Southbound Surf Chase

After leaving Brisbane for the last time, we set our sights on the nearby Gold Coast where the waves were meant to be bigger and the surf culture more intense. The first indication of a change of pace from our time up north was in reaching Surfer’s Paradise, which incidentally is nothing of the sort – huge towers, lots of congestion and outlying areas with names like Miami Beach. Definitely not our scene.

We pressed on to Coolangatta, a place that had been recommended by a few sources, and stumbled upon the famous surf break called “Snapper Rocks”. The Roxy and Quicksilver Pro events are held here and the local surf club had the names of former champions written on the stairs. Kelly Slater had earned a fair few risers. Clearly, we were in good company and that afternoon Ben caught some of his first “big” waves of the trip.

After our success in parking in the Noosa Woods we were emboldened and so when we found no signs forbidding overnight parking, we promptly set up shop in the parking lot in front of Snapper, with a view of the surf right out our window. This was perhaps the most incredible parking spot we got all trip. While hanging out and having our meals in the van, people would walk by and ogle with envy at our amazing set up. Unfortunately it was too good to be true and the following night we were woken by the park ranger and had to relocate.

We made the most of our time at Snapper and Patricia had one of her favourite surf sessions of the trip, catching perfect long board waves all morning amongst very friendly local surfers who encouraged her all the way. We also took advantage of the beautiful beachside areas to jog, relax on the beach and enjoy a beer at sunset.

Ben even got a chance to try his hand at touching up his second hand board, definitely a step in the right direction towards becoming a "real" surfer!

As we were to learn, good surf is never guaranteed. Finding the perfect wave is the pursuit of every surfer and it requires so many forces of nature to come together all at once – tide, swell, wind, bottom conditions, sun, etc. And as the surf ebbed in Coolangatta, we made our move south, stopping in briefly at Fingal Head (no surf) and then reaching Carabitta where we took the opportunity to catch enough waves to send us to sleep at a caravan park with a nice fatigue from the effort.

The next morning we made our way back to the beach for another go at the waves and set our sights further south on the backpacker mecca of Byron Bay. We had timed things to arrive in Byron on a Saturday for maximum night life, given that we had been mostly in small towns and mainly chilling in our van. If we wanted people, we found them! Byron was jammed with van people, tons of backpackers and just about everyone was out to enjoy a meal and a drink. We had also heard that Byron was a very artsy town, filled with musicians and on this count we were definitely not disappointed by the local talent.

 

We walked near the beach, stopping to check out a drum circle that had formed and found a big Brasilian man in the middle running the show. Next up was a delicious meal and wine in the van (always doing things the cheapest way!) before heading out to find what action we could. The sweet sounds of acoustic guitar lead us around a street corner and we joined the crowd as a great musician entertained a packed restaurant. Further on, we found a big old building with quite a clamour coming from inside and a burly bouncer outside. After inquiring, we were told that it was a free punk show. Yes, free! We went straight in and had a really entertaining night listening to the local bands and chatting with fellow revellers.

That night we slept in a rest area and made the decision to carry on further south as we realized that we both preferred the charm of the small Aussie surf town. Next up was Brunswick Heads where the surf was really starting to pick up. Ben jumped in and caught the corner of the odd huge wave and otherwise tried not to get crushed. Meanwhile, we found the local Fisherman’s Co-Op and packed the van with fresh delights from the sea and also bought fresh veggies from the local market.

We also couldn’t resist stopping in for a piece of grilled cod at the Fisherman’s Co-Op which we spiced up with our own potatoes and salad. Patricia completely perfected pan fried fish during this period of the trip and each meal seemed better than the last.

It was during this time that we also stayed at a great little rest area called Yelgun where we met a really interesting young German couple and hung out together after dinner. They had been living in their awesome 4x4 camper truck for the last two years, along with their dog, taking tree planting contracts when available and traveling when not.

The town of South Golden Beach was just nearby and so we dropped in to check out the surf. Since it turned out to be quite churned up, we opted to head out for a run along a great little path that wound through the woods and town. The people of South Golden were incredibly friendly and the local café let us leave our computer charging while we enjoyed the outdoors. We had so many great experiences with friendly Aussies along the coast, it was really quite inspirational.

Waking up the next morning we decided to give the surf at Brunswick another look and what we saw pretty much took our breath away. The swell was massive, 6ft+ according to the forecast, the biggest of our five weeks on the trip, and a handful of the best local surfers were out putting on a show. We watched, spellbound, from the safety of the breakwater with coffee in hand as successive riders took on huge waves, sometimes with poetic success.

As the swell died down and the surfers paddled in, we hopped in our trusty van and headed further south towards Broken Heads. There we found a great caravan park located just opposite the beach where we shacked up for the night. It was a beautiful and secluded beach with a big headland creating an amazing point break. We hopped in the water that afternoon and Ben had his heart racing with a mix of excitement and nervousness after getting a hold of a few big ones. It’s an amazing feeling to race down the face of a good sized wave with the sound of a crash just behind you and white water licking at your feet!

We got a few good surf sessions in at Broken Heads and as the short board waves died down, the longboard waves improved and Patricia had a great time out there.  The sun in Australia is really strong, but she managed to beat the heat with an interesting outfit that looked like a mix between a Japanese fisherman, white-faced geisha and fifties pin-up girl. Oh yeah!

