Around The World In 80 Waves

Adam & Rossana suggested that I should check out the snowy mountains on my way south. It doesn’t take long after leaving Canberra before I am in the foothills and steadily climbing.

The road is quiet on my side but really busy going the other way with people coming down after having spent the weekend skiing and snow boarding. I am quite tempted by the idea of doing the same, but listening to the forecasts on the radio I can’t quite as excited by the additional 5cm of snow that has landed today on top of the existing 63cm. I am a tad more used to talking about such things in metres in Europe and North America.

There are signs to warn me about Kangaroos crossing the road and it isn’t long before I see why. There is roo’d kill everywhere.

I stopped to to take a snap of this one who looked like he might be having a kip, but I suspect he was slightly more than stunned!

I must have counted at least a dozen kangaroos and a handful of wombats too all getting a bit bloated in the sun. It was a bit grim.

However I didn’t create anything of my own and arrived at my target town of Cooma a couple of hours earlier than I had expected to. I have a long way to go in the van so decided to push on through the Great Dividing Range and cover some of the ground towards Adelaide.

I took the option of following the instructions given by my satellite navigation application on my phone and spent the next couple of hours climbing in the dusk being watched by scores of Kangaroos lounging around either side of the road.

At the point when there was snow on the ground everywhere I was instructed to turn left onto the Alpine Way. The roads were initially clear but conditions worsened by the minute and I ended up lost in the woods with the back end of the van being a bit frisky on the slippery road. When I eventually found a town I discovered I was in Cabramurra which is actually the highest town in Australia and about to be in the middle of a blizzard!

It transpires that the Alpine way is already blocked and only me could get so lost on a surf trip that I am the single furthest point from sea level on an entire continent! I manage to get some directions and have to get out of there quickly to avoid being stranded for days in the snow. (At this point I am thinking enviously a great deal about the heat wave going on at home in the UK)

The road down is just as slippery as it was on the way up, largely a single track road in the trees where all of a sudden you will come across bridges such as this one.

I am just getting below the snow line and starting to relax when I come around one bend to see a huge stag deer directly in front of me in the middle of the road.

I stamp on the brakes and am skidding all over the place. All the while the deer in the headlights is looking like a deer in the headlights and doesn’t move.

I eventually come to a halt alongside him, when he and his huge set of antlers are looking in through the drivers window.

I didn’t even know they had deer in Australia (they were introduced I later discover) and am more concerned with my heart rate to get a good picture, and he wanders off through the trees in the night as soon as I reach for my phone to try and snap him.

I’m still not out of the woods in more ways than one though and just as I am getting confident on the road again two of the local wild horses, known as brumbies, decide that they are also up for a game of chicken with me in the campervan.

Another swervy, skiddy stop later and I have managed to avoid notches in the steering wheel once more, and the horse stare at me before joining their mate the stag in the woods.

I do get out of the mountains and then push on a little further and eventually find somewhere to stop for the night where I will be able to answer the call of nature myself the following morning. An interesting night!

After my stay in the Blue Mountains I am heading down towards the south coast of Australia and my route takes me towards Australian Capital Territory which like Washington DC in the USA is a separate state set up for the seats of government.

Canberra is the artificial capital of Australia and the centre of lots of political intrigue, particularly of late because the prime minister has been usurped by the previous incumbent, in a bit of pay back for them doing the same, and a general election has been called for September.

Incidentally on that it is illegal not to vote here which whilst heavy handed does push people to get involved in the process of selecting their government.

Canberra like all capitals has a number of civic buildings and sculpted landscapes. This lake is in the centre and for some reason they have decided that they need a giant water fountain spurting out of the middle of it.

Around the edge of the lake there are a number of small plinths. Each of these depicts the Australians of the year, whom the country is most proud of at the time.

They could be military personnel, scientists, sports stars, or media celebrities.

This picture shows the current favourites, but I can’t say I have heard of any of them.

To be fair it hasn’t been the best year sporting-wise for any of their cricket or rugby teams to merit a mention!

Not far away is the National Library which is a very impressive building just across the grass from the lake.

I don’t have time to go in and check it out but am grateful for their free car park whilst I explore the city on a windy and cold Sunday afternoon.

I have to check out the parliament building on the way out of town. There is an old parliament building nearby which must have been replaced some time in the sixties or seventies, because the current one is a very modern design, and notably isn’t guarded like Fort Knox unlike the equivalents in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

At least it appears not because they don’t mind when I drive the van right up to the front door to take some pictures.

I have been invited to spend a weekend up in the Blue Mountains with Adam and Rossana. It will take a few hours to drive up there from Sydney,and I will be pushing on separately so I have been given Spyda as a copilot for this trip.

As you can see he was safely harnessed and belted in for the journey. However Spyda is becoming a bit obsessed with Uncle Rob and was only interested on sitting on my knees whilst I am driving along, even if this results in near asphyxiation for him. (He is sulking here because I put him back!) Thankfully the van is an automatic and I don’t mind while we cruise along the motorway.

The journey flies by though and is doesn’t feel like long before we all arrive at their house in Mount Victoria.

I love it. It is a perfect bolt hole well out of everybody’s way and it gives me and excuse to unleash my pyromania on the open fire. I’ve got a roaring fire in minutes.

Adam and I take a tour of the surrounding area checking out all the amazing scenery in the area. Here he is posing in front of Govetts Leap. It is glorious up here in the mountains and the dogs love it too.

Once the sun goes down Adam cooks us a fantastic roast beef dinner which we enjoy with some great red wine around the fire, whilst watching the Godfather parts I and II on consecutive nights.

There was no horse’s head in my bed the following morning, but I have to admit it was a bit nippy in the van when I woke up because it was only 3C outside, and not much warmer in the van.

