Derrs 2

Gear: 7'6 & 3/2 boots Conditions: Moderate SE - S. Overcast. 1.25m swell High tide Today was a big day. An hour drive to Derrs and because we didn't have a 4WD today, we had to park and carry our boards up the beach about 20 mins. Dad and I surfed for about 3 hours before making the trip home. Excellent hamburger for lunch! Fat, big waves until the Southerlies kicked in which reduced it all to chop. Paddled onto some big stuff (for me) Made the drop on quite a number. Even got some rollercoasting/pumping happening up the face. Each ride ended really close in on the rocks, so I got good at my kamikaze dismounts. The biggest challenge today was judging the waves/not waves and getting in the right spot to catch them. I'm so used to smaller, steeper waves that form a lot quicker and break a lot quicker. So watching the big ones rolling through, your judgement is telling you that they're going to break on you. In fact they're not. They're forming slower and crumbling. Takes a bit of getting used to. I had a few that I caught but just fell off the back of. Just looked like a freefall if I stayed with it. Next time gotta bite the bullet and do it. It was ok at Sandtracks and nosediving has been painfree anyway. Gotta look down the line NOT at the chasm below me ;P

Summer's End

03/21/2009 - Sandtracks You Gear: Rashie, then wettie, 7'6 Conditions: glassy, still, fun. 2.5m swell. Low tide - ).66m It was a slow start to the day. James and I met Leeann and Tanya at Sandtracks, but nothing was breaking, so we checked out Cottesloe. Heaps of people out on ankle high waves. Didn't seem worth the hassle with the crowds. So I took James home then came back to Sandtracks to have a paddle with the girls. Met them on the beach as they were heading back to their cars. I was in a rush to catch them before they got out so I only put on a rashie over my bikinis. Initially went out on my own for a paddle but ended up catching some good waves. About 20 people out, scattered all the way up from the groyne to the carpark entrance. I managed to pick a good spot in near the groyne off on my own. Only 3 other guys sort of near me, and each time the sets came through I was in the right spot. Nice shape, not too steep. Got about 4 rides. By this time I was so cold. i paddled back, put on my wettie and them came out again. By this time the tide was up and the waves weren't breaking the same. All in all I got about 5-6 waves. 1 right with a nice wall. A big left! Looked a bit scarey but I went anyway and it was awes. :) I usually have trouble when they've already started breaking on one side. I angle too much and just get flipped. Today I had it sussed, was angling just the slightest bit and it was fine. Caught the wave and the drop wasn't too steep. There was something different about the big one and I realised later that I was riding high up on the face! That's what felt different. So next time, if the ride is long enough, that's when I'll be able to bottom turn and hopefully come back up the face. The right I had was great because I could see the wave walling up in front of me - decent size - and I was looking down the line. The best feeling.

Fun day!!

Sunday we headed down to Surf Beach. The day before we'd tried Scarborough but there was NOTHING! 50 ppl out at Trigg point trying to catch ankle high waves. The rest of the coast was FLAT. So we met Leeann, Kristy, Richard and Nat down there. James was on call, so he stayed on the beach and filmed us surfing. It was a great day. Everyone was doing so well and having heaps of fun. Nat caught her first decent green wave - which Leeann, Kristy and I were also on. :P Leeann and Nat were both angling really nicely. AND Kristy stood on at least two of her waves!! Great day. To top it off. We have some of the memories on film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W9as8t0MZ4 And proof that I was there!

Nat's green wave!

Same wave..still going

Triumph!

Kristy standing It was really satisfying seeing everyone doing so well. Lots of laughs and great memories.

Avalon 2009

01/26/2009 - Avalon Point You Gear: 7'6 board. New reef boots Conditions: Light W/SW (>10knots) Swell: 1.8-2.6m Tide: 0.4-0.5m Per/Dir 13 SW Seas:1-1.5m This was before the Gold Coast, but I forgot to blog it and it was such a memorable day!! We were were all so knotted from the last 2 days, surfing and sailing, but today was great! We picked Richard up as he's working on his car at the moment and raced the seabreeze down to Mandurah. It was windy, but the waves were still breaking nicely. Easy paddle out to the reef. Nice breaks between waves to paddle back out. Some nice hip to waist high waves and a fun crowd. They looked big as they came towards you, but then they just crumbled. I don't think you could have gotten dumped by them! Due to where they were breaking, the waves weren't super long, but still really nice drops and a decent ride. Felt like I was actually up to the conditions and able to make the most of them, which is really fulfilling!! James went in after a little while, being tired from the day before, Rich and I stayed out a little longer with the longboarders. Can't wait to take the mal out next time. While we were out 2 dolphins swam past not 2 metres away. Absolutely magic! We're heading down to Denmark again this Easter and hoping for nice shape like last Easter - this year we'll be out the back with any luck. In June we'll be going up to Gnaraloo with my Dad, Uncle and cousins!! Scary but really exciting!

