Goldie and All Its Glory

I could move to Australia just for the surf, it is absolutely non-stop fun. I’ve spent the last few days staying at Rob’s house and now Mindi’s (both fellow HARC, Straddie, and MMO people) on the Gold Coast. I really can’t describe how good I feel right now, just hanging out with some amazingly friendly and interesting people, eating good food, listening to the birds, and surfing perfect offshore sunny point breaks. I’m currently relaxing, that’s right RELAXING, watching mellow surf videos from a projector. This is the life, unfortunately this will all be changing tomorrow when I fly out to Perth to start training for my next project, but for now I’m soaking it up.

We surfed the famous Snapper Rocks today, on the south end of Rainbow Bay. It was a strange and humbling paddle out. The beach was packed with surfers and community members paying their respects to Andy Irons, who died a few days ago from Dengue fever in a Dallas hotel room. Lilly’s and other flowers were washing up on the beach, while friends of Irons talked about all the good times they shared over loud speakers set up on the bluff. Thirty two years old, he left a wife and his unborn child. It really puts into perspective how fleeting life is, and why you should never take it for granted. What made it all the more humbling was yet another shark sighting, noticed only by me. This was a big guy, maybe 6 foot, slowing swimming just beneath the surface around a hundred yards from my position. Despite the knowledge of its rows of sharp teeth, it didn’t appear very threatening; in fact it was hardly moving. The brief moment of caution I felt flew out the window after a nice set rolled in and carried me down an excellent waist high face, the only wave of the day that I managed to catch all to myself (the crowd was worse than Steamers on a good day).

Yesterday evening was one of those rare and classic surfing moments, where everything came together to make a magical and unforgettable surf session. It was late, about 5:30, and I decided to grab my board, jump into Mindi’s wrecked two seater, and charge to the beach for some waves. It was my first experience driving in Australia (outside of small rural roads), and I’m happy to say I succeeded in not hitting anyone or anything, I had my doubts. Actually I came pretty close to taking out some parked cars and a few pedestrians, it was hard to judge were the left side of the car was. It’s difficult not getting lost driving in Australia; their motto seems to be “keep traffic moving”. Stop signs and signals a rare, and roundabouts and strange merging lanes abundant. Basically if you don’t know where you’re going you’re screwed. After a few debacles I eventually made it to Currumbin, the closest break to Mindi’s house.

I stepped out of the beat up car to find a welcomed scene: a light crowd, 70 degree water, offshore breeze at about 5 knots, chest to head high bumps, a dark ominous sky in the background, and bright yellow foam crests and spray from the setting sun in the foreground….EPIC. As it turned out that the light crowd was full of beginners, so I basically shared all of the waves with another longboarder. So there we were, just the two of us, alternating between beautiful late evening perfection. What finally sealed the deal for best surf session in Australia were the hundreds of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters banking up and over the rolling swell, harnessing the wind with ease as they patrolled the offshore water for food. It was the first time I’ve seen an Osprey flying and feeding amongst shearwaters (it’s unique because shearwaters are open ocean birds and rarely come anywhere near land, unless of course they’re nesting in places like Australia). Life is good.

I will now sum up the breaks I have surfed thus far in Aussieland

Figure A. Currumbin, Gold Coast

Can’t beat the crowds. Not the most popular spot on the Gold Coast, and that’s the way I like it. A bit sectiony, but a nice sand bank from river mouth. Known for my best session in Australia yet. The yellow arrow points to Kirra Beach and beyond to the south.

Figure B. Kirra Headland, Gold Coast

- Rainbow Bay to Greenmount Beach: A long consistent right hander point break. Best at low going to high, good west winds around mid day make for some nice offshore spray. Long ride if you can make the sections.

- Snapper Rocks: If you like weaving around speed bumps (people that is), than this is your beach. Probably best to catch one big set here and let it carry you to the less populated Rainbow Bay. Had some collisions during the paddle out. Watch for submerged rocks and big sharks.

Figure C. Noosa Heads, Sunshine Coast

- Main Beach: fun beach break depending on the sand bars. Great place to surf on a light swell during a low high tide, when Noosa Heads is dead.

- River Mouth: Longer rides than Main Beach, and less crowds as well. Look out for small boats steaming through the surf at the bar crossing during a big swell. They can’t stop and will hit you, so don’t get in there way. Also a place where you’ll find many standup paddle boarders…man they’re annoying. Spotted a few sharks here, but only baby ones. Apparently it can be very sharky north of this spot.

- Witches Cauldron to Little Cove: My longest waves surferd so far. Picked it up at the tip of Witches and took it all the way through Little Cove and onto Main beach. My legs were getting tired from standing. Brilliant wave during a big swell when Tea Tree and Granites are too intense.

- Tea Tree and Granite: Crowded, and therefore over rated. May as well stick to Witches. Hit the rocks a few times here, and got dropped in on one too many times. I’m the one who’s supposed to do the dropping in.

- Alexandria Bay: good place to see nudies on the beach, even though they are beyond their expiration date. A lot like Monterey surf so I avoided it for some variety. J

- Sunshine to Peregian Beach: What can I say, just another beach break. Terrible during a massive swell and onshore winds. Can be a really fun morning surf on light days, actually caught some really long waves during high tide. Good place to surf with Humpback Whales too, we even heard them singing a few times while swimming in the surf. Again spotted a shark here (are you beginning to notice a trend?).

Figure D. Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island

Refer to the June-July posts about surfing Straddie, some good waves to be had. Cylinders is a classic point break that seems to always have something to offer. Some big sharks spotted off of Frenchman’s, but this is a bit biased since we spent all day watching the water.