We take a trip to the local garden centre to stock up on firewood on the Sunday and I cant resist such an easy opportunity to get barrelled whilst there, even if it is with corrugated iron.

Getting pitted. Hell yeah!!!

I love it!

As you can tell from this shot taken at Turners Beach in Yamba

On a separate vein I have been reading about this bloke who surfs while playing his ukulele. I’m not sure I am personally ready to combine the two just yet!

The weather has taken a turn for the worse so I decide to do a quick burn down the Pacific Highway from Crescent Head and I am back at Adam and Rosanna’s place.

As you can see my two disciples are eager to know everything I have been up to.

All my technology works here, which is rare on this trip, so I take the opportunity to catch up a bit. 

After getting cut so badly at Lennox Head there is no way I am going back in on that day so I drive all the way south to another point Neil and I had looked at on our way north towards Brisbane.

The caravan site at Crescent Head is yards from the beach, and after asking for a good spot at reception I am lucky enough to be able to view the waves breaking on the point from my pillow.

My first order of business here is to repair all the dings in my board from the Lennox Head session. It is beginning to look like a patchwork quilt!

I am undeterred however and making sure to put my booties on to protect my existing cuts and hopefully prevent any more I launch myself off the rocks here just after the sun comes up.

Apart from one bloke who has clearly got out of bed the wrong side today, everybody is really cool in the lineup and there is the full spectrum of surfers out on their boards.

There is everything from five year old groms wearing helmets to protect them from the rocks who are being pushed into waves by their dad (and I have to say then tearing it up!) to a host of guys in their sixties on their longboards.

The waves were at least shoulder high and probably bigger on the sets. the water was so clear you could see each of the rocks you were surfing over which was a little unnerving but I didn’t let it put me off.

It was an epic session and I caught loads of rides to remember with this being the best shot of the day.

I love this picture but I assure you that I could justifiably have chosen many, many others.

The only downside here was when my leash gets ripped off my leg in one wipeout sending the board careering towards the shore which is only made up of rocks once more.

However a bit of turbo swimming followed by a nervous paddle back out with the leash in my teeth means that thankfully I don’t add any scars to the collection that I have amassed on me or my board to date.

Sadly it is time to move off on my own again but after saying my goodbyes I can’t resist back tracking to Lennox Head to see if the point there is working. I am delighted to see some great waves peeling along the headland when I get there.

It is still early in the morning when I arrive and there was only a dozen out in the water so I cant wait to get my wetsuit on and join them.

My surf guide tells me that “If the locals don’t kill you here, the rocks will” so I am a little hesitant as I walk down the cliff towards one of Australia’s classic point breaks.

I take my time getting into the water and you can see how pleased I am to have got out past the waves with dry hair after launching myself off the rocks on my way into the water.

After a slow start I had a brilliant session here and caught a load of the head high waves, charging down the point skirting in front of the rocky shore. The locals were actually friendly too!

I got some great waves and this is the second best shot of the day. Sadly the best one of the day was epic but in my haste to distil the thousands of snaps that my Gopro had taken I deleted it in error. Doh!

After a few hours I felt like I had caught enough and decided to get out, and at this point I will refer you back to what the guidebook said about the rocks here.

The current is sweeping down the headland and despite being as careful as I could on the way in I managed to make a right hash of this.

As you can see here I am about to be washed into the rocks.

I got absolutely hammered here. The rocks and the barnacles on them shredded my feet and shins and also put a ton of scratches on my board on way back in. After limping back to the van board I also discover that I have snapped one of my fins off and have put another two holes in my board!

You can’t see the soles of my feet in this picture which were cut worse than anywhere else and I felt like I had been attacked with a cheese grater. Not at all pleasant even walking for a day or so after this!

There was however some solace to see a pod of dolphins chasing and corralling a shoal of fish as I patched up at the top of the headland.

After spending a few more hours cruising around New South Wales unsuccessfully trying to find a decent wave to surf we decide to head back to Lismore. Although Kathleen takes me to a Koala sanctuary on the way back and we spend half an hour spotting them in the eucalyptus trees there. Can you see it?

When we get back to the house I spend at least an hour winding up Peppi, because I feel that is obligatory. He loves it though and so much so that I understand that he is now missing me.

As well as seeing Kathleen’s mother again, who I had met earlier in the week I also get to meet her daughter Charlotte who you see here. She is back at home after spending a week with her father.

We are all treated to a lovely curry by Kathleen’s mum before I am asked to read a bedtime story.

It is a long time since I have done any narration but I quite enjoy working my way through ‘Horton Hears a Who’ by Dr Seuss.

I was never a book that I had come across myself.

I am well aware that there are angry fish all around Australia’s coast.

However I knew that I would certainly be playing with fire if I got in at this beach near Evans Head.

Thankfully the waves were rubbish and we had a BBQ there instead. Result!

We wake up early at the caravan park in Yamba and head the short way down the road to Angourie Point.

It is one of the surfing reserves that have been established here in Australia. The waves are breaking along the rock shelf under the water and there is quite a crowd competing for each waves that rolls through.

More impressive than any of the waves are the mother and calf humpback whales that were swimming past in the sea just beyond the point.

There is a small crowd at the top of the cliffs watching the whales and it is surprising just how close to the surfers they are. Nothing more than a twenty second paddle.

The break here is home to Nat Young who is a legend in the surfing world, and wrote the Surfing Fundamentals book which enabled me to progress from useless to not very good many years ago.

I regret this later but don’t feel like going in to the waves here. It looked too crowded for what was on offer and given the rock shelf I would have been surfing over I wasn’t tempted enough at the time.

I wasn’t feeling too good either after a rough night in which the seafood at Gorman’s disagreed with me but should really have taken my tally of waves into the nineties though. Must try harder!