Scribbles Abroad

Waves we scored at da Superbank, Gold Coast

A little under two weeks of driving and we finally made it to Sydney in time to pick up my parents.  This was our first time driving around a foreign city and navigating it was a challenge, especially without a proper map.  We drove though the arrivals and there they were standing on the curb, it was perfect timing.  It was rather late and after 10 hours of traveling, my parents Norman and Stella, were rather tired so we drove around trying to find a hotel to stay at for the night.  To make a long story short, we got lost.  I mean really lost.  It was a little frustrating but we finally found the perfect place a little out of town.

The Harbor Bridge, Sydney

The next morning was spent cruising around Sydney checking out the typical tourist stops.  Luckily we were able to find the Opera House and a nice view of the bridge quite easily.  Sydney was nice but we were ready to get out of the city and take my parents on a little road trip.

The Opera House and the Harbor Bridge

It was almost exactly a year ago when Kahi and I last traveled to Australia and did a road trip from the Gold Coast to Sydney.  It was a beautiful drive and we had so much fun, I was really excited to take my parents along and show them around.  Our car was quite packed so we decided to put the surfboards on the roof to make things a little more comfortable inside.  Our original plan was to buy some pipe insulation and build some sort of make-shift roof rack contraption.  The hardware store we stopped at didn’t carry pipe insulation so we came up with a brilliant plan.  There were tons of cardboard boxes at the store and we were able to make some “Hawaiian Racks.”  Check them out!  We just rolled up the cardboard and secured them with some tape and tie downs.  They were cherry!

Hawaiian Racks! Never mind buying those fancy-pantie roof racks, just grab some cardboard.  Free is mo-bettah!

Traveling though Australia is rather convenient.  In almost every town there’s some sort of campground where they have hot water showers, nice bathrooms, and kitchen facilities.  Some even have swimming pools and trampolines.  We had our campsite dialed.  Kahi and I were still crashing in our car and my parents were in their Shangri-La tent sleeping on a comfy air mattress.

Our camp grounds in Port Macquarie had the best location, right next to the surf

How many pumps does it take to fill the air mattress?  215 pumps or something like that…its a great butt workout!

Steak, potatoes, and corn…Cookin’ up a feast!

Everyone loves a meat pie

At dawn and dusk all of these pretty little birds called lorikeets would congregate together in the trees and make tons of racket.  If you stood under the tree, put your tent under a tree or parked your car under a tree, guaranteed you would get pooped on.

light house and view of beach

We got some small but fun waves over at Port Macquarie but were ready to head to our next destination, Yamba.  Last year we scored this place and had so much fun.  Its a pealing right point break that goes on and on and on.  This year the swell wasn’t nearly as big, but the waves were still rippable.

Need I say more?

My padre swam out there and took some pics of us

My madre kickin’ it under a tree while we surf our brains out

I love Yamba but hate the mosquitoes that feast on my flesh and casue me so much suffering.  Anyway…The town is quite small but the pub on the hill has an amazing view.  It over looks a beach with some small fun beachies.  There’s also these really cool jumping rocks called the Blue Pools just outside of Yamba.  We jumped off the cliffs last year but there was a warning sign for some sort of harmful algal bloom in the water so we didn’t get to this time.

The pub that Kahi and my dad frequented

Yamba Beachies

Another Yamba beach

Eating lunch at the Blue Pools, fresh water pools created by an old quarry

We took my parents for a bowl, Kahi and my mom were right on key, my dad and myself were another story.

Our next stop was about an hour north to the small town of Lennox Head.  There were a couple surf spots here but the wind was making them look like doodoo, so we spent the day chillin’ in the hot tub at the campgrounds we were staying at.  The following day we surfed some of the local beachies, they weren’t that great but there were a pod of dolphins surfing the waves with us.

Some of the waves at Lennox Head

The hot tub

Another hour up the coast and we were at Byron Bay, the backpacker headquaters of Australia.  There are two bays back to back here in Byron Bay, if one is on shore the other is usually off shore and surfable.  We surfed some fun beachies and again there were tons of dolphins swimming every where.  They’re pretty cool to surf with but kind of scary when they’re catching a wave and you’re trying to duck dive.

The view of Back beach, Byron Bay

Back Beach

So there I was surfing Back Beach minding my own business when a school of Needle Fish decided to swim by me, they must have been startled by all the dolphins.  They start jumping out of the water and pegging me in the back.  I got nailed by at least 20 of these suckers.  It was hilarious, but scary.

Next stop was the Goldy, where our buddy Campbell lives.  He was out of town for our first couple of days but was very generous and let us stay at his house.  The Quicksilver Pro was going on at Kirra Beach, so we decided to check it out.  It was a little windy but the waves were pumping and the pros were out there ripping it up as usual.  We got a little jealous and put our cameras away and paddled out at Snapper Rocks.  The paddle out was difficult and the sweep was strong but we were able to get some fun waves.

Quiksilver Pro, Kirra Beach

Superbank and Kirra Beach, Gold Coast

We spent the next couple of days showing my parents the different surf breaks and kickin’ it at the beach.  My mom was getting a really nice tan and my dad was stoked to get back in the water and paddle around.  The waves were pretty good over the weekend but it was super-duper crowded.  You think everyone surfs in Hawaii?  You should see the Goldy!  They were also having a surfboard exhibition which added to the crowd, but it was cool to check out the different boards.

Mi Madre y Padre

Surfboard exhibition at Currumbin.  They had all sorts of boards, old and new school.

Since the Philippines claimed our shortboards we needed to get a couple new ones.  Kahi kept in touch with the Firewire reps in Hawaii and Cali so when they heard we needed help, they introduced us to Nikki the rep in Currumbin.  She was amazing!  Letting us demo a couple of boards plus helping us around the warehouse by pulling boards.  Kahi and I left with two new boards, needless to say we were stoked.

While we were at the shop we also got to meet Nev, the owner and one of the creators of Firewire surfboards

Our new babies

Campbell was back in town and it was so nice to see him.  The waves were picking up and we scored the Superbank pretty good.  It was still crowded but the wind was down and the waves were totally rippable.  We surfed until we were completely rashed up and exhausted.

One day during the week Cam got rained out of work so we took my parents up the Sunshine Coast to Australia Zoo, the one that Steve Irwin created.  I was super stoked to pet all the cool animals and see some of the weird creatures that live in Australia.

Australia Zoo

They just let this guy run around the zoo, he almost got me but luckily we had mad rangeling skills and were able to tame this fine specimen

The zoo had these cool Roo petting areas where they would hop around and you could feed them.  They were super soft and  so cute.

I pet a lot of animals

They had this show where they brought out birds and other animals.  It was really neat to see them feed the crocs.  It was an educational show that taught you a lot about the different animals in OZ and how to safely live amongst them.  They had this one part of the show where they asked for volunteers to teach a bird call, then they would release the birds and they would land on your arm.  Kahi was chosen as one of the four volunteers, they had then do the most hilarious bird call with a pelvic thrust  He did an amazing job, but it was just a joke they played on the volunteers and no birds landed on their arms.  It was so funny!

We had a ton of fun at the Zoo and I personally though it was better than the Sydney Zoo.  You get to interact with the animals a lot more and learn way more about the animals.

I was stoked everything worked out and they got to come and visit us.  They were such great sports about camping and tagging along with us to go surfing, they are so mellow and easy going.  My parents were headed back home and had a long journey ahead of them back to Hawaii.  They lucked out and got upgraded to first class which probably made it a little more comfortable.  Thanks for everything mom and pops!