Greece!!

Here we are, safe and sound in the Mediterranean! Ensconced in our (tiny) hotel room in the Athenian port of Piraeus, we're only just now starting to work out exactly where we are, and what we're doing...

After coming back from Gnaraloo and having a few days off, our mindset was a bit off...we kind of felt like the holiday was over, even though it has only just begun!

So here are we in Athens. We had great flights, food was awesome, and we both managed to sleep for a few hours on the longer flight. Hannah was pretty cut that they didn't have the same movies on both planes, because the end of the ghastly Miley Cyrus movie she was watching was cut short, so she doesn't know if Miley got the guy or whatever.

It's very easy to get the Piraeus Port, from where the ferries all leave. We just jumped on a bus, got lost, found a cab, and got driven the 100m to our hotel.

This is how amped we were to be on a bus. That sign behind us advertises some casino, for which their slogan is a very Borat-esque "NAICE!"

This is the view out our window. There's so many houses built just like this, white squares. When you fly in, it's amazing how many miles of perfectly square white houses there are. Oh, and there are NO tall buildings in Athens. No sky scrapers or anything, nothing above maybe 20 floors. Interesting to see!

Looking left out of our balcony, you see a glimpse of a small bay. We're going to check it out at dinner time, there should be some nice little cafes and what not there.

Traffic is pretty spinny here. You can park wherever the hell you like, like on the corner at a traffic light intersection. Also, giving way to pedestrians seems to be encouraged, but optional.

Can't wait to check out the ferry tomorrow. We're off to Mykonos!!

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...

The Bomb...

Weekend trip up to the bombing range...

It was pretty steep for us and tough getting out the back. Blair was frothing. I very nearly got barrelled which is saying something.

The place was almost deserted and we had peaks to ourselves. More goodness from the 120-400mm zoom canon...

More pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannah_katarski/sets/72157617940515817/

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!

Count Down to the Endless Summer

That's what I'm calling our fabulous and upcoming 3 months off.
Our expedition to Gnaraloo is now only 6 weeks away! We've been heading down to Yallingup as much as possible to try and get into some decent size waves to prepare ourselves. We've started surfing at the Mainbreak which has a lot of similarities to Gnaraloo; reef, a long way out, waves that form across the whole bay. It's been really satisfying.

The list of things to do before we go seems to get longer rather than shorter. The everyday stuff and the things we need to take care of in our absence are the real concerns. We want to sell the Camry so it doesn't sit in the carport for 10 weeks, plus sorting our bill payment and renewing drivers licenses!

The end to our holiday is now taking shape and we've rented a house in Haleiwa, Oahu for a week. What's more, a couple of surfer friends are meeting us there as well as a few other people from across the globe. Looking like being a real high to finish off the trip.

There's so many great things to look forward to that James and I oscillate between being excited about different legs of the trip. We plan to drive from San Onofre up to San Francisco and I can't wait to explore the coastline, taking photos, surfing and maybe even finding a 3-finned present to bring home.

World Trip!!

Confirmed! We've paid our deposit, and are rip-roaring and ready to blast off into our (partial) world trip! It's still a long, LONG way off, but I'll definitely be looking forward to it every day until we're there.

SO, for those to whom we have not already discussed our trip ad nauseum, here is the (very) rough itinerary:

Late June: Gnaraloo (approx 10 days)
July 11: Greece/Greek Isles (10 days)
Jul-August: South of France (2 weeks)
August: Spain (1 week)
Mid August: Las Vegas (couple of days including my birthday)
August: Californian coast, all the way up through Los Angeles to San Francisco (couple of weeks)
August/Sept: Hawaii (about 4 or 5 days or so)
September: Home!

There is, of course, a fairly obvious focus on the trip... Whilst we're starting with a relaxing ferry tour of the Greek Isles, Biarritz in France will be our home for 2 weeks of, hopefully, great surfing! Probably not much surf in Spain or Vegas (wave pool? Hmm...), but Cali-forn-i-'A'-frame-peaks will be a highlight. Top it off with a chill out session in Waikiki, Hawaii... splendid.

The plan will be to update whenever we have access to the Internet... could be intermittent. Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countdown... 6 months to go!