Around The World In 80 Waves

I pull into Noosa Heads just as the sun is going down, where I am treated to this sunset over the river.

Noosa Heads is where the British and Irish lions got their last surf session in before heading down to Sydney for the deciding match of the series that I was lucky enough to see. I also watch the deciding game of the State of Origin Rugby League series in the Surf Lifesaving club whilst in town, in which Queensland won for a record 8th straight year.

I found a place to park up for the night and am quickly joined by a young couple called Phil and Vanessa who are from North America and park up next to me.

I have a ton of food I am keen to cook up, so invite them to join me for dinner. We have a lovely meal where I think they were most impressed by being able to sit at a table, because their own van was a tad more compact and bijou than mine.

The waves appear to have dropped the following morning so we say our goodbyes and I drive around the headland into the National Park where more swell is on offer, although you can see how close to the rocks the waves are breaking.

After a short walk along the coastal path I decide not to walk onwards to the headland you see in the distance where the T-Tree Bay break is found because it looks ridiculously crowded even first thing in the morning and there is a never ending procession of boards walking that way.

Instead I wade out into the water at the Boiler Pot break which works at the next mini headland along.

The local flora has a real rainforest feel to it and the sea water is lovely and warm because I have now travelled so far north.

There are not too many people out here and after a very slow start without catching much I bag my share of waves.

Each one is skirting along the rocky edge of the coast even if the waves themselves are largely breaking over sand. It was so clear you could see everything beneath you in the water and thankfully there was no sign of any wildlife apart from a visiting turtle.

I am claiming two breaks here because with every wave you moved further along the coast and unless you were willing to paddle back in the sunshine, you might as well just keep going along the shore and then walk back along the coastal footpath before getting back in where you started.

I chose the latter option after surfing all the way back towards the town and through the break in front of car park in the Noosa National Park.

After a great session in the sunshine I enjoy a brew in the van and chat with everybody else doing the same.

Next I decide to turn southwards because the Great Barrier Reef stops most waves from breaking any further north, by doing exactly as its name might suggest it would.