating, helpful, pleasant and curious about the Aussies' intentions.
The movie "Borat" goofed on many Americans, and Durant and Hunt were often asked whether they were attempting a similar film. No, Hunt say. Just the opposite.
"That movie depicts America as a messed-up country," Hunt says. "We wanted to show the real America, its diversity. We met and stayed with Mormons, Lutherans, Buddhists, Jews and Pentecostal Christians.
"So many different religions, but everyone treats everyone else so equally."
Maybe, Durant says, people might see the final product and get something from it.
"But we learned more from people," he says, "than anyone might learn from us."
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