2010 Sapphire Coast Trip Report
(above) After the party was over there was one thing for me to do…Say “See you later Comboyne Plateau”…
(above) “Bye for a while one-room-cabin”…
(above) The weather for the day was something between the rain showers of the past week and a wish for increasing blue…
(above) One last time off the non-paved…
(above) On the ride out, we saw this man-built tree support…
(above) A stop at Kew for some freshly ground coffee…
(above) Next we went to Deb’s beach house…I would ride along with her to Sydney (four hours, give or take) then bus further south to Merimbula, close to where the next workshop would take place…
(above) For once my hair was more under control than someone else, but only because I had a beanie on up to that point …
(above) One last “See you later” to Rye and Andrew…It was fun…!!!...
(above) Now in Sydney…My coach to points south…
(above) Just call me ‘7078’…
(above) “All aboard”…
(above) I snagged the seat behind the door…Better view and more legroom…
(above) Rolling through Sydney I had the camera up to the glass with mixed results…Girl on a scooter with her dog and boys holding hands…Almost Norman Rockwell’ish…
(above) There is some story there…
(above) A few km’s outside of Sydney now…
(above) We stopped at more than several bus stops and there was usually something to see…The windows were darkly tinted so I felt less a creep for shooting these…
(above) “Slip her the tongue”…
(above) The weather south was pretty nice…
(above) The bus route only gets close to the beaches a few times…
(above) This distance is more typical of the ocean views…
(above) Ask me where this is and I’ll honestly only offer “East Coast, Australia”…
(above) The majority of the ride was like this…Wide open space with a lot of sky…
(above) Pretty close to sunset…The bus ride continued for close to five hours after sunset, with my stop happening at 11:45PM…When I got there I faced the facts that it was late, I didn’t get a confirmation that my pick-up person would be there, and the motels were all closed…Slipping to the mother of all back-up plans, I played my final card…
(above) Find cover, out of the way and dry…
(above) Meets all of the previous criteria…Back porch facing the rear parking lot on a side street…Wetsuit under me for insulation (no padding value) and dressed warm enough, I slipped into my non-insulated sleeping bag for a quit night’s sleep…Ah yes, life is good…
“GOOOOD MORNING MERIMBULA!!!!!!!”
(above) “GOOOOD MORNING MERIMBULA!!!!!!!” I had a surprisingly good sleep…Even dreamt…I was awoke at 5:30AM by a large garbage truck picking up a dumpster in the back parking lot…I quickly grabbed my stuff and tore around the corner before being seen and possibly being hassled by Mr. Truck Diver or someone with greater authority…
(above) OK, now that I’m up, time for coffee…I found a water tap behind a pizza place and filled my canteen then went looking for some electrical for the immersion heater…Found that across the street, behind a store…
(above) one minute and 27 seconds after plugging in, boiling water…Added a generous (because life is good) spoonful of instant coffee and….
(above) ….time to enjoy the quiet morning…
(above) A few showers occurred overnight, but I was under cover and stayed dry…
(above) After coffee, I wandered to the waterfront, found a place with WiFi and made a Skype phone call to Tony, who would host me for a few days…
(above) After connecting with Tony, we checked the surf…Small and clean, not enough waves often enough, so we went to Tony’s office so he could get some things done…
(above) On the way, this oldie was pushing hard through a turn…
(above) Tony’s office with wisteria going off…
(above) After Tony did some stuff, he showed me on his laptop the Google Earth of his house…
(above) And a picture or two of local surf…Tony is beyond committed on this one…
(above) Tony went back to work and I wandered around the shared office/studio space…
(above) One of Tony’s skills is creating these kind of things…
(above) With this tool…
(above) …used in this manner…
(above) …he creates these…
(above) After a few more steps, this machine…
(above) …with these letters…
(above) …takes it to this…
(above) From the second story window….
(above) Buffnesss on display…
(above) Almost like monkeys in a zoo seeing themselves in a mirror for the first time…C’mon, you thought that too…!!!...
(above) Feeling a bit hungry we went for food…
(above) Where are the Happy Meals…???...
