Monday, 27 July 2015

Mini Road trip: Gold Coast to Balina via Byron Bay



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.

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