The Old Farts Surf Co. Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta - Day 6

The Dude (Oldfartsurfer No. 12) and Mexican (Oldfartsurfer No. 4) jumped out of bed at first light to check the surf, despite tired muscles from extensive tour surfing and sore heads, from extensive tour beer research.  (Of course there were to be no secrets on this tour, no "what happens on tour stays on tour", as the boys were accompanied by the good ladies, keeping a lid wild oldfartsurfer behaviour.)  When the sun finally rose over the superbank on the sixth and final day of the Old Farts Surf Co. Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta it revealed clean glassy 1' swell  peeling perfectly around the point.  The Mexican was tempted to grab Bob the Bobsled and slip out before the Saturday crowd arrived.  "I thought there might be a wave with enough grunt to push me and Bob along" said Mex, "but the Dude was doubtful and suggested there might  be more grunt if we went back to bed for a while".

(Sunrise on Day 6, perfect glassy 1' superbank)

After a bit more of a nap, the oldfartsurfers and the good ladies woke to a leisurely breakfast and a bit of chat.  The oldfartsurfers were distracted and couldn't keep their eyes off the superbank in case the swell suddenly jacked up. A rise in the swell wasn't predicted so it was just wishful thinking.

(Glassy conditions on the inside section of the superbank)

After breakfast the team packed up and put their bags in storage.  Of course boardies were put on top, just in case that swell did rise.  Then the team went for a leisurely walk around to Duranbah, on the State border with NSW at Tweed Heads.

(Saturday morning crowd gathers at the superbank)

On the walk around to Duranbah there was plenty of action on the superbank.  "There were some great team waves with about six surfers on each wave"  said the Dude,  "it was pretty amazing for such small waves, a testament to the quality of the wave."

(A six surfer team wave at the superbank)

Once the team reached Duranbah they stopped for a latte' in a lovely cafe' on the top of the hill.  The Cafe' had an art gallery out the back so a full morning's entertainment was complete with a browse of the artwork.  We were pretty pleased with this little find" said the Mex, "I think it was the high point of the tour for the Good Ladies, and their last memory of the Tour was what made if so fabulous".

(This kid scores one to himself)

The lady running the gallery was keen to leave the rat race of Coolangatta and the Gold Coast for the secret island home of the oldfartsufers.  The Mex filled her in on some good spots as long as she kept it a secret from the hordes.  "Made me appreciate how good we have it at home" said Mex, "We can still get six on a wave on a good day, even though we have less people and its really cold this time of year, its fantastic, you have to leave home to appreciate how good it is". 

(The kid gets slotted, while predators on the shoulder wait for him to fall)

"We'll have to do some more research for the next Old Farts Surf Co. Tour" said the Dude as he and the Good Woman jumped on the plane and left the Mex and the Good Lady to find Spot.

(Two for the price of one, tandem ladies surfing on the wave of the day)

(Duranbah, had enough grunt to support about 10 surfers on one wave)

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Spot, Moose's Mum and the Moose

Never being a man to shy away from a challenge, Spot (Oldfartsurfer No. 6) left the southern hemisphere at the end of November so he could catch the massive winter swells on the West Coast of Canada.  "I get so bored surfing in warm water" said Spot, "I need the danger of losing whole limbs to frost bite or killer whales, and Canada has all that thrill for me".  Of course his sojourn to the arctic north has nothing to do with catching up with Canadian upstart Moose (Oldfartsurfer No. 5).  Moose, of course, has promised to look after Spot and is trying to keep him away from Vancouver Island's big wave spots.  She has even tried distracting him by introducing him to the sport of curling.  "Spot thought he was going to be riding the curl" said Moose laughing, "but instead he found himself hurling 100kg lumps of granite across an ice rink".  Spot was positive about it saying "at least it help me bulk up the muscles for when I hit those big slabs off the coast"

(Moose teaching Spot how to ride the curl)

In order to distract Spot from his biggest rival, Kelly Slater, Moose's Mum (Oldfartsurfer No. 33), took spot on an expedition into the Rockies to toughen him up and prepare him for his big wave destiny.

