Surf Trip Day 7,8,9

Day 7

I woke up to a kangaroo right outside our camp with her joey in the pouch. I took some pictures and went to check the beach, not much swell. When I came back she was in our camp sniffing around, the boys woke up and saw her and then I scared her away.

We made some breakfast consisting of cereal, sausage and eggs. Then went for a surf on Kylie's beach, it really small but fun and a cool spot next to the rocks.

Packed up camp in the hot sun and headed to sand bar. The beach was beautiful but there was no swell so continued on to seal rocks/ treachery beach. It was small at treachery but breaking really nice with offshore wind. We all went out for a long session till the sunset. I got some really good waves. A dolphin was swimming around and riding waves with us which was really cool. We then drove down the road a bit to the campsite. There was a fire ban so we just sat around, made food had some beers and went to bed pretty early.

Day 8

I woke up the next morning to clouds and no surf, so i hiked around the headlands near the beach. We had some cereal then drove to treachery to check the surf, where it was also flat. Packed up and headed to Eagles Nest, where there was still no surf. Some dark clouds were coming in so we decided to cut our losses and head to Sydney.

Great climbing trees we found before leaving.

After a 3 hour drive we made it to Sammy’s house in Manly Beach. After showering and watching some surf movies, we had a delicious dinner with his family. We all watched some tv before heading to bed. Woke up early the next morning at surfed at manly beach. It was 3-4 ft semi off shore wind. It was really crowded but I was really nice to finally surf some bigger swell and I got some great waves. We went back to Sammy’s house, hung out for a while till it was time to go downtown for this family lunch. We went to this Indonesian restaurant called the Malay. Got delicious drinks called Caipiroska (Fresh lime crushed with palm sugar, shaken with Skyy Vodka) then the meal started off with prawn and chicken rolls followed by grilled beef and chicken on sticks with spicy sauce, then this incredible bread that was like a pancake and finally the main course of beef or chicken in a curie sauce with rice, noodles and greens.

It was all incredibility good and we were all feeling good after the drinks. We then went back to Sammy’s house and hung out with his sister Jade and her boyfriend Huge for a while. Will and I packed up our stuff, thanked Sammy and his family for their generous hospitality and headed down to Wollongong.

Day 9

The next day I woke early hoping to have a surf before starting my 12 hour drive back to the Goldie but the waves weren’t good so I hit the road around 9. It was rainy and overcast the whole day which was good because I didn’t need to have to windows down so I could actually hear the book on tape I was listening to, which made the trip go by very fast. I made it back to my apartment at around 8:30 and went to sleep soon after.

Sydney Harbor Tunnel

The dog in the bed of this truck did not look happy

Overall it was in awesome trip. We didn’t get the great waves we were hoping for but getting out seeing/ exploring Australia was great. One thing that I noticed was how less populated the coast of Australia is compared to the U.S. Many of the places we went, there was not much around besides the campsites and miles of empty beach, something that I think is hard to find on the east coast of the U.S. I also like how there is not really any beach front property, so instead of looking at houses when your in the water, like a lot of places in the U.S. your looking at dunes and tress which makes you feel much more out in nature. I want to thank Will and Sammy for and awesome trip and for not killing each other when no surf frustration kicked in. Also Gus and Brookes for joining us and making the trip more fun. The Penny family for their great hospitably and finally my awesome parents who helped make all this possible for me.

Till next time

-Marsh-

Surf Trip Day 5&6

Day 5
I woke up early and checked the beach, the waves were still to rough to surf, bummer. After waking the boys, we had some breakfast, packed up camp and drove to Point Plomer. We stopped in Cresent Head but there were no waves so we got some beer, ice and water. Drove 15 km’s to Point Plomer on mostly very rough dirt roads.
We got the campsite to see just as in Cresent, the point break was TINY. The swell direction was south pretty much the entire trip which meant that all the right hand point breaks that Australia is known for were getting no swell. We checked the back beach, which was rough, but some were ride-able. The boys decided to give it a try, I decided to take some pics and hike around the cool rock formations instead.

Sammy on a tough paddle out

After that we went back to the campsite, ate some lunch, and hung out, Will, Sammy and I attempted to ride some of the extremely small waves on the point. It was really shallow with big rocks everywhere so even when I caught the smallest wave of my life it was kinda of scary cause I didn’t want to hit a sharp rock. Will and I paddled out around the point and did some “drriffttting” (floating around) which was very relaxing. We setup camp and collected wood, then got started on dinner. Cooked some sausage and mash potatoes for dinner. Drank some beers and hung around the fire till around 10 when we went to bed.
Day 6

I woke up early, had breakfast and went to look at the surf. I checked back beach, which was still a bit sloppy. I climbed down this massive rock to another beach and then found a trail to Queen’s Head where the surf looked pretty good.

Queen's Head

Told the boys about it and we walked to the beach. There was a nice left coming off the rocks but it was kind of sketchy because of a big pile of rocks just underneath the water right in the take of area. There was also a big rip sucking out so you had to constantly paddle in to stay in the line up. I got a few good lefts before I got to tired of battling the current and moved over to the away from the rocks. Got a few more waves over there before going in for some lunch. Had a sandwich, packed up camp and drove back to Queen’s Head for another session. I went in with boardies and a top but only got a few good waves before getting to cold, so I got out. I took some pictures of the boys from up on the headlands.

Sammy and Will sharing one

Will

Brookes

Sammy
My shooting spot

We then got in the car and drove to diamond head. Stopped on the way and got a few groceries and I got some much-needed snacks. Got to the campsite decide to stay at Kylie’s beach site instead of Diamond Head. We got a great spot in the trees that had a bunch of wood people had left when they had to evacuate for a bush fire. Setup camp, made a huge fire with all the wood we had, drank some beers. We made chicken and pasta for dinner. After hang around the fire for a while we headed to bed.

