Just got back home this arvo, the surf was a mixed bag and there was a few dramas here and there, but on the whole, I really enjoyed myself. Surfing PP with MR, Prawnhead, SP & Ted on Friday and Saturday was a real highlight. On Saturday alone MR and me went in for 3 very long sessions, 2 off the point and one on the beachy.
The rides are really long on the big boards so the paddles were real big and that helped us get a good nights sleep, bit of rain on Saturday night so it was lucky Ted left early because his tent had a dirty big rip in it so he would have got nice and wet if he'd stayed.
Take a look at the splint we made out of a coat hanger to hold the tent bow together.
Hey Ted, MR wants to know when he can have his wire coat hanger back???
The surf off the point wasn't big, but if you were patient, you could be rewarded with the odd good one that would hold up for a decent ride.
Here's Ted picking up the scraps from PH
This will give you a bit of an idea how far it is to the beach from the point, I'm pretty sure that's PHs melon sticking out over the top of the foam. MR had one ride on my 10.6 where he actually stepped off onto the beach sand.
The Sunday morning drive from PP to Woopi was uneventful but I did stop at in Frederickton but because I was so early, I only got a coffee from a café. The only reason I'm mentioning it is so that you all know that no matter how good the pies are in Fredericton, they can't make coffee for sh!t. It had a burnt taste to it, I couldn't even finish it, it used to be that a Café in Kew had the worst coffee on the Pacific Hwy, congratulations Frederickton, you're the new gold standard in crap coffee.
I told you about the Sunday arvo session we had at Arra after the contest was over, we had the place all to ourselves. I suspect mainly because by that time all the contestants were good and pissed. RG looked to be enjoying himself. Could have done without loosing the board on the highway at 100k, but I only have myself to blame so there's no point crying over spilt milk.
It was a bit sad to see MR leave a day early, we were having a great time, but family must always come first. At least I know he was suffering the next day because he sent me a text to say he was assembling IKEA. I hate that stuff.
Yesterday was like the rest of the east coast, totally rooted, managed a couple of tiddlers at Mullawarra plus a good perv at a few surf school chicks.
The rest of the day was spent going to a favourite sightseeing destination and then driving to places that I never usually bother to go to.
First up was the rainforest behind woopi, haven't been there since February 28th 2003, I'll always remember the date because it was the day before my birthday and I picked up a leach while I was there and it must have got a bit of a bug into my blood because I was buggered for the next 3 days with a dirty big lump in my groin and as sick as a dog.
No chance of any leaches this time; the place was as dry as a bone. I should be standing in water up to my waist in this hole.
Regardless of how dry it was, the forest was still thriving and all the staghorns and elkhornes still looked good in the high canopy.
I then took the Upper Corindi road and went along the Sherwood Forest track all the way to Glenreagh, then I drove through the Bucca Valley via the Orica Way, once again the country looked good despite the lack of rain and for once I got to see the valley that I only usually see from the top of the escarpment in the forest behind woopie.
Somewhere in these hills is the escarpment.
Finished off down at the Coffs jetty visiting the Log Shack, they had a beautiful Bing Levitator there that would have been an excellent replacement for the noserider I stuffed up.
Then back to woopi to visit a mate and finished off the day with a good walk along the beach all the way past second lake.
One of the highlights was last nights feed, I tried a fish'n'chip place down at the beach that's been there a while called “White Salt”. I've never bothered to go there because it looked a bit too fancy for me so I always go to the local greasy Joe's and get the usual limp soggy chips and the battered fish with the batter that's more like a brown coat of armour.
I'm sorry if I sound like a food fag, but this White Salt place was brilliant, first off, the batter was a really delicate one that still allowed you to see the fish through it and it was laced with herbs, probably parsley, it was more like a tempura than a normal batter. The Tartare sauce was not that supermarket crap, it looked and tasted homemade, again with plenty of herbs.
But the biggest surprise was the chips, they were hand cut in the shop, and they were delish, how many places cut their own chips? I can't think of any in the last 20 years.
On the way back I pulled in to Scotts Head for a coffee and a quick look, and although the surf was just as crappy as everywhere else, I did get to see the coolest surf buggy EVAR.
Don't know if the owner had a disability, but it sure did beat having to carry around a longboard
