Publsihed...

A strong south swell is filling into the Queensland Coast today and peaking on Sunday and Monday with what is projected to be 8-10 foot surf at the points. Snapper Rocks was stormy and wild this morning but the waves break within the wind shielded pocket and was five foot, hollow, and super fun. The sand on the point is perfectly groomed. The picture from the right was taken of snapper's this morning.

I got what i think is the best wave since my arrival here in Australia, a head high gem that seemed to go on forever or at least 150 yards and included two solid tubes and the third one ate me, ending the wave. My legs were jelly after that. I got three waves in two hours, with the length of ride it felt like i surfed a lot more than three waves.

When I got to work this morning and was reviewing the early morning (7:00) surf cam and was surprised to see myself walking back up the point. I know it was me because just on I remember the guy with the yellow twin fin in the mid right of the screen and the guy with the beer gut on the upper right of the screen entering the water. After I saw them, I saw the couple to my right and there I was, on the lower left, in the short john. Too bad the camera feed was not a few minutes earlier as it might have captured me getting SHACKED...

Sunday should be epic and I am taking Monday off work for more...

Climbing Critters...

Our building is currently being repainted and they have constructed a large scaffolding just outside our deck window.

The other night we were watching TV when the cats both raced to the screen door and went into alert mode. We were all surprised to see this little Australian Possum climbing around, three stories up, like it was nothing. He was kind of a big guy but balancing on the steal beams as if it were nothing. We have seen these before, they tend to run around the ground level but now that there is a scaffolding they seem to like to explore the upper regions.
He was a brave little sucker, we went outside to investigate and he did not seem to be bothered that we were there.

Survival Surfing...

I went for a surf over at a spot called The Other Side or better known as T.O.S. and is one of the more interesting surfs I have had here. There was some swell but this was more of a fact finding mission than anything else.

First you have to drive to Southport and go to the end of the road to a place called The Spit which is on the edge of the Gold Coast Seaway and is about 300 meters wide and has legendary tidal currents, has heavy boat traffic, huge rock walls, and of course; sharks. Running across the channel is the Southport Sand Pumping station that keeps the flow of sand going along it's natural path, from south to north, as needed which is pumped by a huge jet powered generator and runs in thirty minute intervals. From the south jetty you can either take a boat that will charge you six bucks to ferry you across or you can do it the manual method and paddle across. I chose the manual way today. Actually, I had no choice the boat guy is independent and some days he just does not work today being one of them.
I got there about 6:30 and was suited up and contemplating the paddle across when another guy showed up and asked if I was going to go for it. I told him that I was and he told me to hold on and he would paddle with me, "to give us a 50/50 with the sharkies" as he put it.
We grabbed our boards and headed down the jetty to a suitable spot. You have to see which way the tide is going and start your paddle at the appropriate end of the wall, if you don't judge it right you will get sucked into the bay which is really bad or get sucked out to sea which is really, really, really bad. Just out to sea from the channel is considered one of the sharkiest places on this coast.
We got to the wall and climbed down the Volkswagen sized rocks to the base and onto the sofa sized, slippery rocks, this is where it gets hairy. You have to time the powerful wave like surge that runs along the along the rock wall, and jump off just as a wave passes as to clear the jagged table sized, barnacle covered rocks just under the surface without putting a hole in the bottom of your surf board.
After that the premise is easy, paddle like hell and try not to get eaten, sucked out to sea, or run over by a Bay Liner or snagged by a fishing line.
When we got to the other side we reversed the order, scramble up the table rocks, to the sofa rocks, to the Volkswagen rocks. Welcome to "The Other Side.
From here it was a 250 meter hike through a dense forest with lots of snake and spider holes on the ground and sharp burrs which were just great with my bare feet.

Finally the surf spot.

The spot is one of the best beach breaks in Australia and although today was ordinary it was fun with chest to head high peaks up and down the beach. The focal point and creating force of the spot is the Southport sand pump outlet. This thing pukes sand at a rate of ten minutes every thirty minutes. The result is beautiful, shifting sandbars up the beach for about a mile. It is a heavy wave with a shallow bottom that does not take much swell to break, actually any swell over six to eight feet will render it too dangerous and I have been warned not to surf it on a heavy swell.

The best thing about this spot is the isolation. It is just minutes from the spectacle Surfer's Paradise but is about as remote as you can get. From the water you can hardly think that you are in the modern age.

The return trip was the same as the trip over except for a mis-timed exit from the water to the rocks which netted me good cuts on my hands, legs, back and feet. It is good that it happened on the way out as I bled at a decent rate and would not want the attention from The Man in the Grey Suit.

Please excuse the second hand photos as my camera has died, I am working on it...

World Famous...

Old School...

Noosa Heads for

Last weekend was Mariana's Birthday so we headed up to Noosa Heads to spend a day in the sun, out and about.

Noosa Heads is a state park located about two hours north of Brisbane's CBD, on the top of The Sunshine Coast. It is a beautiful parkland teeming with native wildlife, gorgeous beaches, and stunning views up the coast and inland to the mountains that dot the Queensland interior. There is also four points that line the headland and are considered some of the best surf spots in Australia when they are on. It was flat that day but we'll be back for sure.

We drove up but half way there we almost had to turn around as I was not sure if I had turned off the coffee pot. After some drama and contemplation we decided to risk it as there was still coffee in the pot and would probably not melt if left on. My rationale was that a modern coffee maker probably has a auto shut off switch but that was wild speculation. We gave caution to the wind and just went for it.

We arrived in Noosaville which is the town that borders the beaches. It is a beutiful town that reminded us of Laguna Beach but smaller. Artsy with money was the theme. We walked for a bit then had a bite of brekky and headed on.

We then went to the beach for a couple of hours. The water is starting to cool down here but is still about 72 degrees which is cold considering it was 80 last month. With the sea breeze it was nippy but the sand was warm and it was a nice afternoon none the less. We eventually took a swim and found that as long as you stayed "neck deep" it was warm.

We then took a hike around the headland and then had a nice lunch with some food we brought with us.

There is an abundance of wildlife in the park and all of Australia for that matter, we saw many interesting species including, wild turkeys, kangaroos, a koala, and some interesting wild birds.

All in all it was a beautiful day. We were relieved when we got home that the coffee maker was indeed off and the house was still in one piece.