triplog

Does it get any better?

… and I surfed in boardies. Sorry, Jane.

I ended up staying the night in Byron, but the pulse of swell from the afternoon before didn’t hang around until morning. So I started making my way south, stopping in to check first Tallows (nothing doing - still some size, but very messy) and then Broken Head - bingo! It looked pretty good when I first got there so I went out for a wave, but it rapidly deteriorated - mainly closeouts.

Organic doughnuts? They weren’t open at the time, but Jane has a thing for doughnuts, so I felt compelled to at least capture the sign. So there you go, Jane, this one’s for you.

I’ve spent the last few days in limbo, otherwise known as the Gold Coast. After hanging out in Burleigh on Sunday night, I’d headed further south, all the way to Tugun (about two suburbs away), when I got a call from Keenan - I’d thought he was living somewhere just south of the border, but turns out he was one suburb back the way I’d just come, in Palm Beach. So we hung out for beers and dinner at the local surf club on Monday night - it was good to catch up, we figured out the last time we’d seen each other was around 5 years ago - then on Tuesday morning I bid him farewell and was all set to head south into NSW.

I made it as far as Tweed Heads, when the clutch on the troopy decided to give up the ghost - it had been threatening a caper like this for a while. So off I went to Keenans mechanic, Roger, where I was told I couldn’t the car back until Friday. Keenan kindly put up with me as a house guest for the rest of the week (I owe you, mate) while I waited. And waited. With no surf.

Anyway, this afternoon I finally got reunited with troopy (and dis-united from over a grand), and hit the road south. I intended to drive through Byron Bay, just to see what had changed, and then keep going further south until dark… but lo and behold, as soon as Main Beach hove into view, those plans went out the window. There was surf. My home state (sorry Jane!) had laid out the welcome mat.

I managed to keep it together long enough to snap off the pictures above, then bolted for the water. It was offshore, warm water, head high and getting glassier with each passing minute. Oh yeah…

Late yesterday afternoon I cracked - I’d driven from the Sunshine Coast past (and kinda through - I wanted to avoid a toll bridge) Brisbane, down to the Gold Coast and through the insanity that is Surfers Paradise. I was more than a little stinging for a surf, but Huey would have none of it. I went out for a grovel anyway - half a foot onshore mush at the south end of Broadbeach (the massive beach that runs past Surfers), at a spot called Miami. Good to get wet, but no joy on the waves front.

Feeling at a loss, and slightly cold, I went for a walk/skate over the next headland, and found Burleigh Heads. No surf to speak of, but the place was jumping - Sunday sessions in full swing, from random families and people using the council bbqs along the beach-front, to a full drumming circle (hippies come out of the woodwork) and in another spot, a whole bunch of people fire-twirling (!). I ended up heading back to Miami to get the troopy, and spent the night in Burleigh, hoping the wind would back off overnight.

This morning the wind had indeed dropped off - nay, it actually was mildly offshore for a while! I went for a skate to check what the surf was doing, and snapped the photos above. I figured I’d let the pre-work and pre-school frothers get the early in, then I’d head out for second shift. Which would have worked out fine, but when I headed out there, thinking the grommets would have to head in soon, I found out it was some sort of student free day at the local schools. So I got my first taste of the Gold Coast crowds . Still, I managed a couple of turns on some waist-high grovelers - the new board is way fast and loose - and I definitely got a feel for the potential of this place. Not surprising, really, it is rated as one of Australias best right-handers after all.