From denmark we called in on some of the best beaches we had seen to date, taking the best part of each beach but in the one place, with hardly any one around. We popped through Albany on the last bit down towards Esperance and then managed to get some good windsurfing in with crystal clear water and the whitest finest sand know to man (quite funny though as the squeeking sand set Erica's teeth on edge). We had actual rain and dark stormy skies, so some walks along this coast line was in order.
From Esperance we went straight to Perth and the plane to NZ but not with out drama. We found the grumpiest checkin lady and she tryied to get us for all she could as our board bags were well over weight, luckily the supervisor let us off as late plane, whew! Then heading to the scanners we noticed hand baggage being weighed too, both of ours weighed more like 15 than 7. We donned all the clothes and with pockets bulging we whistle our way through.
Now enjoying the new and exciting scenery of NZ in Erica's aunty's people carrier.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
From the tip of the cape and beyond
Wow there has been a spectacular change in the scenery as we have entered the cape (the area around Margaret river is called cape to cape). From arid desert nothingness of the north we now have exotic greenery, trees everywhere and the coastline has become a much more dramatically stunning with sandstone cliffs and giant granite bolders pertruding out into some very blue water. It has made for some great swagging experiences, plenty of early morning climbing and exploring and disturbing the crabs and snakes.
The windsurfing has become a lot more dramatic although less of it. We spotted a set of waves just off the rocky coastline pretty much in the middle of nowhere on one of our walks. Tom couldn’t resist so after some frantic rigging on the beach and then some rock and rip current dodging he made it out. Once out among the waves it was better than he hoped, over mast high peeling sets all to himself, the woops could be heard from the beach!
The next session came in the form of the infamose Margaret River or ‘Margies’ as the locals call it. Not as big as before but a good sized well formed wave was waiting to be ripped up. Really good but he did have to share it with the 5 or 6 pros training there and a good number of locals.
We had a lovely couple more days in the area, exploring, surfing swimming, relaxing and a bit of caving before moving on around the corner from the cape to Augusta in search of something a little more tame for Erica to get out and settle those itchy windsurf feet. Augusta was a bit like a nice day on the South Coast of UK, it rained a little, it went from windy to super windy, and then we had a good little giggle windsurfing in some very onshore mush.
From there the windsurfing got even more weird. We took a dirt track down to an inlet that we thought might be a good quiet place to camp up for the night. At the end of the track we came across the most erey place we have ever been. The air was so still as we walked between a deserted settlement of wooded shacks, surrounded by a mysterious wood, with the water of a blood red lake lapping the shore line, the perfect setting for a horror film! Despite this we had really nice sail. With crotch deep water and tree lined mountains surrounding us we sailed the 3 mile leg to the other side to explore.
Our route took us through the huge forests of Karri and Tingle trees the variety and size of them is incredible and we found one of the biggest to climb up. The tree was an old look out post for spotting fires and after climbing the156 rods that had been inserted into its trunk, the 68 meter high vatage point gave views over the whole forest canopy, it was stunning. We kept our head above the trees again by exploring Walpole’s premier attraction, a suspended platform through the canopy of the tingle trees, pretty cool too.
Down back at the water we set sail on another lake and after exploring around the edges we find a sandy inlet with dolphins playing around in it. Hang on, this can’t be a lake! We sailed to the bank and running over the ridge it appears it’s connected to the sea and we go and splash around in it, just to check. On our return sail back to the car we were escorted by loads of stingrays.
The windsurfing has become a lot more dramatic although less of it. We spotted a set of waves just off the rocky coastline pretty much in the middle of nowhere on one of our walks. Tom couldn’t resist so after some frantic rigging on the beach and then some rock and rip current dodging he made it out. Once out among the waves it was better than he hoped, over mast high peeling sets all to himself, the woops could be heard from the beach!
The next session came in the form of the infamose Margaret River or ‘Margies’ as the locals call it. Not as big as before but a good sized well formed wave was waiting to be ripped up. Really good but he did have to share it with the 5 or 6 pros training there and a good number of locals.
We had a lovely couple more days in the area, exploring, surfing swimming, relaxing and a bit of caving before moving on around the corner from the cape to Augusta in search of something a little more tame for Erica to get out and settle those itchy windsurf feet. Augusta was a bit like a nice day on the South Coast of UK, it rained a little, it went from windy to super windy, and then we had a good little giggle windsurfing in some very onshore mush.
