Dirty Surf

From the state of the blog you'd think we'd been sitting on our collective asses but in fact there's been all sorts of surf action. First was the dirty type a week ago with Zombie, Joeleee and myself heading down to Jan Juc following a big evening of Pigeon "Do the pigeon" John and Lyrics "Spirit fingers" Born. Greeting our smoke irritated eyes was a choppy beach with only one short break and a remarkably large number of groms milling all around it. Out we go and soon find that there is a sizeable swell rolling in but just a tad too many short boarders ready to run you over. If I had my way, kids would spend school holidays in the uranium mines keeping our economy growing dammit. "Pappa I think I got the glowing green lung…"

Zombie catches a bunch from way out the back but Joeleee and I don’t exactly own the break. So we pack up camp and head to Torquay to find…. nothing. There is a bloke on a ten footer and even he is struggling to catch anything. There is only the occasional set, which is less of a 'set' and more like a single wave called Tiny Tim that only visits every ten minutes. But the paddling is a laugh and this works out fine as we grab the water proof camera and take a bunch of pics of us riding 3 wide and a few action shots close to shore. We'll post them once we finish the film. Lunch is a tasty travesty, eating sushi from the previously unexplored Torquay village.

Lockie

It's a nice day for a white water wedding...

Why the title? Partly because we have an early early surf today (8am departure, geez) so that Joeleee can get to an afternoon hitchin' (not his own) and partly because of the froth that we spend the morning taming at Jan Juc. Upon arrival Zombie and Dub seem unusually suicidal and head out at Winki point to mingle with the friendly locals on the sharp reef. Feeling more antisocial JC and I stroll back to the main beach break and discover that there's a whole bunch of fun to be had when the frequent sets roll in. The best spot on the beach is taken by some kind of surf comp but there's still about 25 peeps out either side trying to pick there way through the dumpers. We give that theory a miss and just catch *everything*, closing out or not. Either we ride victorious over the white water or occasionally grab a few seconds of green, lovely. Dub and Zombie come to their senses and join us for more of the same. If Dave sends white then you are going to have to ride it, and we do, all four of us to a wave at a point. A mad dash home for Joeleee just as the wind makes conditions shitey. Great Sat out.

Lockie

Gripping!!!

After a fresh stock of toe jam and spiffy new combs at our fav local supplier (Strapper, bro), the Dubster and JC sprinted up the Torquay Hill only to be whelmed by little to no swell and a bunch of foam boards. Knowing we were pressing our luck because of a mild forecast earlier in the day, the 2-man posse cruised over to Jan Juc in hopes there might be something to tame... Hello!! a Junior's tourney obviously knew something about the forecast we didn't as the beach break was pumping 2-4 footers with the odd rogue wave providing enough dumpage and excitement to make Dub say.... "Whoooaaaa Nelly!" Looks can be deceiving - with waves pounding in the first few breaks it looked to be a challenge to break out to the back. But a little Dub-led perseverance and avoiding the bigger sets drew the 2-dude crew out the back with little effort. What that left us was a heap of white water - cue www.DubGrin.com - and/or a few daring attempts at some serious green. JC opted for the mellowed out last-of-the-set small-to mid range and grabbed a decent one or two green like hills, albeit not without a two-fold share of semi-spectacular wipe-outs and missed-ops.

Owing to the vast dearth of tasty burgers in the greater Torquay area, we headed to the Jan Juc village only to be reminded (once again) that the cafe is usually closed and the pub doesn't open until after some other time when we're not there... back to the local Fush n Chups shop. Apparently, we're memorable as the local gezza - lets call him Phil - noted our last visit. Mini chips (not the band) and 2 burgers with the lot and pineapple later, the standard FnC shop burger is quite tasty, although we both struggled at the end owing to runny egg and flimsy buns.

Rating: Tasty