Surfing in the Desert - Video from Gnaraloo, Western Australia, July 2010

Beaut Birthday

I had a great day today! It started off in Santa Barbara at our sweet little Mexican Inn.

From there we drove south to Rincon, which was "small" but actually breaking. A quick trip back to Carpinteria to hire boards before paddling out!

I scored the long wetsuit this time.

Oil platforms off in the distance.

I think James felt the cold keenly in his springy, hence all the photos! My men's wetsuit was practically new, super warm, with some extra pouches that trapped in the water ;l

More hardcore than me... The peak packed a punch when a decent one came through. Guys were even getting little barrels today!

I got to surf with a seal, a dolphin and an oil rig!

The peaks were pretty fat and hard to catch on the softboards we were able to hire. The 7' one was almost as wide as it was long and paddled like a frisbee. The 7'6 was slightly better, but just didn't have the rails for attempting the main peak.

Of course Jimmy found a little friend. :D

The tide was on the way out exposing the rocks and some healthy sized boulders to dodge!
Although this isn't Rincon at its classic best, I'm so stoked I got to surf it! It is always so perfect in the movies and often you go to these places and it's too big or completely flat. So it was nice to get amongst it. Surfing when travelling is pretty different to surfing your local. You don't know the break, the current, the tides, or the reef and so I always feel a little more conservative than at home. Plus I don't want to add the Santa Barbara State Hospital to my list of tourist sights. I'd have to find it on the GPS first.

After a quick lunch in Carpinteria, which is really laid back and nice, we blasted along the N101 before heading up into Los Padres National Forest. The GPS told us to go this way, which proved to be spectacular. I don't actually think the machine programmes in the most scenic route, but it was a nice bonus!
We rose really quickly along the cliffs and into the mountains. Home to the Chumash people, the vista was breathtaking, especially over Lake Cachuma.
Arriving in Pismo Beach, just south of San Luis Obispo, we were upgraded to a King Room. Nice!! All these coastal towns are centred around the pier and yet they're all different. From the wooden pier we watched some local kids surfing, got some ideas for where to hire boards and surf tomorrow, and checked out the strip. Pocho's surf shop has the biggest collection of retro skateboards I've ever seen. There would have been 50 old decks as well as a number of single fin mals all mounted on the roof.

This little town wasn't initially on our radar, but we needed somewhere to break up the trip to Santa Cruz. We're really glad we found it, even if they do sell chocolate covered crickets on main street...

Gnaraloo

I don't even know where to start. We had such a fantastic time. Sure we weren't without our dramas - the hired trailer suspension died on the way up resulting in the 12 hour drive taking an extra 5 before we were all at camp... but all in all, it was pretty nice! It was windy this year but all easterly. Sunny everyday which was a real treat after leaving Perth at 3am on the coldest night since 2006.

Our campsite was massive which allowed for my parents' Taj Mahal-of-a-tent, plus ours, plus the kombi. We were joined by a number of visitors around the campfire as the entire surfing population of Margaret River seemed to be there at the same time as us.The following day was our first day out at Tombstones - the mainbreak. About as small as it gets up there and so much fun. The following couple of days were bigger and we left it to Bill and Dad to surf.Dad kneeboarding

We managed to find some waves too...Hannah

Hannah
James on a bomb

We worked up the courage to go out at Fencelines one afternoon which proved to be a fun little wave. Very dependent on the tide but a shorter paddle and nice and fast. Courage was needed to get over the thought of ending up on the reef ledge at low tide.We had a couple of days by ourselves out at Tombies when dad and Bill went off to Turtles.

Suited up and ready to paddle out. The water is really warm and glassy, but the reef is nasty. On the first day out I put a sea urchin through my bootie and carved chunks out of my board on the coral coming in.Endless Summer

Loving the lefts.All lefts here... me bottom turning to head down the line.

James had a knack for finding ones like THESE!

Richard making the drop. Me about to be decapitated...

James and Dad went into Carnarvon to collect the trailer (complete with two new springs) towards the end of the week. Rich, Emma and I took this time to chill out and do some drawing!
We had a fantastic and unusually crowded day out on the water midweek. Waves were so fat that we were getting push-ons from Dad and Bill. But the Meiklejohn boys didn't stop at giving James, Rich and I a boost. I think everyone in the line up benefited. It was a great vibe, there were heaps of other women out and it was like a tea party out in the ocean.
We ate so well. Bill's meatballs, Dad's chicken casserole. Emma & Richard brought along the gourmet contingent with red Leicester cheese, honey and banana breads, roti... The highlight as always though was fresh caught fish and handcut chips.

After cooking for 9, the place got a whole lot quieter when James and Sarah left, shortly followed by Rich and Emma.We had some quiet days with less wind and even smaller swell. I took the 6'8 out at Fencelines and found that it went pretty well with the new skills I've picked riding my minimal.

Dad and I also shared some father daughter time out at Tombstones one afternoon. Whales breaching not so much further out. A whole four people in the water.The tranquility up there is unparalleled. No power, no phones, no fresh water. You feel pretty isolated. And we were, until the Friday before we were due to leave. It took me a while to realise where all the people had come from. School holidays. So our last 3 days were a little less tranquil and a little more circus-like. Having said that, there were plenty of waves to go around, still waves going unridden and the sun kept shining.

Still offshore

The idea that we'll shortly be getting on a plane and heading off for 8 weeks seemed alien. The thought of airports and traffic and people, a million miles away. Totally unreal. Reality?

The sunset and the stars and the sound of the waves...

Makin' Hay

It's just ticked over into Winter here, which in WA can often mean clear skies, offshore days and 20 degree weather. I've taking advantage of the conditions and have been out 6 times this week. Summer is always such a frustrating swell-drought ridden time, so now I'm making hay while the sun shines... Images from my GoPro (birthday present last year!) Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were uncrowded and absolutely magic down at Isolators. Just the right balance of tide and swell. By Wednesday people had cottoned on and there was a crowd, by Thursday the SWs were in.

Four frothers out at sunset...

Huzzas

We hadn't been out here before and it was big and crowded. After umming and erring for an inordinate amount of time, I decided I'd go in with Jo and James took photos. We recently got a new lens and this was a good opportunity to try out the Sigma 120-400mm!

We'll need to add some shots of Southpoint, taken by James *here*

Although it was daunting to look at, where we went out was super fat, rediculous to get on and I only caught one wave.

Wave of the day was definitely Jo's mega right!