From there the windsurfing got even more weird. We took a dirt track down to an inlet that we thought might be a good quiet place to camp up for the night. At the end of the track we came across the most erey place we have ever been. The air was so still as we walked between a deserted settlement of wooded shacks, surrounded by a mysterious wood, with the water of a blood red lake lapping the shore line, the perfect setting for a horror film! Despite this we had really nice sail. With crotch deep water and tree lined mountains surrounding us we sailed the 3 mile leg to the other side to explore.
Our route took us through the huge forests of Karri and Tingle trees the variety and size of them is incredible and we found one of the biggest to climb up. The tree was an old look out post for spotting fires and after climbing the156 rods that had been inserted into its trunk, the 68 meter high vatage point gave views over the whole forest canopy, it was stunning. We kept our head above the trees again by exploring Walpole’s premier attraction, a suspended platform through the canopy of the tingle trees, pretty cool too.
Down back at the water we set sail on another lake and after exploring around the edges we find a sandy inlet with dolphins playing around in it. Hang on, this can’t be a lake! We sailed to the bank and running over the ridge it appears it’s connected to the sea and we go and splash around in it, just to check. On our return sail back to the car we were escorted by loads of stingrays.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
the trip south
So been awhile since we did a little update, lots has happened.
After Exmouth we headed back to Gerelton, Corination beach for about a week. We had a little no wind period but we managed to entertain ourselves with beach scultptures and walks. Fortunatly the wind came back so we didn't have to resort to fishing! We had some great days windsurfing jumping and blasting with load of wind. The place is ace as its so easy and near to the water with a real comunity of people from all over the world and with an age range on the water of about 10-110!
Xmas eve we headed out down to Greenhead and had a lovely chilled xmas on our own beach, cooked steak for xmas dinner and drank rum, it was lovely. Santa even managed to bring us some presents in our stocking!
We windsurfed Greenhead until we got blown off water by the super strong gusts and headed down to Lanclin. A great couple of days were spent there surfing and windsurfing. We even got ordered out of the water by a ranger as a shark had been spotted nearby...exciting stuff.
So after going back through Perth we are now 'Down South'. The scenery has changed dramatically, Austrlia does actualy have trees and green stuff...its amazing. The coastline is far more interesting with huge bolder formatons and hiden coves, a 'swaggers dream'. The sea has changed alot too, with much more thundering surf. We wern't expecting to get much windsurfing down here as there is less thermal driven winds. BUT it appears when it does come it comes good! Tom had an amazing session sailing over mast high sets on his tod! just round the corner form the infamous Margret River Break. It doesn't look great for Erica the wannabe wave sailor but hopefully just watching will make me better!
Till next time,
Tom & Erica
xmas
lanclin
down south.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Photo Selection
follow this link to see a selection of the pics we have of the oz trip so far.
Hope everyone has had a good christmas!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The new car and beyond!....
AFter picking up the new car, (a pimp station wagon, black, aircon the works!)we headed to pick up the kit, say goodbye to Bernard 2 (the van) and we headed straight up to the Gnarloo (the wave sailing mecca in the midlle of nowhere). After a 2 hour dirt track ride we get oour first glimpse, blue waters howling wind and peeling waves! Tom nearly pees himself with the excitement and jumps straight out there. Erica decides to wait and access the shallow razor sharp reef break from the cliffs first, well someone has to call the ambulance! This continued for the next 5 days and Erica made it out onto the water, on a 3.4 at one point,slashing the shit out of the long gloriouse waves. The whole place was amazing, rocky cliffs and beaches to explore, so much wildlife in and out of the water, Tom kept spotting sharks on our snorkels, a little off putting....
We decide to move on and up, destination, Exmouth and the Nigaloo Marine Reserve. From gnarly extreme sailing we move to serene crystal clear waters, snorkeling and windsurfing with turtles, rays and more sharks, plus a million other fish life and crazy willy wonkas choc factory looking coral formations. Really tranquil....more soon!
We decide to move on and up, destination, Exmouth and the Nigaloo Marine Reserve. From gnarly extreme sailing we move to serene crystal clear waters, snorkeling and windsurfing with turtles, rays and more sharks, plus a million other fish life and crazy willy wonkas choc factory looking coral formations. Really tranquil....more soon!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Hey a little update from Oz,
So after arriving in Perth about 2 weeks ago we managed to sort ourselves a Van, Toyota Hiace, and turned it into a sweet camper with some help from some local Perthians…cheers for that…..So once the van was set it was defninatly time to find some wind!
First stop was Lanclin, pretty light wind but a great flat-water playground to start off and a few bits of shore break to play in with our kindly borrowed comp surfboard.