(above) Our flower girl…
(above) Nice touch…
(above) I am very happy with my meal…
(above) “Waiter, there is a flower in my soup…”
(above) After lunch it was back to the office for a bit then off to Tony’s place…
(above) Off the paved road, up and down a narrow track, far from any neighbors, we made it here…Casa Dean…Another shining example of off-grid living…
(above) Tony pulled out a couple of icy home-brews…
(above) We talked a bit then it was time for dinner…
(above) Pasta and veggies in a dazzling sauce…Gourmet olives on the side…Sooo gooood…
(above) Tony pulled out the Super 8 converted to DVD surf movies of the area in the 70’s and we enjoyed another beer listening to the Pink Floyd dominated soundtrack…life is indeed very good…
Another day done…
Today I am asking Tony give the captions to the photos, he has a way better story of the place than I do…
Heeeeere’s, Tony……
(above) Jo’s shed. Built for her to escape from a house of three boys! It houses some of my surfboards and tools.
(above) Coastal grey box forest. Tall skinny eucalypts that are about 60 to 80 years old. Extremely durable timber that is subsequently heavy and hard to work with.
(above) View from Jo’s shed window where Paul was sleeping.
(above) Barry can’t wait for his new deck to arrive, he snapped his last one trying a “front side disaster”.
(above) This 1983 Toyota Landcruiser is for sale. Running gear all good, chassis and body is somewhat rusty.
(above) The view from the house of a spot in the distance called Mogareeka. A rivermouth that collects a lot of swell, sometimes surfable.
(above) The temporary bathroom that hasn’t changed for 10 years. No tiles to clean. Open the double doors to dry out the water that falls onto the concrete floor. All very utilitarian.
(above) The other side of the bathroom. Never noticed so many mirrors in this one tiny room. Maybe be some reflection on my vanity!
(above) You are torturing me Paul with all these photos of unfinished parts of the house. Temporary stairs, no ceiling lining…….. that timber framing looks finished and nice too.
(above) It is a nice house. I feel lucky.
(above) Music, books and candles basking in morning sunlight.
(above) Sitting area, looks quite bohemian.
(above) Jo likes cats but cats living in the forest is not good for the wildlife so this is the next best thing.
(above) Interesting!
(above) View over the garden from the house bedroom window upstairs.
(above) Trusty leather travel bag.
(above) You can never be sure when trouble arrives in the forest so you must always be ready. Cap gun circa 1989.
(above) Buddha in the bush.
(above) Taste of Indonesia.
(above) Wisteria beginning its bloom for the year 2010.
(above) Not sure her name but she is always there. I should introduce myself one day.
(above) These boots have done their walking.
(above) Succulents galore.
(above) Geometric perfection.
(above) Whoa!
(above) Trash can or rubbish bin?
(above) Rubbish bin or trash can?
(above) Too long on the Bosch.
(above) The kitchen looks busy with stuff.
(above) Off the grid is such a good feeling.
(above) Barry always complains about splitting the firewood.
(above) Trusty axe with American hickory handle. The Australian timbers don’t work anywhere near as well as hickory.
(above) Likeable Barry.
(above) Scribble patterns in the sapwood.
(above) The bark pulled from the scribble post.
(above) Rams head on Barry’s house.
(above) 11.45am
(above) Hard work from the ground up.
(above) Due for a fresh coat of paint. Put him on the jobs list.
(above) One of Bob the local basket makers pieces woven from a giant water vine found in the forest nearby.
(above) Paul lazing around on his back whilst I am away at work.
(above) “This way Paul, c’mon hurry up!”
(above) Gate latch with a feather from a Glossy Black cockatoo. A threatened species that feed only on the nuts from a Casuarina tree.
(above) Rare indigenous race.
(above) Red bellied black snake. Poisonous but not really deadly. A good snake.
(above) Chinnock Lagoon just down the hill from the house. A nice place to spend the afternoon paddling the canoe.
(above) Contemplate Chinnock Lagoon.
(above) Big Spotted Gum buttress.
(above) Mush mush Barry.
(above) Call roadside assistance.
(above) A higher view over Mogareeka. The Bega rivermouth.
(above) Beautiful patina.
(above) Circa 1950?
(above) Termites taking what humans left behind 60 years earlier.
(above) Chinnock lagoon at mid tide.
(above) Barry cooling off after a long walk.
(above) You have a good eye for composition Paul.
(above) Nice place to work.
