Unusual Signs and Sights from Down Under

Sharks don't like Christmas. (Sky City, Auckland)

But people used to call them? (New Zealand Maritime Museum)

Live long and prosper. (Auckland)

Uh, yeah. Sure. (KMart-ish store in Auckland)

Run for your life! (Whatipu, New Zealand)

Ah, the good old days! (Russell, New Zealand)

We don't need all your stinkin' rules! (Raglan, New Zealand)

Lifesaving brought to you by Boeing and DHL. (Bondi, Australia)

In the days before sunscreen, long dresses at the beach. (Bondi, Australia)

Plastic bottles reincarnated as a Christmas tree. (Sydney)

Oh, no, Mr. Tumnus has turned to stone! (Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney)

Flows to beach. (Manly, Australia)

Barefoot Surfing (North and South Steyne)

We had planned two nights in Australia's Blue Mountains but bailed a day early to get back to the beach. Although Coastalwatch claimed the surf was only 0.5m, a morning walk in Manly toward the south end of the beach brought the eye candy of guys getting barreled in translucent green-blue water. (Sad to say, operator error botched the videos.)

Don, Australia's Mr. Realsurf and a transplanted Santa Barbaran, joined me mid-morning for a surf at North Steyne where the waves were a bit smaller and more suited to my skill level. It was a glorious warm sunny day, and a treat to surf without gloves, hood or booties. Unfortunately, aside from the unaccustomed 70-degree water, the break reminded me of Linda Mar on a typical day. It was crowded, with many waves that either looked promising but turned into moundy mush, or sucked up sand and closed out with a crash. Alas, I caught nada. But tomorrow is another day, and there's time for one last surf before we fly home to SFO.

I did get to try out the Ola Chica "wipeout-proof" bikini while bodysurfing, and can report that it passed that test with no wardrobe malfunctions. The real trial will have to be on a tropical surf vacation, perhaps in Hawaii.

To beat the crowds, Don agreed to meet me for a 5:30 am dawn patrol and showed up on the dot. The swell had dropped considerably but still offered up waist- to shoulder-high waves. At that early hour on a Saturday, the crowd was much lighter, and we picked an empty peak at South Steyne for ourselves. It didn't have a catchable shoulder and we had to paddle constantly against a south drift to stay right on the peak where it was makeable. Oz showed me a little love on my last day; I got a couple decent though short rides, pulling off one turn and then two.

In front of the camera: above with Don by Scott, below by Don with his waterproof Panasonic Lumix.

Bare feet on the board was a pleasure, and I've become quite spoiled on warm-water surfing. But all good things (and vacations) must come to an end, and now it's back to cold autumn in NorCal. There was a picture in the Sydney newspaper this morning of supposedly 9m waves at Ocean Beach, so surf's up, waaay up. Crossing the International Date Line makes me live Saturday twice, just like Groundhog Day. So in theory, having surfed Australia Saturday morning, I could surf Santa Cruz Saturday afternoon - both Hemis in one day. But I'll have to see how I feel after 13 hours trapped in a flying tin can.

Much to my dismay, when it came time to pack up my surfboard for the flight home, the fitted foam rail guards (pipe insulation) and giant bubble wrap bag were nowhere to be found. I must have left them behind at the hotel in Bondi. D'oh! All of our t-shirts and other soft clothes pulled from the dirty laundry will hopefully provide enough protection within the travel board bag.

I'd like to go back to Oz again sometime, but not until the exchange rate improves considerably. Since our visit last year, the Aussie dollar rose 40% against US currency. We had to pay nearly US$2 for a single banana! One thing for sure, I'm not eager to fly Qantas again. Not only did they temporarily lose our checked bags, the in-flight entertainment systems malfunctioned on both trans-Pacific flights, partially on the way there and nearly completely on the way back. Fortunately I've learned to bring my own entertainment as well as food and water as the airlines can't be relied upon anymore for even the basics. On the plus side, Qantas never charged me a surfboard fee, and mostly forgot to have me sign the damage waiver as well.

Update: Nemo made it home on time and in good health. The wax didn't even melt, so it's on with some cold water Matunas and back into the chilly NorCal surf for the both of us.