On from there we made it up to GreenHead, via ‘The Pinnacles’, crazy rocks that jut out from the deep red desert landscape. At greenhead we found a howling SW wind and got straight out on the water with a flat-water easy stretch and then an outer reef about 1km offshore with some nice manageable waves…great fun! We stayed in a gorgeous little inlet called ‘dynamite bay’ with great snorkelling.
Next stop was Gerelton, with two main spots we discovered. First Point Moore, a spectacular white sandy beach with turquoise paradise waters, absolutely stunning. It had a nice breeze and both flat water with small waves off the reef, although they didn’t seem to be forming that well. Then onto Corination beach. Now this place seems to be the spot people come to. With a windsurfer settlement camp right on the beach, although not as pretty as Point Moore, it had some great stunt ramps, flat-water and some rolling swell that was a great introduction to wave sailing even if a little onshore. This place was sooooo busy though with over 40 sailors out, and that’s not in the holidays.
We then lost the wind and decided to do some exploring further north. We headed to Sharks Bay Nature Reserve, wow, this place has some stunning empty beaches. The famous Shell Beach that is mined for its calcium rich shells but still retains its paradise look. But by far the coolest thing we stumbled on was a shoal Lemon Sharks basking in knee deep water, we waded out and were surrounded by 10-15 of the things along with flat fish and sting rays. It was so unexpected which made it all the better with not another sole in sight! (no pun intended!)
We are writing this while on our 13hour bus ride back to Perth. Why a bus you may ask, what with our amazing van we bought?! Well after our non windy antics we had decided to continue north to find some better wind and waves. Just out of a sleepy town called Canavon we get a whiff of smelly engine we pull over to investigate. Simple case of overheating we imagine and chill on the side of the road for a bit. Tried to move off but still its steaming so we rest up for the night in a trucker stop nearby. Morning comes back on the road, seems not so we limp into Canarvon. Send her in for diagnostic with a local mechanic and with three different people confirming our baby has a cracked head which plasters won’t solve! Bugger!!!
So the journey starts again this time with hire car and ready to tackle Oz with fresh vengeance. Lets hope this one last more than a week.
Now...
We now have the car, a very pimp black station wagon and have retreived our kit from the wreckers yard, heading up to the Gnarloo which looks windy for the next week so should be good....
First stop was Lanclin, pretty light wind but a great flat-water playground to start off and a few bits of shore break to play in with our kindly borrowed comp surfboard.
On from there we made it up to GreenHead, via ‘The Pinnacles’, crazy rocks that jut out from the deep red desert landscape. At greenhead we found a howling SW wind and got straight out on the water with a flat-water easy stretch and then an outer reef about 1km offshore with some nice manageable waves…great fun! We stayed in a gorgeous little inlet called ‘dynamite bay’ with great snorkelling.
Next stop was Gerelton, with two main spots we discovered. First Point Moore, a spectacular white sandy beach with turquoise paradise waters, absolutely stunning. It had a nice breeze and both flat water with small waves off the reef, although they didn’t seem to be forming that well. Then onto Corination beach. Now this place seems to be the spot people come to. With a windsurfer settlement camp right on the beach, although not as pretty as Point Moore, it had some great stunt ramps, flat-water and some rolling swell that was a great introduction to wave sailing even if a little onshore. This place was sooooo busy though with over 40 sailors out, and that’s not in the holidays.
We then lost the wind and decided to do some exploring further north. We headed to Sharks Bay Nature Reserve, wow, this place has some stunning empty beaches. The famous Shell Beach that is mined for its calcium rich shells but still retains its paradise look. But by far the coolest thing we stumbled on was a shoal Lemon Sharks basking in knee deep water, we waded out and were surrounded by 10-15 of the things along with flat fish and sting rays. It was so unexpected which made it all the better with not another sole in sight! (no pun intended!)
We are writing this while on our 13hour bus ride back to Perth. Why a bus you may ask, what with our amazing van we bought?! Well after our non windy antics we had decided to continue north to find some better wind and waves. Just out of a sleepy town called Canavon we get a whiff of smelly engine we pull over to investigate. Simple case of overheating we imagine and chill on the side of the road for a bit. Tried to move off but still its steaming so we rest up for the night in a trucker stop nearby. Morning comes back on the road, seems not so we limp into Canarvon. Send her in for diagnostic with a local mechanic and with three different people confirming our baby has a cracked head which plasters won’t solve! Bugger!!!
So the journey starts again this time with hire car and ready to tackle Oz with fresh vengeance. Lets hope this one last more than a week.
Now...
We now have the car, a very pimp black station wagon and have retreived our kit from the wreckers yard, heading up to the Gnarloo which looks windy for the next week so should be good....
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