EAST met West when visitors from Japan were treated to a day in the life of a Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club nipper.

Five 11-12 year-old boys from Japanese Swim School Takamatsu, learned the finer points of beach safety, while receiving hands-on lifesaving equipment demonstrations last weekend.

Japan has no nipper program, but activities like flags, wade, poison ball, surf swimming and board paddling were taken to with aplomb by the five boys with the help of 15 Cudgen Headland Nippers.

Japanese-born Atsuko (Annie) Taylor, who operates Tweed-Byron Farmstay and Education and specialises in educational programs for Japanese students, was integral in bringing the swimmers to the region for the nippers’ introduction.

“I met the owner of Takamatsu in Sydney last June and explained what Surf Life Saving was like in Australia and what nippers were,” Mrs Taylor said.

Mrs Taylor said although the school had no knowledge of what nippers involved, they was given the perfect introduction after sponsoring the 2015 Cudgen Classic.

“Coaches from the swim school actually visited to watch the Cudgen Classic and were very impressed,” as the nippers looked to be enjoying the competition, but also looked tough coming out of the water,” she said.

“They’d been thinking of sending swimming school pupils to the Tweed Aquatic Regional Centre for educational programs, so I mentioned an integration program with Cudgen nippers.”

The boys stayed with homestay families on the Tweed for two nights last weekend, while enjoying themselves on the beach.

Mrs Taylor said the boys loved our beaches, with their biggest highlight being a traditional Aussie barbecue to wrap the program up on the Sunday.