(Spot sliding into some mountainous waves in the Rockies)

"I thought I could get him sliding into some mountain waves to get him acclimatised to the temperature before he hit the big liquid waves of the North Pacific" said Mouse's Mum.  "We also thought we could distract him from chasing Moose during the day" she said.  The distraction was only short lived, however, and Spot, with all the skill of an experienced hunter, managed to track down a real Moose.  "A poor substitute for a killer whale" said Spot, "but it still gave me that buzz from the potential of losing a limb when I snowboarded between its legs".

(The real moose Spot tracked down in the Rockies)

The last reports of Spot, Moose's Mum and the Moose were that they were doing altitude training in board shorts and tee-shirts on the highest peaks of the Rockies.  The Old Farts Surf Co. is sponsoring the training session by providing gingernut snap biscuits and good coffee.

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Moose's Mum & Kelly Slater

When Canadian upstart, Moose, spent a couple of months on an island off the south coast of Australia last Christmas getting secret surf refinement lessons from the mastersurfinstructor, The Mexican, she kept it a secret to avoid being mobbed by adoring fans.  "Can you imagine if the word got out", said the Mex, "the beach would have been swarming with bodies and the island would have slipped off the continental shelf into the Southern Ocean."

(Moose receiving instruction on the finer points of surfing from The Mexican)

Fortunately, word of Moose's secret training sessions didn't get out until after she had left the island.  Apparently one of Moose's biggest fans is 10 time world champion and the greatest athlete who ever lived, Kelly Slater.  Moose's mum has sent the Mexican a Canadian surfing magazine with an advert showing the great man surfing on the secret island on the back cover, soon after Moose had left the island.

(Kelly Slater on the back cover of a Candian surf magazine)

Rumour has it that the great man begged his sponsors to place the advert in the hope of getting noticed by Moose, who it is believed is now back in Canada.  Kelly has been a fan since first reading the Oldfartsurfer's stories of her surfing prowess and exploits south of the equator last summer.  Apparently, he had private investigators chase down her location and when he found out he made the trip south to see if he could impress.  Photographic evidence of Slater on the island appeared on the front cover of Australian Surfing Life stating the date it was taken as 20th March.  Unfortunately for Kelly, Moose had already left the island by this date.

(Slater on 20th March)

"The photo on the Canadian back cover and the Australian front cover are identical" said Moose's mum, "the placement of the photo in both magazines is an obvious ploy by Kelly to get my daughter's attention".   The Mexican defended Slater's actions saying " he's not stalking her or anything, he's just a big fan".  Kelly was pretty cool getting towed into some massive waves and he is quoted as saying "towing good waves is surfing's equivalent to a hot woman feeding your grapes".   "We're still analysing that" said the Mex, "we are not sure if he means surfing without towing is the equivalent of eating grapes or the equivalent of a hot woman".  Either way, as the Dude would say "we need to do more research".

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Home for Oldfartsurfers Relocating

You may have noticed that the old web site for the Old Farts Surf Co. has disappeared and that we have a "splash page" site in its place.  This is because we are upgrading the old template based site, which didn't look so good, and replaceing it with a professionally designed site.  We have also, we have decided to let our old host go and will be using a new host at considerable cost savings.
The new site is being designed and prepared by Billy Foran at MWPR who keeps telling the Oldfartsurfer this is going to be the best surfing web site anyone has ever seen.  We look forward to it getting up in the next couple of weeks.

Andy Irons & Kelly Slater

We don't usually make comment about the latest hot shot surfers or surfing fads in this blog, however, events this week have had such an impact on the surfing world that we have to give our respects to Andy Irons and Kelly Slater.
Its amazing how a bloke like Andy can ride the most dangerous waves in the world then get killed by a mosquito.  Sympathy and best wishes to his family.
Congratulations to Kelly on his 10th world title and for being both the youngest and oldest surfer to win a world title.  We bestow honerary oldfartsurfer status on Kelly for doing to stay stoked and for being the greatest athlete the world has ever seen.