Thanks Tony, it was as if you were channeling me…
The Search For Surf
(above) On the road again, this time with finding rideable surf the goal…
(above) Coming down the hill from Tony’s place…
(above) A chit-chat with a road crew flagger…
(above) One of the creeks that become ragers when the real rains come…
(above) A quick stop at Tony’s jobsite to pick up a trailer, then return it to Richard…
(above) Then up to where it gets dropped off…First, time to move Richard’s truck…Start-up blues…
(above) It runs on this…Cooking oil…
(above) Richard Moffit, and his current creation…A seven ton steel sphere…The beams came pre curves from a tunnel project and the sphere will be art at the tunnel entrance…
(above) Inside looking out…
(above) No pattern, carefully considered random…
(above) Richard explains the echo you hear when inside…
(above) The model and scale humans…
(above) Pretty cool stuff…
(above) Random steel on the ground…
(above) From Richard’s we hit the off road in search of surf…
(above) We are here…
(above) The only other footprints here before us are kangaroo…
(above) Breathe in this air, it’s cleansing to the soul…
(above) Almost any wave can look rideable for 1/500th of a second…Onward to another beach…
(above) New signs since the big fires south of here last year…
(above) The rain was light on and off all day…
(above) Another beach with therapeutic properties, but no waves to ride…
(above) At another beach, these guys are getting ready for a paddle out and each got one wave before calling it “over”…
(above) Sand N Sea
(above) One goes over the berm…
(above) Back to civilization…
(above) Then back to Tony’s office…
(above) I went for a stroll though town…Lots of building like this…Vintage…
(above) done for the day we head back to The Ranch…Noah zones out while I catch him unaware…
(above) Speaking of unaware, Tony demonstrates how well he knows the road home…
(above) At Casa Dean, it was time for a home brew and a movie…
(above) Then time to edit the pictures of the day…
Another day done…
The Next Day…
(above) Today dawned bright and oh so blue…
(above) The early morning sun was warm and gave a much welcomed warmth to the early spring day…
(above) My place in south New South Wales…
(above) Front door to “The Shed”…
(above) The rain from last night was dripping away…
(above) Backlit bone…
(above) We headed into town and crossed over the river…
(above) In town the bay was half tide…
(above) Continuing our search for surf we stopped to check to conditions…Public recliners…
(above) The funk on the surf was gone and a couple of guys were out…
(above) Some clean peaks were coming through…
(above) That was all we needed to see and we were out there…Tony and I surfed for a couple of hours…I rode his 7.0” then switched over to bodysurfing with my handboard…Being back in the surf in Australia felt wonderful on this bright, warm day…
(above) After our surf we walked out along this lagoon…
(above) The rocks at the beach were blood red…
(above) Tony needed to tend to his girlfriends horse…
(above) “Hi guys”…
(above) Both the houses and were feeling pretty relaxed…
(above) After that, it was back to the office…Jamie and Tony, hanging in Jamie’s office…Jamie is a writer…And a survivor of a deadly forest fire…Other weren’t as lucky, if you can call it that…He spent two years in a hospital recovering, if you can call it that…
(above) Tony had my camera and snapped this footwear still life…
(above) Out on the street…Teenage style…Nice skates…
(above) Something about guys flexing here…
(above) We went back to Tony’s place and went to the estuary to see about a boat that washed ashore…
(above) Noah got in and tried to rock it fee from the mud, while Brady maintains the lead on Tony…
(above) After about an hour down here we went back to Tony’s for BBQ and beers…
Another day done…
(above) After a typical morning at Tony’s, we went over to Nick’s…Nick is the orginanizational force of the workshop here on the Sapphire Coast…
(above) Nick, Rosy and the kids…
(above) Front door screen…
(above) The wood for our workshop is pulled out of the rafters…
(above) …and loaded onto the trailer…
(above) we went to Manna Park, the site of the workshop and met with Marty, the guy who runs the space…
(above) we off-loaded the trailer onto rolling carts…
(above) The space is perfect…
(above) Great tool, good light, generous space and room to move…
(above) The first task in getting the wood ready for the class was running it all through the planer…
(above) We have heaps of wood…
(above) after planning we ran it all though a jointer to get one straight edge for the next step…
(above) …ripping it on the tablesaw…
(above) With such great tools we had more than half the wood prep done in only a few hours…
(above) Choice paulwonia all at exactly 5mm thick…
(above) Finished for the day, I survey the field off the back door to the shed…
(above) Tony picked me up after the time there and we went for a surf check…Still stormy…
(above) So we went to the local watering hole for some water…
(above) One of the local organizations was holding a raffle for this…
(above) After the Watering Hole, it was back to the beach for another appraisal of the surf…
(above) Maybe tomorrow…
(above) Before heading back to Tony’s we stopped in on George and his wife Coral…We shared food, beverage, laughs and great stories…Photo by Coral…
Another day done…
(above) Hello morning…With loose plans for the day, we did our now typical surf check…
(above) “Hi George”…You can’t really tell from the pictures, but it was COLD…Washington State in the winter cold…
(above) The wind went favorable overnight…
(above) The swell got better too…
(above) Liam, who is one of the guys in the class, was already out and reported it to be not so great…
(above) So we checked the next beach…
(above) Cleaner…
(above) Much cleaner…
(above) But the swell was too straight-on for the sand banks…
(above) We weren’t alone in hope of something to ride…With work that needed to be done by both Tony and me, we agreed that it might be better to try to find something later…
(above) So it was off to the bakery for breakky…Bacon and cheese pie, and a hazelnut roll…You know it’s good…
(above) Nom, nom, nom….
