Queensland 5 - Byron and back

Here's me with my new board after our great session at the Superbank. We headed down to Byron, but were not blessed with terrific conditions. This was the Pass the arvo we arrived. It was tiny and we wondered whether James' 7'6 would even carry him on them. The shape is amazing. Peeling right handers that stretch across the bay. We checked out Wategos too, but nothing going on there at all. The other beach down here, Tallows is east facing and had all the swell, but as we turned up it was starting to rain and super windy. I'd love to check out Cosy Corner next time we're over. Maybe we'll be lucky.

The lookout at The Pass

Bird and stormy skies.

We walked along the beach into town. Off to the left in the shot below is the Wreck. It's in the centre of town. I hear it can be good, but on this day there were soo many guys out and hardly any waves even coming through.

Rasta

The rain came in that night. We would have got about 100mm in a twelve hour period. But it didn't stop there. Some places got 200mm. We were ill equipped in our van with fly-less tent, holey tarps and not a lot else. The next morning I went out for a quick surf at the Pass on my own. James was keen to get everything packed up. It was bigger than the day before. Still good shape, but messy. I was a wuss on my own without someone there to give me confidence. I had the long board out and wasn't confident catching the bigger stuff on it - having not really mastered the angle I needed to prevent the nosedive on it - and there was a short period meaning I had to keep getting under them as they came in so close to each other. Still glad I surfed it though. Caught three waves before heading back to the van to get going. Back in Coolangatta and the rain didn't stop for 2 days. We checked out the Superbank in the rain. Looked awesome, but neither of us were that keen to surf in the rain on our summer holiday. Save that for winter in Perth. Later I saw a surf news report about the amazing waves everywhere had had on this weekend. All the places we'd visited going off. http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=5182 The Pass was the last surf we got over there. A quick dip on Friday back at Superbank, but I didn't really count the one wave - what with the ridiculous current, the brewing storm and the stupid anxiety I had. The one thing I'll say about the trip is that I'd hoped to surf more. Probably goes without saying, but I'd come over hoping to surf every day. Any experienced surf traveller will probably tell me that this was unrealistic from the getgo. I can see that now. I really wanted to step things up, get my technique to the next level, but didn't really feel that I got enough water time. I got some good trimming going and some fun waves, but didn't catch anything as big as the stuff I've surfed at home and I guess I disappointed myself in that regard. It is understandable, I think, when you're somewhere new and unknown without anyone to tell you where to sit, where the rips form, where is safe. But next time I think I'll need to push myself a little more, take every opportunity that presents itself, otherwise you're left wanting more.

Superbank in the rain. More people out than the previous weekend when it was sunny.

Sets rolling in.

The day we flew out. We cursed ourselves for packing the boards before checking the beach!

We'd decided on a relaxed morning, cooked breaky and leisurely pack up. Seeing this made me wish we'd done it all the night before and surfed! Even if it meant wrapping our boards in the airport! The whole trip was great. There were some interesting moments, of course, and things we'll do differently next time, but we'll definitely be back!!