Arriving in Sydney, it wasn’t long before we had hit the surf, and Ash finally acquired a board for mere one hundred dollars! Other than that our the first couple of days consisted of a BQQ on a cliff top garden and another visit to the RSL, where we managed to win a seafood platter in the raffle.

Before long it was time for Australia Day. We spent the morning in Bondi and watched the revelers on Bondi Beach. Our main plan however was to catch a bit of the The Rocks Festival and have some fun in the city centre. Kate, Ash, Carolyn and I did manage to enjoy a few polite beers in First Fleet Park while watching the Bertie Blackman set, but it wasn’t long before we met up with the girls for some carnage. A few group members were dismayed at the quality of establishment we were frequenting and left a little early. Katya, Caralyn and I however were in our element partying in the likes of Sruffy Murphies and ScuBar. It didn’t take long for the smell of stale beer, smelly feet and sick to fade and we were soon drunk enough to forget about the terrible music. My memory of the day is a bit hazy after the festival, but Carolyn’s pictures seem to indicate we had awesome night!

After recovering from Australia Day we had to say goodbye to the girls as they were New Zealand bound. We all went for a Mexican at the Beach Road Hotel and later on we watched the Jezzabells play upstairs.

After enjoying Sydney’s nightlife it was back to business as usual, driving from beach to beach, following the surf. Bondi Beach grew tiresome after about 10 minutes, so we took to spending the evenings at Bronte Beach, which was perfect for us novices. It wasn’t long though before we were pining for some serious surf. Having watch watched a documentary last year about the Bra Boys, a surf gang near Sydney, we decided to head to Maroubra. Maroubra means ‘Land of Thunder’ and is so called because of the crashing waves and big surf. The documentary centered around some pro surfers and a brawl with the local police. A guy we met in a bar also recommended we stay away from the North end of the beach as that’s where the territorial surfers hang out and where the waves are particularly big. On the day we turned up the swell was as big as I’ve seen in Australia. We headed straight into the waves at the north end of the beach!

I’d like to say we charged hard and carved up some massive waves, but after about ten minutes of getting pounded into the sea bed, the lifeguard was on the megaphone telling us to come in. We had a bit of a laugh and she admired our effort, but apparently we were not ready for the north end of Maroubra. Embarrassing.

Carolyn had recommended Coogee, just south of Bondi, as a place to visit. Because of the good showers and beach BBQ setup we made Coogee our base for a few days. There was a car park on hill next to the beach and we managed to sleep there with no problems. It was a privilege to stay there, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean and waking up every day by a sunny beach. For a couple of days the swell was even big enough to surf there.

It was tempting to stay in Sydney, but our journey was not over yet. We had to say a sad goodbye to Carolyn and head North. Hopefully it will be a good decision, as there will be plenty of sunshine and secluded beaches to admire. Fingers crossed!