Hi guys! I know it’s been a while since my last update of our trip, but there has honestly been no waves or contests for me to update you on. There were a couple funny incidents however like Dylan being stranded in the Stradbroke Island channel with a massive shark circling him which we all came to agree –the place is sketchy! Three months ago there was a chick eaten by a shark around here, we only just found out and needless to say this was the last time we paddled across to Stradbroke Island. For those who don’t know, Stradbroke Island is an island that hugs the northern part of Surfers Paradise. To get there you either go by boat or paddle across this crazy, deep, sea life infested, abyss-like channel for about 300 meters. In the channel are all these fishing vessels trying to catch their weekly salary. Straddie is a sick wave though.
There was also a day where we all went to dream world. The boys were begging me to take them pretty much everyday for 2 weeks like little chirping hungry birds. I finally gave in and spent the day going on some pretty frightening rides. There was this one ride which was nuts, it was called the “The Dropping Tower”. Basically you’re sitting on this little bench, strapped in with your feet dangling over the side. The bench goes up the side of this tower for 60 floors or something crazy like that then stays up there for about a minute. Can you imagine sitting there, hanging off the side of a sky skraper with your feet dangling? It was nuts, cars in the car park looked like little ants that’s how high this thing was. Then boom! The thing just airdrops and you free fall for over 5 seconds. It’s the most intense 5 seconds could possibly experience in your lifetime! We bought the photo afterwards and you should have seen the look on Mustafa’s face, hilarious stuff. The kid had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, so terrified he was doing Muslim prayers! I can’t wait to get it published on surf time!
Friday 2nd February–
Swells up! It’s been quite some time since we had any decent swell and the boys are amped at the thought of shralping conditions for this weekend’s contest – the Micheal Petterson Classic which is usually held at Kirra but due to all the sand that has wiped Kirra off the planet it is now held at D-Bah. We surfed D-Bah today with 4 foot wedging peaks all over the little stretch of beach. We surfed with one of our boys, shredder Lee Wilson and bumped into Quiksilver rider Mar Ohno from Japan. They both live on the Gold Coast now with their girls.
Saturday 3rd February –
There are some really fun waves for a great contest. Quiksilver Indonesia came stuck in the second round only needing small scores to progress. Extremely frustrating for them as they all got knocked in the last minutes of their heats. Dylan was smashing his heat with big sets and massive hacks, just as we though he had it in the bag his opponent got a smoker in the last 30 seconds! Bad luck Dylan. Mustafa surfed against my old mate, Newcastle ripper Travis Lynch and fellow Quiksilver rider Garret Parks. I gotta tell ya, the surfers from around here are certainly the best amateurs in the world. There was some incredible surfing today at classic d-bah conditions – wedgey blue peaks. Speaking of wedgey, at one stage we thought we were in Brazil because of the overload of amazing brazilian girls flocking the beach doing their best to distract the competitors..
Jock Barnes from Lennox also raved how there was a shark attack this morning at his home break – heavy!
The contest was a great all round vibe with most of the competitors now already familiar with our team from previous contests.
Team Quiksilver Indonesia which includes Dylan Amar (Bali), Mustafa (Bali) and Gazali Hamzah (Sumbawa) has made a ton of friends on this trip. Each contest gets better and better ultimately because of the familiar network, it was great to see our Indo boys comfortable during the contest and just having fun!
The unfortunate low blow in the 2nd round of the M.P Classic meant that there is no waking up early in the morning and the boys are hinting a night out in town to check the local scene..
Next up we’ll be heading up to The Sunshine Coast for the Billabong Junior Series on Monday, so I’ll let you know how it all goes then!
Hamish here reporting from the Goldy.
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