Surf Trip Day 3&4

Day 3

I woke up to watch the sunrise on the beach, took some photos and then went back to bed till around 730. Woke the boys up, we had some cereal and then went for a surf.

Pretty much the same conditions as the day before maybe a little bigger. We saw some Wales further out and I saw one jump. After a 2 hour session, we came back to camp, packed up and headed out. We stopped at Woolworths on the way to get a bunch for food because we were not getting enough food at meals and surfing makes you incredibly hungry. We got some sausage and chicken to grill and cold cuts for sandwiches and of course more PB&J. We then drove (saved a turtle from being run over along the way) to where I thought the Valla beach campground was but apparently it did not exist which was odd. We drove around trying to find it for a bit then headed a little further south to Nambucca heads. Eventually decided to stay at a caravan park there even though we weren’t to stoked on it. Ended up being nice because we had access to a full kitchen so making food was easy.

We had sausages and pasta and beers for dinner. We wanted to sleep outside so we took our mattresses out of the tents and put them on the grass. I slept most of the night outside but eventually moved into my tent because I was having trouble sleeping.

Day 4

I woke up early again to watch the sunrise on the beach and unfortunately saw that there was no surf. I woke the boys up, we cooked breakfast complete with eggs, sausage and some cereal. Went for a quick swim and then headed out. Had to turn around and come back after 20 min of driving because we left our lunchmeats in the refrigerator at the park. Then drove to smoky cape. Checked out the lighthouse, which had beautiful views and saw that the swell was pretty big here.

Our campground was down on the right

Will checking out "Pirate's Cove"

Went to the campground which is on the beach, checked out the surf and it was to rough and messy to go out. So we had some lunch at our camp ground and then headed to out to try to find some surf-able waves.

Kookaburras on a tree at our site

Trying to find surf

We went north first but it was to flat around the point so we then went about 20 min south to the opposite end of the beach but there was no surf inside the point and it was to rough on the other side. So we headed back, went to the lighthouse to check out this beautiful beach right below it to the north which we named "pirate's cove". We walked down an extremely long and rocky path with no shoes (so painful) to get to the beach. After “pirating” around for a while we realized we didn’t want to walk up the path again with no shoes (it was that bad) So borrowed shoes from this dad of a family who were the only other people on the beach. I ran up the trail to the car (which was a full work out) and got everyone’s shoes.

Rocky trail of death

Pirates

We then explored some more, and just relaxed watching the waves. It surf was a little cleaner here and some waves were defiantly ride able, especially this one left that would break but it really powerful and to rocky to risk going out.

Sea Salt

After the sun went behind then hills we headed back to the camp site We gathered fire wood, and setup camp before starting on dinner. Will cooked the chicken over the fire, sammy and I cooked pasta on the stove. It was delicious. A big Kangaroo hopped right through camp while we were cooking. Will and Sammy’s friends Gus and Brooks somehow managed to find us in this large dark campground. After they got setup up we sat around the fire, sang some songs, had some laughs. Saw a possum in the trees, which then came down close to our camp. Went to bed pretty early again around 10.

To be continued...

Spring Break In OZ: Surf Road Trip (Day 1&2)

Last week was my spring break here during which I went a surf road trip from Southport (where I live) to Sydney. Accompanying me on this journey was Will Buck, my best friend who many of you know and Sam Penny, a friend of Will’s from Uni in Wollongong. On Thursday the 24th of September they flew from Sydney up to Gold Coast. Finally after their flight was delayed over an hour, I picked them up from the airport in Coolangatta. After a quick swim at Kirra beach we headed to Anaconda (huge camping store) to get camping supplies. We then went to IGA to stock up on food. After some dinner we headed back to my place, watched a surf movie to get pumped and went to bed. And the next day the trip began.

I apologize in advance for my bad grammar and rambling sentences; it’s hard to condense an entire trip into something that’s not as long as a book.

Day 1
We woke up at 7, ate some breakfast, and drove to main beach. Surf was small but clean, surfed for around a hour and half. Went back home, packed up Great White, had a two hour drive to drove to byron bay.

Great White ready to go

Had one of the 4 pb&j’s we had that day in the car. Saw a crazy homeless guy walking across the highway, not even looking at the oncoming cars. Honked my horn, he looked up and stopped just as he was about to step in front of a car that had not seen him. So that was an interesting start to the trip. Got to Byron, went to tallows beach to surf. The wind was on shore so it was a bit to choppy but had some swell. Surfed far lookers left, all got some good rides, surfed for 2 hours, took a break, Will and sammy went back out and I filmed with my big zoom lens for the first time, which worked well. They surfed till sunset, then packed up the car and headed to Evans head (1 drive). We were greeted by Kerby and his dad, who had prepared a delicious bbq for us, we all chowed down being very hungry from surfing all day. Then we looked at some pictures of this huge reef break that Kerby’s dad does tow in surfing on. We all headed to bed soon after that.

Day 2
Woke up around 7 at kerby’s, had some cereal, drove to “chinaman’s” to surf. It was very windy, choppy but still kinda fun. Pod of dolphins swam right by us; one surfaced 10 feet from me which was pretty startling.

Will, Sammy, Kerby
Evans Head

After the session, went back to kerby’s ate some more cereal, before headed out to Minnie waters. Drove for around 2 hours, got to the campsite which is right on the beach, picked a nice spot in some trees. Went for a surf right out front of camp.

Minnie Water
no running water at the site, washing dishes was easier in the surf

It was small but wind was offshore and it was breaking good. Had around a 2 hour session. We then setup camp and started to get dinner ready. Used the stove to cook pasta but didn’t get full enough so had a PB&J also (3rd of the day). Went to bed around 10

More to come soon...