This weekend’s wave wrap comes from the other side of Australia. I’m in Broome, Western Australia for a work trip (I do have a ‘real job’ other than surfing and writing about surfing and we are up here for a shoot. Ye I know… life’s tough.)
I did not pack my surfboard as I did not expect to a) to go to a spot where you can surf b) find time to surf. Having said that, there was a small glimmer of hope when I figured that we are staying at Cable Beach in Broome for a couple of nights. I checked the surf forecast and it did say it would be 3ft. I almost got excited and pictured myself already how I would get up really, really early to get a morning surf in. Surely, there would be some rental boards up there….
So when we arrived in Broome Friday night and checked into the hotel, my first question was about the surf. The receptionist looked rather confused and replied something along the lines: ‘Surf??? No I would not go in there. The water is 36 degrees and there are crocodiles and sharks. Not so many stingers anymore but it’s still wet season. You might get stingers too…’ Ok, admittedly the receptionist was wrong about the water temperature. It was only 26 degrees. I tested that one by dipping my big toe into the ocean and it was Indo warm but not 36 degrees. However, that was an easy test. I was not so sure if it’s worthwhile verifying the crocodile/shark/stinger story and opted to stay out of the water. Lucky, there are no waves anyway to speak of. I have to say it is a bit of torture though being in a place where it’s about 37 degrees with 70% humidity and you are not allowed to jump into the crystal clear ocean. Never in my life was I so grateful for a pool and air-conditioners. They do seem to make sense in a climate like this. Or maybe it does not make sense for people to be in hot weather like this…hmm…It’s crazy… you walk out of your room and even your sunnies fog up. The heat certainly takes a bit getting used to.
In general, it does my head in a bit to be on the other side….the sun sets over the ocean and the sun rises over land. Weird. Also, I keep on mixing up North and South….going left along the beach means going South rather than North. Does not really matter though…at least there is a beach…In the afternoon we are actually heading inland into the middle of nowhere. I’ll be checking the stars in the outback rather than the surf. Not sure yet how I’m going to survive with no ocean or waves in sight. Needless to say, I will be struggling with the surf report side of things. Sorry for my Instagram followers who are going to miss my early morning surf reports. No ocean, no waves, no internet = no surf report. If everything goes to plan (i.e. our mini plane doesn’t crash, we don’t get lost in the desert, we don’t bump into wolf creek man, no major heatstrokes to speak off), I should be back checking the waves in Bondi on Wednesday/Thursday.
Having said that, it does not look like I’m missing much anyway. Coastalwatch reads ‘very small again, barely breaking…’ and I don’t see a spike in the swell charts until Wednesday…good timing I say.
Have a great week everyone
x Clauds
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