(above) A quick tending to the horses, then….
(above) …back to the shed for more wood prep…
(above) Marty gets help from a few of the guys who came early for the class…
(above) Marty shoots another one through the saw…
(above) In a few hours we had all the wood ready…
(above) Outside the day was still great but still cold…
(above) We loaded Nick’s rig with our surf stuff, then…
(above) …hit the dusty trail to the beach…
(above) Which way…???...
(above) Yeah, this way…!!...
(above) Three guys out…The three guys who came early for the class…
(above) Time to evaluate…
(above) Offshore wind…
(above) Secluded beach…
(above) And the surf going off…!!!...
(above) I really had to force myself to stay here and take these pictures…Tony was already half-way in his suit and Nick was fully suited while I took a few minutes to get these next pictures…
(above) Can’t say where this is…
(above) ….we just followed the signs…
(above) Earlier there was a crowd…Three guys…They had three sessions through the tides…
(above) Eastern Australia gives it up…
(above) What more could you hope for on a trip like this…???...
(above) I was soon out there with five guys from the class and one other guy who drove three hours to get here…
(above) The water was similarly cold as the air…
(above) Rather than try to adapt to a board that didn’t stoke me, I chose to again bodysurf with my handplane…
The water time was off the scale…New found friends in as special of a place as there is…Classic…
While out there, a rain cloud on the horizon created the most luminescent, long lasting rainbow that I’ve seen in a decade…Under the rainbow were humpback whales breaching…Beyond amazing…
To top that, while I was swimming back to the take-off zone, I was bumped on the leg by, what turned out to be a dolphin…The solid bump had me nervous, but not freaked…I’m told there haven’t been shark attacks in this area, but still…
After my next wave, again while swimming back, a six foot dolphin was riding in and out of the wave , straight at me, then turned…Eye level and all that…No lie…The capper to (for lack of adequate words), an amazing day…
All that was missing were the unicorns on the beach…
(above) After our “icebreaker” session, we got dry and talked about the place and the specialness of the day...One to be remembered by all for sure…
(above) The evening sky didn’t last for long and we drove back to Nick’s in the dark…
(above) …where we replayed the session thanks to the helmet cam that Luke brought with him from Tasmania…
(above) We finished a great day with a shared meal and a lot of laughs…
Another day done…
(Above) After yesterday’s near unicorn sighting, I decided to give the camera and my constant quest for composition a rest…I did get caught up on the trip reports though…
(Above) I gave Tony the camera and assigned him ‘Designated Photographer” for the day…We went to an afternoon get together with some of his friends…
(Above) Tea and cake, laughs and stories…
(Above) Some guests arrived on horseback…After the party we had a quet evening of food and surf movies at Tony’s…Today was a nice restful day…
The Next Day…
(Above) I went to Nick’s first thing in the morning..
(Above) The sun was out today…
(Above) …and it seemed a fine day for a sail…
(Above) …so the cat was hooked to the truck….