Warm-Water Wash (Bondi)

We arrived in Sydney at the end of a heat wave, the hottest temperature recorded on that date in 30 years. The city is less than half an hour from Bondi Beach, and it seemed most of its inhabitants had fled there to escape the blistering heat on a Sunday afternoon. The ocean was smooth but the waves were small and mushy. Still I would have paddled out, had the lineup not been as crowded as the sand. I decided to wait for Monday's dawn patrol when the teeming masses had returned to their jobs.

Unfortunately the weather changed dramatically in the night, bringing stiff onshores, light rain, and cool temperatures. I awoke to bigger waves that were blown out and unsurfable. One Aussie website claimed the surf was only 2-3 feet but my observation was head-high; they must measure waves from the back or like in Hawaii, at half their face height.

Later in the day it looked a bit cleaner and some surfers were out getting waves. Jonesing, I suited up, leaving gloves and hood behind. It was odd to paddle without gloves; my hands felt small and underpowered. On top of the short-period swell, the chop from the storm front was substantial, tossing me about on little Nemo, and this time Dramamine was not up to the task. I soon made my queasy way back to the beach, having accomplished nothing but some warm-water duck-diving practice.

By morning, the wind had dropped substantially, though it still blew onshore. The whitewater cauldron had quieted and I decided to give Bondi another go. From our 5th floor balcony, I could still see the rip I'd used the day before to get out. It was a little harder to spot from down on the beach, but a "Dangerous Currents, No Swimming" sign marked the surfers' entrance to the Tasman sea.

Once out, I found the chop was about 2-3 feet on top of shoulder- to head-high mushy waves. This not only made it hard to pick the shifty waves out of the slop, but I was bobbing around like a rubber duck in a candy-hyped toddler's bath. The Dramamine held, but I wasn't getting anything, just watching other people ride. It was discouraging, but then I remembered that a substantial percentage of Australians surf, many from the time they can walk. They have the skill to make a pleather purse from a dish rag, whereas I... am not so capable.

Little consolation though really; I would have liked to ride at least one wave at Bondi. So far the Southern Hemi has pretty much skunked me while there's been good surf at home, and I'm getting hungry for a serving of cold Nor Cal waves.

Destination: Australasia!

Jumping on some low airfares - about half the cost of our trip last year - S and I have booked a week each in New Zealand and Australia during the second half of November. This trip, we'll spend less time flying around, with stops in just Auckland and one of our favorite cities, Sydney. We spent only 4 jet-lagged days in Sydney last November so we're looking forward to deeper exploration of the area.

It will be our first time in New Zealand, and I'm all goofy-foot excited about the long left called Raglan that's not far from Auckland on the North Island. My Down Under surf buddy Matt just posted this enticing description - can't wait to be there in person!

Everybody Out of the Water!

What a beautiful spot. I wish we'd made it down there. Next time.
But surfing murky water at dusk, not such a good idea. And the sharks nets offer false security.

One More Australia Photo

...just because it's a cool shot. This is Whale Beach, north of Sydney.

Now, for those of you who were looking forward to reading all the details of my Oz surf adventures, sorry, but I decided early on that I didn't want to spend my vacation blogging. And in fact, the technology just isn't there yet - or at least I don't own it - to make mobile photo and text blogging convenient and easy from the other side of the world. Now I simply don't have time. So the photos alone will have to do.

I've also decided to somewhat extend my vacation from blogging. I'll still post from time to time, but not every session, to focus more on surfing than surf writing, and keep things fresh and interesting. So until next time, hooroo from this seppo sheila!

Skunked in South Australia

Too small...

too blown out...

too closed out...

...but seeing a mob of wild 'roos made the drive worthwhile.

Really Wish I'd Brought My Board on This Hike

Noosa National Park

Noosa (Sunshine Coast), 12 November 2008

Pic from the day before. It was smaller and windier when I went out.

Burleigh Heads (Gold Coast), 10 November 2008

Dee Why (Sydney), 6 November 2008

Narrabeen (Sydney), 5 November 2008

Manly (Sydney), 3 November 2008