Saturday, 23 June 2012
Surf season has begun...with a BANG!
Winter is here!!!! Like most parts of the world....winter brings the best conditions here! Its offshore almost all day and pumping south swells from the Tasman Sea come up the coast with fresh sw/se winds. This year we have already had 2 big low pressure systems creating 10-12ft sets... It was way to big for me!!!
I was lucky to get out between the 2 swells with a few other sup surfers Jackson Close, Geoff Breen, and the Dogman out at the Alley. 2-3ft only a handful of guys out... The waves weren't perfect but they were offshore and peeling 100m+ down the bank...
Once the big swells settled down, the points at Lennox Head were firing. We were so lucky to have a near perfect 3ft surf with less than 5 people out... This was an arvo session I wont forget in a while... Perfect lines at Lennox with no one... After a few hours I was placed on filming duty as you can see!
Friday, 8 June 2012
Hawaii 2012
Ahhhh hawaii!
This pic is of my good friend Suzie Cooney and I taking off on a Maliko run....
I flew into Maui back in May this year to be greeted with epic downwind conditions... 35-40 mph with ocean swell! It was amazing.... long glides and fast!
I had flown to Maui to compete in the 4th Annual Olu Kai race. The week leading up to the race was amazing with some of the best downwind sup conditions I have ever seen!
Race day was hard, no wind and no swell - but I was still happy to place 1st in the 14ft 30-39 division for the 2nd year in a row!
I highly recommend this race to anyone who likes downwind paddling!!! Maui is such a special place to me, and all the Maui crew have made it such a special place for me :)
Friday, 20 April 2012
The only constant in life is change
For the past 6-7 months I have been wanting to make the move from the Gold Coast down to Northern New South Wales... Particularly Lennox Head.
The only thing was finding a job (same as I had on the gold coast) For the next few months I was watching job sites to see if anything was coming up, and to my dismay there was no jobs. I decided to focus my energy to positive and affirmed that a position would come up for me.. And within 3 months a position was advertised at Ballina for a 12 month position.
It was a hard decision- to leave a very stable and secure job, for the opportunity to live in a small coastal surf town with a number of breaks, with a low population for 12 months. In the end, it was very clear that I had to at least apply...
So now, 2 months later I have moved! I'm now living at Lennox Head and starting a big new chapter in my life. I've been here a week, and it feels right! I do miss my friends and family but at least they are only 1 hour drive away and as I get settled here I hope to meet new people!
I'm enjoying my work, so my next goal is to extend the position or become permanent.
The only thing was finding a job (same as I had on the gold coast) For the next few months I was watching job sites to see if anything was coming up, and to my dismay there was no jobs. I decided to focus my energy to positive and affirmed that a position would come up for me.. And within 3 months a position was advertised at Ballina for a 12 month position.
It was a hard decision- to leave a very stable and secure job, for the opportunity to live in a small coastal surf town with a number of breaks, with a low population for 12 months. In the end, it was very clear that I had to at least apply...
So now, 2 months later I have moved! I'm now living at Lennox Head and starting a big new chapter in my life. I've been here a week, and it feels right! I do miss my friends and family but at least they are only 1 hour drive away and as I get settled here I hope to meet new people!
I'm enjoying my work, so my next goal is to extend the position or become permanent.
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
What a month...
WOW.. As I look back on the last month, It's amazing how much has happened.
I managed to pick up 2 sponsorships for my SUP- Surf Fx and Hive Swimwear. http://www.surffx.com.au/ and http://www.hiveswimwear.com/
It's such a buzz knowing that these 2 companies are willing to support me and my love for Stand Up Paddling. It's great to know that after putting so much into the sport, there is a reward!
I was also very lucky to score a late arvo glass off at a local point break in my area. I didn't know at the time but a student photographer was taking shots from Burleigh Headland. It wasn't until I got out of the water that the photographer approached me. The pics were amazing and have ended up on international blogs.
The pics below were taken by Rafael Moura.... It's hard to believe he has only been studying photography for 4 months!
Competition season has also begun.. Last week the Inaugural Queensland State SUPA Titles was held at Bilinga Beach in 2ft stormy onshore conditions. It was very close, and ended up taking out my first state title.
Noosa Festival of Surfing and Australian Surf Open were held in March. Noosa was held in small
1-1.5ft at First Point with 6 of us girls in the final. I placed 5th - and found the smaller waves challenging... but happy to make the final. The Australian Surf Open was held a Kingscliff in peaky 2 ft waves. There was four of us girls in the final. We managed to get close to the high tide which created some fun small walls but lacked power. We were all getting stuck on some of the waves,... I had a free surf the day before my comp and managed to loose my paddle. I decided to take my sup out without my legrope..lesson learnt! A wall of white wash came , knocked me off my board and had to swim 100m to get my board.... and my paddle was gone!I managed to grab a spare paddle for the comp, and was pretty happy to place 2nd.
