Day 1: An early
Tuesday start leaving Sydney at 7ish.
The early morning flight over the eastern suburbs revealed a nice day
and an aerial view of the eastern suburbs.
Arriving at Gold Coast Airport I picked up the car and
headed straight for Coolongatta. It was
a bit of a debate as to whether to get in at Dbah, Snapper or check
Burleigh. In the end I opted for
snapper. Nothing was classic and the
wind was beginning to get up, but it was good to lok in a surf. Very strange place to surf- the point is like a wave machine. Unfortunately the wind and choppy east swell made it much more disorganized than it looked from above. Had a little cruise down the coast checking miles of average beach break before heading to a rainy Byron Bay.
Day 2: An early start paid a dividends. So did a bit of driving. Winds were offshore and there was a short period but decent size easterly swell. Nowhere in Byron looked any good but success was found at Broken Head. I surfed for 3 hours before feeling destroyed. Without having food or water I was starving and thirsty. So headed to Ballina via Lennox Head. Ballina is a cool and quiet little town. After smashing a pie and then an ice cream Lennox I spent the afternoon driving around. A bit of night out of Byron with a few beers meant a late finish and another awesome pie.
Day 3: Rain and not much surf- well not any good. I checked out the Byron Bay Lighthouse and Australia's Easterly point. Also a quick surf at sharky Tallows. It was pretty dumpy and hard work. The common theme continues. After a 30 min session more driving and a stop at the 'Humble pie' company. I wouldn't say this pie was exceptional, but it was good. I finished up the evening arriving at Surfing Australia in Casuarina. Healthy dinner and early bed were the order of the day.
Day 4: Early start to the coaching day at Surfing Australia. A productive day. Once I bothered fighting the current caught some fun rights with some footage review. An avro technique skate and a short surf in what had deteriorated to dumpy onshore closeouts.
The day finished with driving up to the Goldie for a night in Surfer's Paradise (not paradise by the way). The highlight was free beer in one bar.
Day 5: Got in a surf near Burleigh Heads at a beach break while it was small but clean. Headed on to where the trip started at Snapper to pack up the board and dry the wettie. A last lunch and beer at the Rainbow Surf Club with a great view of snapper. All rounded up with a Gelato Messina, who have an outpost in Coolongata (how un Queensland, before flying back to Sydney.
All in all a fun little trip. Not the best waves or weather, but saw plenty of big name surf spots and enjoyed driving round somewhere else in Oz.