The Old Farts Surf Co. Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta - Day 5

According to legend, Captain Cook named Mt Warning on a surf check in his gin palace yacht cruising the east coast back in 1770.  Cook is credited with the first surf boat trip and the discovery of a load of excellent breaks including Cloudy Bay, Adventure Bay, Botany Bay, Byron Bay and Teahupoʻo in Tahiti.  Cook was the victim of the first surf rage death when he dropped in on a local at Teahupo'o who promptly grabbed his spear and drove it through Cook in the first documented case of extreme surf localism.  It is thought that Australia's first sunrise every morning can be viewed from the summit of Mt Warning and it is therefore attributed with some pretty heavy mystical vibes by mung bean eaters and star treckies.  The fact of the matter is, however, that during the summer months, the first sunrise is seen from Macquarie Island, well south of Tasmania.

(Early morning view of Mt Warning from the bunk house)

Every morning of the Old Fart Surf Co. Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta the Dude woke up to a splendid view of Mt Warning.  The Dude is not prone to mystical mumbo jumbo, however, he felt himself strangely drawn to "The Mountain".  After day four of the Fabulous Tour, he said "enough, I can't bear it any more, I've got to climb that mountain."  "Well OK, said the Mex, "but lets go and have a surf first."  The LOOFS (Ladies of Oldfartsurfers) of course were up for a good hike instead of shopping.

(The Dude & the Goodwoman halfway up Mt Warning)

The boys started with a surf on the south side of the headland at Cabaritta while the LOOFS went for a stroll to the local instant coffee joint.  The NE wind swell combined with a small SE ground swell produced some interesting shifting peaks, and, if you were lucky enough could get a long lefthander down the beach.  After a time, the LOOFS returned from the coffee break and an expedition conceived.  A late lunch was held in a rustic restaurant at the base of the Mountain, so rustic in fact, that the table cloth had ingrained egg yoke along with other foodstuff.  The summit attempt was commenced at around 2 pm and the climbing party was immediately met with warning signs that the drive to the summit should not be commenced after midday or it wold turn dark before you got back.  "Damn Cook and his warning signs" said The Dude, "lets push on regardless".  So, off they went, stoically striving for the summit.  The first casualty was the First Lady of Mexico with a sore toe who turned back at the half way point.  The Dude, The Good Woman and the Mexican pushed on for the summit only to hit a dark wall at the 3/4 point in the impending darkness.  Common oldfartsurfersense got the better of goal achievement and the team turned back prior to the summit and went in search of the a hot bath and a good restaurant meal.  Mt Warning remained unconquered by the oldfartsurfers for another day.

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Old Farts Surf Co Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta Days 3 & 4

Day three of the Old Farts Surf Co Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta saw a run down the coast to Byron Bay so Bob the Bobsled could catch up with his roots.  The surf was a perfect 1' and uncrowded.  "We only heard rumours of the 12' shark that had chased a 15 year out of the water the day before after we got out of the surf" said the Mex.    "Plus I had a surf with Mal from Mal and the Longboarders and we had a pretty good rap".   While  the SOOFS (Ladies of Oldfartsurfers) enjoyed the sunshine and the boys caught up with Rockhead and his entourage.  The Dude then surfed his way north and found a peak of his own.  "The highlight of the day in Byron was the 6' monitor lizard outside the cafe where we had lunch." said the Dude.

(6' monitor lizard)

Day 4 of the Fabulous tour saw the Mex and the Dude head south again, this time they found a few fun waves at Cabaritta.  Unfortunately the boys left their Weber Afterburners at home as their creator, Greg Webber,  was in the surf and they would have loved to show Greg how a pair of olfartsurfers could handle the feisty machines.  

 (A local on a glassy Cabaritta zipper)

 (The Dude slices the top off a fat one at Cabaritta)

 (Mex rides a foam ball out of the tube)

It was a warm day at Cabaritta, so warm it drove the Goodwoman into the surf.  Not for long though as the chilly water proving too much for even the bravest without a wetsuit.

(The Dude and the Goodwoman frolic in the surf)

All in all it was a couple of fun days of surf south of the boarder.  The Mexican was in his element and assimilated pretty well, as did the Dude.  The Dude, however, was becoming restless, enchanted with the distant Mt Warning and was being drawn to the hinterland by its spell.  Would he sercombe to its spell and go bush instead of surfin?

Click here for the previous installment of the Old Farts Surf Co. Fabulous Tour of Coolangatta.

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