the birm*

Timeless.

Because of the rough seas, big swell and southerly winds (which, for you non-australians who don’t know that southerlies make the surf all choppy and blown-out and bring big waves) at the moment, most beaches are too rough to surf (and the water is a murky brown colour, which isn’t very reassuring ‘cause sharks like those conditions). We still managed to catch a wave or two at The Pass in Byron Bay. The Pass is an amazing sandy point break, which, on a good day, peels off the point for hundreds of meters. What’s amazing is that this wave is timeless, part of surfing history and yet still breaks much the same way as it did in the 60’s (when people started riding it) and probably for thousands of years before! So we joined the very [agro] big crowd (due to the way it faces it was still glassy and beautifully and evenly breaking) and caught a few fun little walls. It was really amazing to see the good surfers/locals ride it to its full potential, but really disappointing hearing and seeing the abuse amongst surfers. The crowds also made it dangerous to paddle out and to catch, as it became a slalom course (and boards are harder and sharper than most human bodies, so clashes are never fun…). Still, despite the amount of people there it was timeless: cloudy windy skies, rain and mist over the mountains, tropical trees, warm water, amazing waves…