Weekend up the coast, a TR of sorts
Had a pretty good weekend up the coast near Seal Rocks with the girlfriend. Arrived up there about 5pm on Friday arvo, got set up in the camp ground at Yagon and cracked my first JB and coke about 6pm siting on the viewing platform in the dunes watching small offshore peelers all up and down the beach. Should really have had a surf then as I knew the southerly was coming up that night but at the time I couldn’t be arsed.
The Spartan but comfy setup
Had an interesting night as some massive, turbo bogans had set up a couple of hundred metres away, partying hard into the night, I got to sleep but would wake periodically at times when they were chanting drinking slogans and other shit. I was actually stoked when the southerly hit and it rained it’s guts out about 2am and drowned them and their boganisms out completely. Got up early and actually rued the fact I no longer have an incredibly antisocially loud V8 anymore as I would have dearly loved to drive past the offending bogans at 7am at walking pace revving it to 7000rpm redline and allowing it to crackle and bark as it backed off with unburnt fuel exploding in the dual 3” downpipes I used to call an exhaust.
As it was I had to settle for a decidedly inhuman bowel movement in the camp ground pit toilet and hope it led to some hungover fool retching their guts up after the assault on their olfactory system. Had a brekky of scramblesd eggs and despite the cloud cover and southerly it wasn’t an altogether terrible day. We headed up to Sandbar and drove down the beach to the south end in a vain bid to see if there was some part of the beach that was open enough to accept the new southerly swell but protected from the wind enough to make it worth surfing. That plan foiled we drove back a bit up the beach and had a SUP on Smiths Lake.
I did a quick circuit around a small island, only about 2km, I managed to startle the resident pelicans on the backside of the island but that was about the sum total of excitement on the paddle.
The Lake
I then spent about an hour coaching the girlfriend the how to’s of turning and paddling etc. Kinda needed to get it into her head how to do it as despite the relative shelter of where we were, if she got it too wrong she could have been blown halfway across the lake. I really wasn’t up for the torture of paddling a regular board after her for the inevitable rescue mission.
Girlfriend getting the hang of it
After heading off from the lake we headed in towards Forster for some unplanned shopping, apparently the makeshift pillow I made the girlfriend out of rolled up towels and a tshirt wasn’t quite up to the task. I however wasn’t the one who forgot to grab a pillow for the trip and I’m definitely not chivalrous enough to give mine up so I made the drive with minimum fuss. Also gave me the chance to check out a couple of other spots closer to town that might have been working, upon closer inspection they weren’t either. Apparently Tuncurry breakwall was ok but I wasn’t up for the crowd shitfight that goes with that spot so pillow shopping over, we headed back down to Seal Rocks.
When we got back back I chose to forget years of disappointment associated with the spot and paddled out at the point for what can only be described as an embarassing grovel. I would have been better served taking the SUP out and becoming what my friends and I describe as a SWAW. Swimmer. With. A. Weapon. I stood up and mangulatedly cheater fived my way across several amazingly gutless waves on my normal shortboard but couldn’t help thinking I could have gone faster, turned less and been a truly more frightening spectacle had I taken out the SUP.
SWAW style learn to surf point
Post ego deflation we headed back to the campsite whereupon I reverted back to base instincts and resolved to be a man and create fire. Due to the drenching visited upon the campsite the previous night and a distinct lack of foresight by your’s truly in not buying firewood in town, this proved to be far more difficult than it needed to be. Through sheer stubborn persistence and an uncanny ability to find and collect masses of dry kindling, that and my trusty Bic lighter, I managed to appease my inner neanderthal and create fire. Keeping it going with anything other than a stick sporting a diameter larger than my pinky proved more difficult. After rummaging through some other abandoned camp fires I found some partially burnt but mostly dry more substantially sized timber and the fire while not raging, was a success.
The fire
The next day was a cracker of a day, unfortunately the wind was still up from the south but it hadn’t done enough to produce anything better in the way of a swell on the point. I elected to have a body surf on the next beach up where they launch the boats from. The water was crystal clear and as is often the case up here even in the depths of summer occasionally, pretty damn cold. Was nice and refreshing and scored a couple of wedgie barrels for my efforts which was fun. Had a late brekky after that and headed home for a late lunch. Sitting here in the office writing this and actually feel like I had a nice break over the weekend rather than still fighting a hangover like the previous couple of Mondays!
Nice NTHN as always….
You coming to watch art of flight 2 night.???
Na mate, pretty busy today and prior commitments tonight, my sister is heading back to the US on Wednesday so family dinner tonight.
Had an interesting night as some massive, turbo bogans had set up a couple of hundred metres away, partying hard into the night, I got to sleep but would wake periodically at times when they were chanting drinking slogans and other shit. I was actually stoked when the southerly hit and it rained it’s guts out about 2am and drowned them and their boganisms out completely.
well i can safely say it wasnt me and my mates, if it was i think you would have moved 
I doubt your mates were a patch on these fellas despite your dual coffs and canberran bogan credentials ha ha!
Nice TR NBG !!!!!
Seal rocks, is that near Hat Head?
You’re thinking of Southwest Rocks Azz, Seal Rocks is south of Forster and Pacific Palms and north of Nelson Bay and Hawks Nest.
Yep, I have no idea where that is 
But yes, Southwest rocks was the one I was thinking about 
my cousin and his family moved from canberra to south west rocks earlier this year, azz. We helped them move house. Nice little place and epic for the kids. they are loving it up there!
I doubt your mates were a patch on these fellas despite your dual coffs and canberran bogan credentials ha ha!
if we just had the bogan credentials then maybe that lot could top us, but you add the serious strain of redneck that the group is well known for and those guys wouldnt have a chance haha
ill endevor to do a TR for our next camping trip, alltho it will probably be a nothing to easter 2012 long weekend :burn: