Surf Coast Victoria

After a long day on the ferry and a night in Geelong, it was the Easter long weekend and we headed down the coast to bunker down at Cumberland near Lorne.

The caravan park was chockas as expected, but really nice. We had chosen this caravan park as it was on a river, at the beach and you could do some of the Great Otway hikes from the park. Unfortunately, a flood had affected the area in January and the hikes were all closed. It was still nice to spend some time parked up and recharge after a hectic time in Tassie.

One of Rein’s old workmates just happened to be visiting Lorne as well so we managed to tee up a time to catch up.

While down on the Surf Coast we noted with absolute delight that the pro surfing was on at Bells Beach. We decided to make the trek up from Cumberland to go. We got there early in the morning, just after the first call, both sporting Rip Curl shirts in honour of the main event sponsor. We walked around the still quiet venue, trying to decide where to sit. We saw a grandstand tucked away next to a security guard, the Steph Gilmore stand. We decided that this stand would probably be quiet as people would think it was restricted due to the security guard. We waltz on up and sat down. The stand we decided, was pretty inefficient with only a few bar tables and stools around on only two tiers. It seemed like a mad waste of space to us at a popular event, but hey, we got good seats and the Bells trophy was on display next to us which was pretty cool (also pretty crazy it was just out there with no barricading).

The longer we sat in the stand, enjoying the surfing, we realised that just maybe, we weren’t supposed to be there. Everyone coming into the stand seemed to know each other, was wearing a purple wrist band and there was free coffee and pies to boot. We deduced, that we were in the Rip Curl corporate box and the security guard let us pass as we were wearing Rip Curl shirts and looked quite surfer-esk. It was such a fun awesome day pretending to be part of the big wigs.

We had so much fun at the Pro that we decided to stay in Torquay to watch more days of it. We booked a caravan park and moved ourselves up the coast only to have the pro called off for the next two days due to low swell. We were gutted, but this did mean we had ample time to burn in a premier surf town. So that’s just what I did. Torquay surf beach had the most perfect waves for me. Small rolling green waves on a shallow beach break. I spent many hours over those next two days catching wave after wave until my body ached. It was awesome.

I reached a monumental moment while down on the surf coast. My wetsuit had become ratty and full of holes so while at the Rip Curl outlet in Torquay, I bought a new one. The old wetsuit sat on the ground for four days, each day Rein telling me I needed to chuck it. It wasn’t until the last day at Cumberland did I pluck up the courage to do it. I asked Rein to come with me and we walked to the skip together. As I threw the wetsuit into the bin, I burst out crying. And I cried the whole walk back to the camp. That had been the first wetsuit I ever bought. I bought it when me and Georgia decided to try surfing. I had worn it on almost every surf trip I’d been on and also on countless snorkels. I’d been wearing that wetsuit the first time Rein took me snorkelling off his boat. It wasn’t just a wetsuit to me, it was my key to adventure, my superhero suit. It represented how I chose to put myself out of my comfort zone and chose to be brave. And yeah, it’s just a hunk of neoprene at the end of the day, it doesn’t take away any of my memories and it won’t stop me from continuing to adventure in the future. But god I loved that suit and the years I spent in it. I probably would have kept that ratty old thing forever, but it just wasn’t practicable on the road. Rein cut out the chest logo for me so I’d be able to keep a piece of it forever.

RIP wetsuit

We did manage to catch one more day of the pro before we left, this time the had moved the barricading and security guard at the Steph Gilmore stand, sporting a big NO GA sign, so we just parked ourselves in the normal grand stand for the day.

We had a great time in the surf coast and I’m so glad I finally managed to catch some waves. Next up we are headed to the Mornington Peninsula!