Happy New Year!
A low pressure system off of Queensland has brang brought a bucket load of swell down to Manly. We went down to the Bower on New Year’s Eve and I filmed some footage of the surfers who were out in the fairly large swell that day. It does get bigger than this at Manly but not very often. Check GlobalSurfari.com for a recent surf forecast.
Or download a higher quality WMV (35meg) of the video for a crisper experience.
Last week after work I went down and met Marcus and Dan for the Anon Sunwear Launch Party which was a tow-in aerial show down Manly Beach in pretty small conditions. Dion Agius is the real standout in this video, the dude wearing the bones wetsuit.
Peace
Update June 9:
Deadman’s, the bit which I was photographing and didn’t even realise started to get a bit better on Sunday, here’s Kai Otton looking like he’s about to eat it -
Marcus got some wicked pictures from Deewhy on Sunday as well.
June 8:
Today has been the biggest storm in Sydney all year. A ship has run aground and two others may run aground as well.
The lights have been flickering on and off all day and the Manly ferry was cancelled. At lunch time I couldn’t resist going down to the Bower to see if anyone was out there. No one. Just as I was driving away I saw two guys climb under the fence in a bit I didn’t even know you could get out in Update: A way to get to deadmans -
Death Wish
A one point the two guys nearly went out but not because they wanted to -
Nearly Washed Away
And finally on Manly beach limited surfing was going on in the south corner, basically these dudes were getting one wave, coming back to shore, walking down the beach and going back in again.
Got one
Yesterday morning saw a small glassy 1-2ft swell coming through Sydney area, I got up early in the morning with Amy and went down to for a morning surf to wake myself up for the rest of the day. The water temp was lovely, 4 other guys were out along with 8 dolphins! I told some early morning tourists that they were out there but they had already seen them. I paddled out and they were about 50ft away from us. The baby ones in the group were fully breaching the water, it was amazing to watch. Although to be honest it can be a bit freaky because the only reason they are there is because there’s food, so that means sharks are also probably out there eating the same stuff. I talked to one of the guys out there about the dolphins and how lucky we were to see them so close to the beach as I’d never seen them that close before.
The dolphin story was on the front cover of the Manly Daily this morning -
© ManlyDaily Photo: Brad Hunter
“A POD of dolphins delighted beachgoers at North Steyne yesterday with their presence indicating cleaner water and plentiful food supplies according to experts.
A group of eight cruised along the beachfront heading north early yesterday as a couple of fortunate board riders were on the spot to watch the spectacle up close.”
Yami and Andres have arrived from Buenos Aires the other day and they have been very lucky to be blessed with beautiful sunny trip. To celebrate their arrival we had a true blue ’stralian BBQ -
BBQ!!
They gave Amy a lovely Mate pot a bombilla and some Mate herbs to drink out of it. Andres designed me a GlobalSurfari t-shirt which I can wear around town and hopefully grew my Australian hits! Thanks!!
We went down to the beach at the weekend which was probably the best conditions I’ve ever seen on Manly beach ever. There was no wind and very small waves, making for a very enjoyable beach day.
We went back again a bit later so I could have a quick surf (as small waves are my favourite at the moment), Andres took some great photos -
Amy and Yami on Manly Beach
I had a very quick surf as the water was so clear that you could see the bottom very easily I saw a sting ray go past me in the water which was a bit freaky.
Back on it!
We headed to the Bavarian cafe in the evening which was a nice end to the weekend and the arrival of the Argentinian contingency!
Andres and Yami at the Bavarian
Thanks to Andres for all the photos which he has taken with his cool new camera!
Still only half way to saving up to buy a digital camera, so I am relying on others to supply me pictures or take them with my big camera whenever I take it out. So it’s with thanks to Nancy and Marcus that half of these pictures are on here (they are also reflected on Marcus’ site).
I took my big camera up to Brisbane weekend before last as we went up to see Amy’s sisters little baby, Cooper. A smaller version of Mr. Felix. However, when I got there I must have left it switched on in its case as the battery was flat! Which was a shame as I got no pictures of Coops and I also went on a ride down the Brisbane river in Amy’s other sisters fiancee Wade-o’s boat which was good fun.
Last week was a bit mental with fog coming in over the harbour to prevent the ferry for leaving. A the same time a car had not puts its hand brake on properly and was left half way across the road after rolling down a side street -
Nice Parking
At the weekend Global Surfari was putting the surf report at around 2ft and sunny (as it has a new weather feed) with low winds, so it was a good chance to get out there! Although it has been more than three months since I did my injury my shoulder has only recently gone back to feeling how it used to before I dislocated it. Last surf was a bit of a right off because it was hurting too much. This surf I felt much better but now I think I have more of a psychological battle to get over than an injury one as I was afraid to really catch anything, even though I’ve been thrown around by big waves before. Next session (which will hopefully be this weekend) I am going out on my trusty dahlberg as I am more confident with that although my arm power for wave catching has dropped loads I’ll hopefully work that back in before the summer. Jon from work also came down for a little surf which was great.