It was hard to leave, but we did so reluctantly that afternoon with the promise of dramatic scenery and more waves at Lennox Heads. As the surf wasn’t cooperating that night or the next morning, we returned to our beloved Broken Heads where we took a walk down 7 Mile Beach and had another lunch with a great view.

Next stop on our surf run was the fun-sounding town of Yamba. As usual we stopped in at the surf shop to acquire some local knowledge. There we met “Grumpy”, a grizzled veteran of the surf community in Yamba and much friendlier than his nickname suggested. Given the current messy conditions, he confided in us about a protected break along Pippi beach (in exchange for our vow of secrecy) and sure enough the waves were just right. More than that, each time we caught a wave in to shore, the headland rip brought us back out to the break with minimal paddling, like a moving sidewalk. That night we shacked up in the harbour parking lot and dined on fresh fish from the Co-op.

Next morning we drove out to Angourie, to check out what according to locals was the inspiration that drew most of the people to the Yamba area. There we found an amazing view down to the mythical point break (which unfortunately wasn’t working), had a breakfast and imagined ourselves surfing that spectacular sight.

As usual, we had to tear ourselves away from paradise and hit the road to check the surf which was rumoured to be good near Arrawarra. Upon arriving, we needed to get down to the beach across the property of a backpackers resort. As we walked through, a surf instructor ran frantically up the beach shouting about a medical issue and Patricia quickly offered to help. It turned out that one of his students had suffered a dislocated shoulder, which as we drew up on the scene had popped itself back into place, so our good doctor offered some advice on taking care of it over the next few days. The relieved instructor was more than happy to direct us to the break at the next beach over called Mullaway, a gorgeous spot, where Ben caught some waves with a couple of locals. As usual, the van had a pretty nice parking spot…

The surf wasn’t spectacular so we moved on to a spot we never would have discovered if it wasn’t for the incredible “Grumpy” of Yamba. He asked that we please stop in at Scott’s Head. On arriving, we knew he had made a memorable suggestion as the protection provided by the curving headland created a great point break and the town itself had done an incredible job in protecting the natural feel of the place by keeping development away from the forested shoreline. Patricia took full advantage of the fantastic right hander, catching some nice long rides into shore while Ben worked the fast closing beach break waves further away, getting a chance to practice popping up quickly as well as duck diving underneath the powerful force with increased confidence.

We found everything we could have wanted here: Nice clean bathrooms with separate indoor cold showers, free outdoor power outlets for our computer, a protected parking spot with an incredible view to watch the surf and super friendly locals. For our nightly parking spot we found our favourite rest area of the trip where we set up underneath the shade of some huge trees away from the road, giving it the feel of back country camping. Scott’s Head even had amazing mosaic art around the surf beach buildings. It was a magical destination that kept us hanging around for four days.

Managing to pull ourselves from the gravity of Scott’s Head one morning we made the trek to Crescent Head which boasted a better known point break. Popular it truly was as the water was packed with hopeful surfers. It was so crowded that Patricia actually got tangled up with another surfer on a wave (!), who was quite friendly about the whole situation as he unwrapped himself from her leash. We caught a few waves here, but the atmosphere in the water and in the town just couldn’t live up to Scott’s and so we moved back to our favourite spot after a morning session.

Our stay at Scott’s finally came to an end as the surf flattened out and our timing for returning to Sydney was getting tight. We selected Seal Rocks as our last go at the waves before returning to civilization, a rugged and beautiful place that gave us a perfect send off. We managed to fit in a run through the nearby National Park and an amazing breakfast by a freshwater lake where we sat in our comfy van sipping coffee and watching the incredible array of birds float by one after the other – pelicans, ducks, black swans. The wildlife buffet continued as upon returning to the coast we spotted dolphins cruising near the rocky point. The show-stopper was still to come when sitting on his board waiting for a wave, Ben spotted a pod of nearby whales playfully rising out of the water only to crash spectacularly down again. An incredible display!

 Finally, the time had come to return to Sydney, but we had arranged for ourselves one last ocean treat. Battling through morning rush hour traffic we arrived at Bondi Beach, a famous and beautiful surf spot in the city, to take on our last Aussie waves. Bondi didn’t disappoint in dramatics as the swell had built up to massive overhead height. Patricia worked a protected spot at the north end of the beach, catching a wave or two, including a spectacular flight through the air, while Ben tried his hand at the open break managing only to dodge the crushing waves and catch a "small" one back in to terra firma. We considered this a huge success in that we surfed a busy spot with big swell alongside experienced surfers with the feeling that we belonged out there. We were definitely now surfers! Wooooooooo!

That afternoon held one last hilarious surprise for us when Ben returned the van and the attendant seemed more relieved than normal. Turns out we had totally messed up the date and honestly thought we were returning on time when we were actually one day late. The company had been calling and emailing to try to track us down for more than 24 hours. “Woah man, you lost a day!”, exclaimed the rental guy (who chose not to charge us anything extra due to his happiness in getting the van back). But we saw it the other way around. We actually gained another day on the beautiful surf coast of Australia, a trip that seemed to just keep on giving right up until the end.