the birm*

Dolphins and rays in bath water.

I’ve been up at Burleigh Heads (Gold Coast) for the last 2 weeks, seeing my family and chewing the fat. The swell has been pretty lame, so no real epic surfs. After 24hrs worth of southerly though, there were a few bumps worth checking out. Dad and I went to “the alley” at Currumbin (5 mins drive south), as Burleigh itself was a bit lame and crowded (plus it’s a very fast wave and can be unforgiving). Currumbin was amazing. About 50 people were out but cause the wave broke in a few places between the point, through the mouth of the river and onto the beach, there was heaps of room for beginners, pros, surf skis, stand-up paddlers, kids, old people on longboards, lids… dad and I caught some rippers and stayed there for a couple of hours. The water was amazing: turquoise blue, clear and warm. So warm in fact that dipping yourself in it was hardly refreshing. B-E-A-utiful!!!

We went to Evans Head for Christmas, where we caught up with my grandma, my cousin Tim, my uncle Ben, auntie Jenny and cousins Sam and Pete. On Christmas eve we got up at dawn and hit the N-E semi-blown out small waves on the bar (river mouth). It didn’t look like anything from the shore but once we were in, we all got some beaut waves. As Tim said “it’s just great sittin’ out the back”. And was it what! Especially when a pod of about 10 dolphins drops it with their young and bobs up and down and around, almost as if we weren’t there. In between getting some great waves, a stingray also jumped out and landed with a loud smack on the water. Haven’t seen that before! At about 7am the crowds (5-6 other surfers) started paddling out, so after a few more waves, it was time to go have a fellowship brekkie at Church. Yum :)