Scarborough not so scabby

No photos today... Went to Scarborough with Leeann and Kristy. Boys are off sailing in the M27 Championships this weekend which means girl time! the weather's a bit weird at the moment. It's hot and fine, but there was meant to be a big kick in the swell, jumping up to 2.8m. However yesterday was only 0.6m and they haven't revised the forecast in fact, they're saying its going to hit 3m on Tuesday now. Awesome! Except we haven't had a hint of it yet. We shall see what develops. So this morning swell was at about 1m and Scabs was actually really nice. The waves were a bit infrequent, but other than that... They were fat - which you never see there - breaking deep, no shallow banks AND peeling. Managed to pick out a few for Kristy to paddle onto that she caught and didn't nosedive on so hopefully that'll help her confidence. She did a top job resurfacing the peeling patch on her bargain board. Looks shmick now! I came back from Queensland feeling that I hadn't really learned anything new as I spoke about here. But today felt really good. I had a few waves where I was roller coasting along them, straightening and angling to keep on the wave. That's something I'd only done once before our trip. One of those 'I'm really surfing!' moments. Love them. Next time I'm out I gotta remember to look down the line. With fickle waves I've been watching the patch right in front of me to figure out what's going on. Noticed it heaps when I was filming while riding a wave. I think I'm getting more aware of how much of an angle I need to paddle on. On steeper waves today, I still made the drop by paddling on more of an angle. Huzzah!

Queensland 5 - Byron and back

Here's me with my new board after our great session at the Superbank. We headed down to Byron, but were not blessed with terrific conditions. This was the Pass the arvo we arrived. It was tiny and we wondered whether James' 7'6 would even carry him on them. The shape is amazing. Peeling right handers that stretch across the bay. We checked out Wategos too, but nothing going on there at all. The other beach down here, Tallows is east facing and had all the swell, but as we turned up it was starting to rain and super windy. I'd love to check out Cosy Corner next time we're over. Maybe we'll be lucky.

The lookout at The Pass

Bird and stormy skies.

We walked along the beach into town. Off to the left in the shot below is the Wreck. It's in the centre of town. I hear it can be good, but on this day there were soo many guys out and hardly any waves even coming through.

Rasta

The rain came in that night. We would have got about 100mm in a twelve hour period. But it didn't stop there. Some places got 200mm. We were ill equipped in our van with fly-less tent, holey tarps and not a lot else. The next morning I went out for a quick surf at the Pass on my own. James was keen to get everything packed up. It was bigger than the day before. Still good shape, but messy. I was a wuss on my own without someone there to give me confidence. I had the long board out and wasn't confident catching the bigger stuff on it - having not really mastered the angle I needed to prevent the nosedive on it - and there was a short period meaning I had to keep getting under them as they came in so close to each other. Still glad I surfed it though. Caught three waves before heading back to the van to get going. Back in Coolangatta and the rain didn't stop for 2 days. We checked out the Superbank in the rain. Looked awesome, but neither of us were that keen to surf in the rain on our summer holiday. Save that for winter in Perth. Later I saw a surf news report about the amazing waves everywhere had had on this weekend. All the places we'd visited going off. http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=5182 The Pass was the last surf we got over there. A quick dip on Friday back at Superbank, but I didn't really count the one wave - what with the ridiculous current, the brewing storm and the stupid anxiety I had. The one thing I'll say about the trip is that I'd hoped to surf more. Probably goes without saying, but I'd come over hoping to surf every day. Any experienced surf traveller will probably tell me that this was unrealistic from the getgo. I can see that now. I really wanted to step things up, get my technique to the next level, but didn't really feel that I got enough water time. I got some good trimming going and some fun waves, but didn't catch anything as big as the stuff I've surfed at home and I guess I disappointed myself in that regard. It is understandable, I think, when you're somewhere new and unknown without anyone to tell you where to sit, where the rips form, where is safe. But next time I think I'll need to push myself a little more, take every opportunity that presents itself, otherwise you're left wanting more.

