It was the long weekend and…it’s raining…again. At least there was surf. Lots of surf. Saturday was actually still sunny and super clean. It seems like ages ago but I remember now, waves on Saturday morning were excellent. Surfed Maroubra at the morning low tide and it was really good. It was also really freezing. Getting changed in the car park gave me frostbites. I went for a second surf a bit later in Bondi when the tide came in a bit more. Still good but the banks were just not as good as Maroubra and I think the crowds were triple the people than in Maroubra.
Sunday morning was still quite good. Decent size sets coming through in Bondi. You had to pick your wave though to dodge the close-outs. Again, it was freezing but I’ve discovered my remedy after freezing surfs. Hot showers just don’t always cut it. So I decided to visit the sauna at the Icebergs to warm up. I can’t believe it took me 7 years to discover that sauna. It must be the sauna with the best views in the world. Not only can you actually see the surf from the sauna but also did I enjoy excellent views of The Bondi Vet – Dr Chris Brown’s ripped body. That guy is blessed with good genes I have to admit…I mean you can tell from the telly that he’s not a bad looking bloke but having his six pack right in your face (and I mean right in my face …sauna was crowded) is a whole different story. I also had the whole sauna (including the hot vet) in stitches at one point. It all started with random guy who’s about to put some oil essence over the hot stones and asks: “Does anyone know this oil? It’s Birch…Anyone German? They would know.” My dear friend pointing at me: “She’s German.”
Now, my mother tongue and my accent is German but I’m Austrian and hate to be called German (it’s like calling a Kiwi an Aussie), so a bit louder than intended I yell out: “I’m not bloody German”…I happened to say that in a very German accent. Life’s comedy at it’s best. Some people almost fell off the little sauna benches pissing themselves laughing. Who would have thought a trip to the sauna could have been that entertaining…
Anyway, sorry got slightly side tracked here, what I wanted to say…can only recommend sauna if you need to get hot after a surf.
Sunday was a shocker of a day. I was meant to go on a roadie with a mate of mine but we called it off. Not only was it cold and raining but bucketing down. Oh and the wind picked up too from the South. I still felt like a surf. So I put on my soaking wet wetsuit which I accidently left hanging out on the window. That was the first time I thought why am I doing this to myself and doubted how much I really felt like a surf. But I was half way in there so I thought I may as well go now. I thought again about turning around when I saw that the conditions had actually deteriorated even more since I last checked. It was a 4ft mess – heavily affected by the onshore winds. Oh well, I could not turn around then when I made it that far. It then took me about 10 minutes to paddle out. I forgot how hard it is to get out in 4ft windswell with no obvious break between sets. And it was a bit hard to see too with the heavy rain. You guessed right, that was the third time I was thinking ‘why am I doing this to myself”…I got the answer quickly. Big and powerful, stormy waves were rolling in. I had an absolute ball. I caught some really good waves. I have to say there is something very special about these days when you brave all the conditions and you are out on the stormy ocean on your little board. The hardest part is definitely getting out there. Once you are out there you feel the power of mother nature and it’s beautiful.
Don’t worry if you missed out today, tomorrow is still going to be messy and stormy if you want to experience extreme storm surfing… Ok, seriously tomorrow is still going to be quite windy. From Wednesday onwards it looks like it calms down a bit and there is plenty of swell around. Yay to consistent winter swells.
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