Marcus, Jon and myself at Manly Beach
That night we went to Greater Union cinemas to see Da Vinci Code in “Gold Class” - a special cinema with about 30 seats and luxury recliners which have electric buttons to make them into beds. We all wore standard day time clothes to the cinema, but when we got there people were dressed in their best clothes and drank sparkling wine from champagne glasses, we felt like commoners! As for the movie, it is ok if you’ve read the book, good to see all the places mentioned in the book and the merging of times when they were in London was brilliant (which you’d understand if you have seen the film).
Amy, Simone, Nancy, Stu, Marcus and myself at Bondi Junction
Honolulu Hawaii, USA born actress Nicole Kidman and Whangarei, New Zealand born country singer Keith Urban got married in our home town Manly, Australia on Saturday. Amy has had an illness for the past four days which meant she couldn’t really leave home, so it was a surprise to see her running around the flat in excitement when five helicopters starting circling near to our flat for the start of the wedding. After I told her we could not go out in the car and drive up there because she was in her pyjamas she did this -
Amy having a tantrum
After the tantrum was over I finally conceded and drove up to St. Patricks Estate, a 2 minute drive from us. We got out the car and walked to the entrance of the estate where a crowd had gathered. One minute later and Nicole was driving past, Amy, still in pyjamas ran up to the side of the car and took a photo. I did not take my camera as I didn’t want to look like paparazzi but I hope Amy’s picture comes out well. She has one of those old fashioned cameras which you have to take to a shop to get developed, so I’ll put that on the blog when the time comes around or Amy might even put it on hers as she is yet to make an entry!
St. Patricks - Nicole’s Wedding Venue - Manly
The picture above was taken by Nancy from their balcony, a great place to spy on the wedding. Well that is it for now except for a quick Happy Birthday to Andres who is the grand old age of 25!
It is typically the way that when you can go surfing there’s no waves and when you can’t its Indo quality! To prove this phenomena Amy and I went on a trip to a few of the Northern Beaches with Simone and Stu.
The first stop was North Narrabean where tow in sessions a plenty were the order of the day. This is a cool way to surf, a lot easier than paddling -
Tow in Session - Narrabean
We then headed up to Palm Beach, where Home and Away is filmed. There was a longboard surf comp going down at Palm Beach in the protected corner. It was really rocking -
Toes to the Nose!!
Although annoying it was great to watch and good to get a little bit of photo action going. We had a nice lunch at a cafe in Palm Beach and then headed off to Waringah Mall where we bought a new bin! Hurray!
On Sunday, Matt the pilot came over for lunch. You may remember Matt from UK surf trips etc..
Matt Bass and I in Manly Wharf Hotel
Bad news is that I went to the physio and it will be abour four weeks from now until my arm is surf ready!! Very annoying!
Good to see Fizzer is updating his blog with UK surf reports, looks real good and not that cold, although I am sure it is!! Mike is also on the case with his blog doing his serious expedition updates (camping, climbing etc..). Marcus is also putting up loads of his photos and even little Amy is getting into the blogging world, although not quite off the ground yet. I have hopefully persuaded Matt Bass to get into blogging, would be good to get some global photos, especially now he has bought a digital camera.
Holidays from work don’t typically last 45 days so it’s probably obvious now that I am no longer on holiday, but I am still in Australia! So here’s how that happened:
One day whilst on the beach with Marcus he talked about his agency offering him sponsorship. So I gave them a call, told them what I do, lined me up an interview and before the week was out had a contract job downtown and a visa to stay in Australia until 2010*! The job is cool, it is doing C# .net programming! I had ended my current contract in UK just as I left so the timing was perfect. Although sorry to everyone I did not really get to say goodbye to, I kind of went on holiday and didn’t come back which is a bit weird I suppose but when the moment comes you have to take it. If anyone wants to buy a red Audi A3 let me know!
I would have been too sad to say goodbye to Amy and she was going to move to Sydney anyway, so we have moved in together in a nice little flat in Manly. A bit of a nightmare finding somewhere to live which is furnished (very few and far between in Sydney). Thanks to Simone and Stu for letting us stay in their spare room for so long, we owe them big time.
We are on the 3rd floor (2nd if your English)
Here it is from the Wharf -
Closest I’ve lived to Sharks (Ocean World)
and again with a view from our balcony at night time (you can see the Manly ferry at the wharf)
Our balcony view!
Here’s the living room, the black wire is for the little speakers on the cabinet and is not a permanent fixture -
Living Room with Amy
So yes, now we live 5 minutes walk to one of my favourite beach breaks, rather than a 5 hour drive! Although one problem is that I have another month of physio before I can even go out in the water! Oh the irony! I also visited the surgeon who told me that there was an 80% chance of it happening again. Which isn’t good, as it’s possibly the most painful pain I’ve ever felt.
Journeys to Sydney are more like a bit of an adventure. The quickest way to work is on the ferry which always reminds me of trips to Calais, France from Dover in England without Duty Free. The other morning Amy had to go to the gym really early so we were some of the very few people on the Manly ferry that morning. I took my camera and took some pictures of the early morning light.
The other Manly Ferry just before we pass the heads
Sydney 06h30.. on the way to work
We celebrated Simone and Stu’s anniversary with a dinner at Milson’s Point just under the harbour bridge just by Luna Park. It was a nice night out and also a bit surreal eating right under the Opera House!
Amy and me @ Milson’s Point
So to wrap it all up with another final little comparison picture (my favourites) -
The cold cold harsh English winter in Warwickshire, England - February 2006
Going out with the green fish (pre injury days) Freshwater, Australia - March 2006
Looking at that last picture, I’ll never go out surfing when it’s like that again. “High tide the wave of your life, low tide the end of your life” says the Rip Curl tidal chart attached to the fridge which I’ll be paying a lot more attention from now on.
Peace out for the time being, I have to get back to my physio exercises and do loads of stuff getting everything sorted out. Then I will finally get time to sort out some videos, I have lots and lots of footage to make some cool stuff with.
Also our flat is only one bedroom but one of the sofas is a fold out bed so everyone is welcome to come and visit whenever they want!!! And Sydneyites, stay tuned for the house warming!!!
* I have to work to keep the visa.
Sorry for the lack of updates, have not been anywhere where there’s an internet connection for the computer. But to update you on the surf (that I can’t go out in but wouldn’t anyway) it is BIG.
Cyclone Wati has been giving the coast a severe battering -
Just another day at Tamarama! 28th March Photo (C) SMH
We got on the Manly ferry two days ago and got soaked because the swell was so high it reached over the top of the boat!!
Good news is next update should have videos and lots and lots of pictures!
Take it easy!
A few days of hanging out in Sydney and I was up to Brisbane to see Amy and meet her family who were all very nice and very welcoming. It was my first time staying at an Australian families house, even in all the time I was staying here last year so I was really looking forward to it.
When we arrived we went for a quick drive to a viewpoint near The Gap to look over Brisbane. Here is Amy with Brisbane soft blurred behind -
Amy and Brisbane
The weather started out beautiful, however I was warned that it might be a bit rainy when we headed up the sunshine coast, it appeared a weather front the size of Europe was heading towards Queensland and was set to arrive just as we were at Noosa.
Before we headed off we went out for a little walk along the South Bank and a quick coffee at a nice little cafe down there -
Brisbane Downtown at Night
and the cafe we had coffee at -
Coffee on the Southbank
So the next morning we headed off to Noosa. I visited Noosa with Andrew last time I was in Australia and it was sun drenched with no waves (see that entry here). This trip was the polar opposite of that trip! Which was good and bad. Bad because we could not sit on the beach and Amy and me couldn’t hire longboards and surf down the nice little beach whilst catching some rays.
We had dinner the first night at an Italian restaurant on Hastings Street, which was very nice, we then had a few cocktails at a bar across the street which were also very nice! I finished it off on a milk based banana chocolate cocktail which I was nearly sick of. The next day we drove down to the headland to see the surfers. We could not walk as it was practically the wettest day I’ve ever seen, when we arrived I took as many pictures as I could without getting the camera wet. Ten News were even down there filming the surfers as it was apparently one of the few spots left on the Queensland coast where you could actually surf without the risk of getting killed! The QuikSilver Pro was even cancelled because the surf was dangerous! Later on the news it said the winds were as strong as that found in a category 2 cyclone!
Here are some pictures from Noosa Heads 4th March 2006 and Mooloolaba on the 5th -
Best Surf Picture I’ve Taken!
Getting in Deep
Water colour was horrible
This guy caught a huge wave in but then on the paddle back to shore got caught in the nasty throthy gunk that the ocean brought to the beaches -
Gunk
Noosa beach was completely washed away which was sad but they can pump more sand back again apparently. There was also a lot of rescues taking place as a lot of people got into trouble whilst in the water.
As it was raining and was definitely not sitting on beach weather, we headed off to the Sunshine Mall in Maroochydore where we watched “Date Movie”, it was not very good but some bits were funny!
That night we went to a nice restaurant called Bistro C which was right next to the water which we could hear crashing down next to us but the food was really nice, we also had a few more cocktails, which is ok because we were on holiday!
So the next day we drove back to Brisbane and went out to celebrate Amy’s sisters engagement to Wado at a nice restaurant on the South Bank which was very nice. We then headed into “The Valley” to meet Tara and Paul -
Amy, Tara, Liam and Paul at “The Empire”, “The Valley”, Brisbane
We could not go sailing with Taryn and Wado because of the storm was still blowing, so we had a lovely BBQ at Sam and Elliot’s house where we met Buffy Summers the Doberman and Wink the Beagle (see in Anhdres brilliant picture).
We then got a taxi back to Amy’s parents house with the scariest taxi driver I’ve ever got in a taxi with!