(Above) …and off to the lake we went…
(Above) Two things are clear…The name and the fee…Everything else is open to interpretation…
(Above) Springtime, weekday…
(Above) No caption needed…
(Above) The rigging of the cat is one way for Nick and Luke to have quality time together…
(Above) “You sure that’s the way it goes?”…
(Above) Ready, set….
(Above) …go…The guys with their wetsuits on (I didn’t have mine with me) took turns on the cat…
(Above) So I enjoyed the day in a different way…After the lake time, it was back to Tony’s for one last night…
The Nest Day…
(Above) On the way to Nick’s there were a lot of riders returning from the motorcycle grand prix race in Melbourne last weekend…
(Above) The next best thing…
I went to the workshop and did the final prep work for the class…
(Above) After the day was done, I went with some of the guys in the workshop to a country club for food and drink…
(Above) I had the pasta…sorry no picture of it…
Tomorrow the Sapphire Coast workshop starts…
HWS Sapphire Coast – Day 1
(above) Today is the first day of the Sapphire Coast Workshop…Our location is a hostel called, Manna Park…There are dorm style rooms, kitchen, laundry, pool, etc…Nice place…
(above) I’m in second from the left…
(above) Home for the week…
(above) Let the show begin….
(above) After the work for the day was done, we went back to the hostel for the evening…
(above) Masters of relaxation therapy…
(above) Aussie fitness regime…200 kicks to the right, 200 kicks to the left…
(above) Big covered decks along the front…
(above) Toohey’s Old…
(above) The guys did a BBQ…
(above) Salad, Roo sandwich and loose sausages…
(above) After eating the conversation was on…
(above) Tomorrow is day number…
HWS Sapphire Coast - Day #2
(above) Day two of the class started and stayed pleasantly sunny…
(above) Back at the shop….
(above) After we finished at the shop, we went for surf check…
(above) The Bar at 1’..
(above) A nice evening though…
(above) From the beach we went as a group out for dinner, then….
(above) …it was back to the Park for surf movies…
(above) Sheet on a wall, projector hooked up to a laptop…
(above) …and it was almost like being at a surf movie in the ‘70’s…
Another day done….
HWS Sapphire Coast – Day 3
Another day done…
HWS Sapphire Coast – Day 4
Today went like this…
That, was today…
HWS Sapphire Coast – Day 5
A huge Thank You to Nick Yee, Tony Dean, Marty Webster and Salah at the Hostel for all their help in making the Sapphire Coast Workshop one of the best ever…See y’all next year…!!!...
Goin’ Home
(above) With the class in the can and a plane to catch tomorrow, it was time to say “adios” to Manna Park and start heading north to Sydney…
(above) I rode along with David from the class who was on his way home to Newcastle…
(above) The morning was georgeous…
(above) The drive was 90% rural like this with the other 10% small towns…
(above) Noonish we hit a café for lunch…
(above) Then went next door to a surf shop…Bodyboards in candy colors…Kids like ‘em that way…
(above) Upstairs were the surfboards and examples of the construction methods…
(above) Cross sections of foam and glass…
(above) Plenty to choose from…
(above) Somehow they all look the same to me…
(above) We rolled on, stopping at some points of interest…
(above) A blow-hole about to gush…
(above) A really nice day, but pretty windy…
(above) David got me to Sydney and dropped me off in the neighborhood of Rosie’s mom who offered me a place to spend the night…I waited in this old hotel barroom while Cheryl and her partner returned home from work…We had a nice meal and great conversation…A nice way to spend the last night in Australia…
(above) In the morning while waiting for my taxi to the airport I had a long talk with this skink…Skinks are great listners…
(above) 3:30PM and just about time for wheels-up…
(above) Two hours into the 13 hour flight…Note: We are at 35,000 feet and the cloud tops are close to that…That equals a bumpy ride…
(above) This far along…
(above) Almost sunset…
My sleep during the flight was as good as you can expect…On and off, never satisfied…
(above) Almost sunrise…
(above) Closer…
(above) Bingo…
The rest of the day was 90% on-plane, 10% in-terminal…I was tired and looking forward to being home again…
(above) SFO…Almost there…
That, as minor of a finish as that was, is it for this trip…
As you went through the reports, I hoped you smiled a few times and wondered what things were a few times too…I obviously had a blast and cherish every second of this trip…Thanks to everyone who I had the pleasure to meet and share time together…
Until next time…
Paul