Its been a busy start to 2012.. with my results so far:
2nd - Australian SUP Women's Open (Surf)
5th - Noosa SUP Womens
1st - SUPA QLD State Titles
4th- 12 Towers Race 12'6 class
I managed to pick up 2 sponsorships for my SUP- Surf Fx and Hive Swimwear. http://www.surffx.com.au/ and http://www.hiveswimwear.com/
It's such a buzz knowing that these 2 companies are willing to support me and my love for Stand Up Paddling. It's great to know that after putting so much into the sport, there is a reward!
I was also very lucky to score a late arvo glass off at a local point break in my area. I didn't know at the time but a student photographer was taking shots from Burleigh Headland. It wasn't until I got out of the water that the photographer approached me. The pics were amazing and have ended up on international blogs.
The pics below were taken by Rafael Moura.... It's hard to believe he has only been studying photography for 4 months!
 |
| Waiting for the sets |
Noosa Festival of Surfing and Australian Surf Open were held in March. Noosa was held in small
1-1.5ft at First Point with 6 of us girls in the final. I placed 5th - and found the smaller waves challenging... but happy to make the final. The Australian Surf Open was held a Kingscliff in peaky 2 ft waves. There was four of us girls in the final. We managed to get close to the high tide which created some fun small walls but lacked power. We were all getting stuck on some of the waves,... I had a free surf the day before my comp and managed to loose my paddle. I decided to take my sup out without my legrope..lesson learnt! A wall of white wash came , knocked me off my board and had to swim 100m to get my board.... and my paddle was gone!I managed to grab a spare paddle for the comp, and was pretty happy to place 2nd.
Its been a busy start to 2012.. with my results so far:
2nd - Australian SUP Women's Open (Surf)
5th - Noosa SUP Womens
1st - SUPA QLD State Titles
4th- 12 Towers Race 12'6 class
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Camping adventure.... North Stradbroke Island
After packing our boards, camping gear, food, and the bare essentials it was time to hit the road..... next stop North Stradbroke Island...
After boarding the vehicle ferry from Cleveland..... we drove straight to Cylinders Beach and set up camp for 5 days. We managed to get 1 really good day of surfing at Main Beach. Once the high tide came in.. the beach filled with perfect a frame peaks and lots of barrels for our shortboards - once the tide dropped -I took my SUP out at Main Beach.... something I thought I would never do. The locals said they had never seen a girl Sup at Main Beach before.... so I felt pretty happy!
Main Beach is very fast, and punchy but actually very fun on the SUP. Whilst cruising around I spotted 2 sharks, 20 dolphins, and several sting rays... The island is a huge marine wildlife park!
Once the wind changed to the south..Main Beach was dead onshore.. We explored Cylinders and Deadmans. Deadmans proved to be the better option- with 2-3ft rights with 1 person out...along side with 20-30 dolphins! This beach is my favourite beach on straddie!
The following day the winds changed to stromg SE - making most the island onshore..patience was the key and on the mid tide we scored 2 ft a frames.... and surfed till the tide changed.
After our surfs, we decided to test out my new Rav 4..... and took it beach driving! This was a new and exciting experience. It was great to cruise and explore the long open stretches. It did take some getting use too.... deflating the tyres and making sure you drove on low tide! Making sure to slow down when we saw kangaroos!
Camping was the best (and cheapest) option for us - Cylinders had great facilities and right on the beach. Kangaroos would come down in the afternoon to check out the campers. Living on the Gold Coast, its very rare to see them in the wild!
After boarding the vehicle ferry from Cleveland..... we drove straight to Cylinders Beach and set up camp for 5 days. We managed to get 1 really good day of surfing at Main Beach. Once the high tide came in.. the beach filled with perfect a frame peaks and lots of barrels for our shortboards - once the tide dropped -I took my SUP out at Main Beach.... something I thought I would never do. The locals said they had never seen a girl Sup at Main Beach before.... so I felt pretty happy!
Main Beach is very fast, and punchy but actually very fun on the SUP. Whilst cruising around I spotted 2 sharks, 20 dolphins, and several sting rays... The island is a huge marine wildlife park!
 |
| Main Beach |
The following day the winds changed to stromg SE - making most the island onshore..patience was the key and on the mid tide we scored 2 ft a frames.... and surfed till the tide changed.
Camping was the best (and cheapest) option for us - Cylinders had great facilities and right on the beach. Kangaroos would come down in the afternoon to check out the campers. Living on the Gold Coast, its very rare to see them in the wild!
 |
| 2 males- cylinders |
Monday, 6 February 2012
Surfing is...
an element of freedom......
a form of self expression
a way of getting in sync with the ocean...
All photos taken by Mikela Wilbow - http://www.mikalawilbow.com/
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