Superbank in the rain. More people out than the previous weekend when it was sunny.

Sets rolling in.

The day we flew out. We cursed ourselves for packing the boards before checking the beach!

We'd decided on a relaxed morning, cooked breaky and leisurely pack up. Seeing this made me wish we'd done it all the night before and surfed! Even if it meant wrapping our boards in the airport! The whole trip was great. There were some interesting moments, of course, and things we'll do differently next time, but we'll definitely be back!!

Queensland 4 - Heading South

We checked out Ti-Tree again the morning we left, but there wasn't anything breaking. Determined to have a surf before we spent the whole day driving, we stopped in at Maroochydoore. I'd bought my new Mal the day before and couldn't wait to try it out. 9'1, bob Brown shaped. Half red and half blue. Plus it was calm enough to get the camera out again. Recording history. Waiting for a wave. The shape here was amazing. It looked more like a reef break than a beachie. They looked big but didn't have a lot of power. If you weren't taking off from the peak, it was really hard to catch. The shoulder didn't give you any love.

Waiting

Paddling for a wave!!

One of my first rides on the new board and most recent picture of me surfing!! (Doesn't really give much away though, does it?) I did a fair bit of nose diving trying to get used to the new board, where to lie, the angle to paddle on. I'm slowly getting it sorted. I was amazed by how easily it turns! And its light, not like some of the longboards I've tried to pick up and can barely carry.

We arrived back at Coolangatta that arvo and were lucky enough to get a 2nd surf in at Rainbow Bay. The superbank was doing its thing. We were were in a spot removed from most of the hardcore surfers. But that also meant that we didn't have to compete for waves. There were so many to share out. Got a better handle on the mal in this session. I had a couple of really nice righthanders, staring into the sun, setting down the line. Some super long waves and cut backs!! I just didn't want to leave.

Queensland 3 - Noosa!

Driving up to Noosa was disgusting. It was about 34 and the van had no air conditioning and barely any air coming out the air vents. Plus, because its a van, you are sitting on the engine in the front which makes it even hotter. Took a little longer than we thought, what with diversions to check out other places along the way. The Highway is a bit of a way inland from the surf towns. On the way up, we'd stopped in at Calloundra for a surf. King's Beach was the first place we found and it looked awesome! Until we got down the beach... Head high waves peeling beautifully out the back, but to get out to them - head high dumpers breaking on the shore. It just wasn't what we had in mind. Safely installed in a lovely little chalet for a couple of days, we had amazing food in Noosa and everyone was really friendly. We checked out Sunshine Beach by recommendation but it was big and pretty messy anyway. We decided to try for Ti-Tree Bay even though I'd heard you had to walk there and we weren't sure how far.

This is us at Noosa National Park.

Getting ready to carry all our stuff. Have we forgotten anything??

The National Park.

As it turned out, it was only a 5 - 10 minute walk in and this is the view we were greeted with. Magic. Pretty small when we arrived, but I guess that meant that there was only one guy out instead of everyone - and he was from Darwin! The waves broke off the little point you can see.

Totally psyched!

Posing.

This guy appeared around the point paddling his board, disappeared out around Ti-Tree point and paddled back a little while later to catch this wave, before paddling home...

Stoked.

Refuelling before going back out.

It was such a fun day. No stress. Nothing scary. James had one terrific wave that no one else caught of the point, so he caught it a bit further in and went screaming along, high up on the face. After we'd been there for a couple of hours and had the place to ourselves, we were joined by about 10 other surfers. Still not really that crowded. Long waves here. I found I'd keep stalling my board trying to trim. Then I figured out that I needed to move my weight back and viola, I was zooming along again. Made things easier.Camera goggles - a bit blurry some pf the crew out. She was grumpy, though.

A couple of Asian guys and a girl on longboards were so good! Such a pleasure to watch them. Up and down the board, hanging 5, sitting on the nose! They never stopped moving.

I took this shot as I was riding the wave. I'm impressed, even if no one else is. ;)

Queensland 2 - More Gold Coast and critters

Greenmount Bay looking across to Kirra.

Fabulous Turquoise water. I think this day we decided it was too small and headed for Noosa. In hindsight, you gotta take what you can get and get out there!

Snapper in the distance.

So Blue!!

Frog in the Caravan Park.

Bush Turkey... Noosa National Park.

More bush turkey. And the yellow-piece-of-shit van we hired. Lizards that were really tame. This one didn't move when you walked past.

The kids playground at the Caravan Park in Kirra.