The Beachley at Dee Why

And back to Australia for us again! I think it is quite good for us Aussie’s to have three events of the first four in our country… Well it has definitely been to Stephanie Gilmore’s advantage!

This is me on finals day enjoying the sun with the crowd.

The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic held at Dee Why beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches this year fell on a national holiday long weekend. This weekend being Anzac Day long weekend and is generally spent going to a dawn service to pay respect to those digger’s who committed their life to protecting our fine democratic country which I for one and very thankful for. Then most Aussie’s head to the pub to drink a huge amount of alcohol and stand around a circle and yell heads or tails at each other (with 3 coins you call whether you think there will be more heads or tails in the 3) in a game known as Two Up and exchange bets, this is what the digger’s did in the trenches.

For me this year it was only Two Up and no alcohol because though we had run through round one and two in the comp the ocean went flat for four days and we were left with one lucky last day to run through the rest of the contest. Sally Fitz is in the photo here with her 2 buck bet for 2 Up.

So on the last day of the waiting period the swell picked up and after four big events in a row over six weeks this was the completion.

Again we found ourselves on a right hander. When I first started the tour we had such a large variety of events from Snapper to Teahupoo, from Fiji to France and Sydney to Hawaii. Now we seem to have a lot of right handers well really pretty much all small right handers and a whole bunch of young whipper snappers on tour. It has forced me to work even harder on my small wave surfing and especially my forehand skills as I grew up on a left point.

I lost my round three heat in what can be described as disappointing high tide waves where all I could manage was two round house carves per wave. Carissa Moore managed a little better but in the end it was a very low scoring heat I had a three point ride and a four. Carissa had a four and a five and that was the end of the contest for me. I was pretty disappointed to go out like that because I felt though the waves were tough everyone has to surf in the same conditions and my mind really let me down. Well I really let myself down so I need to work harder to not let the conditions get to me again like they did in New Zealand and Sydney.  Next week it is Peru and time to roll again.

This photo is Dee Why beach the calm before the storm. Such a beautiful autumn beach day!

Stop number 3 New Zealand!

TSB Bank Pro 



NEW ZEALAND!  2010 

I chose to cruise NZ in a camper van, which is the thing to do there if you’re a tourist because the camp grounds are epic overlooking the whole coast with wireless internet! Just remember to put on your hand-break because you often pull up on cliff drops and maybe share the driving with someone who can drive a manual, my friend Sarah never learnt which meant I was numero uno driver as you can see below! Teach your kids the stick shift parents it comes in handy.

We were welcomed with open arms by the locals who did the tribal Haka which would be intimidating if you were a guy but for the girls it is quite attractive to watch fit men in small shorts with 6 packs being all manly… not that I was looking or anything…

I do also have to say the trek to the contest each day was a little tricky as most kiwi’s seem adept at driving to the middle of no where and following some random paddock to find the surf. If your from any other country you end up in the middle of some small town with the locals laughing at you for how far you have come and thinking you’re an idiot!

“Oh yeah, Jim and Nancy let us use their property for the day for the contest so thanks to them for having us”… Meanwhile Jim and Nancy just happen to own the land with one of the most playful right-handers around out the front of Sally the sheep’s paddock! And I am still driving down the coast because I missed the 54^th right turn silly me!                                                                           

                                                              

                           

                                    ^See above for the Haka....no need for comment

The highlight of my trip was jumping on a helicopter ride with Fuel TV and taking in the breathtaking scenery around the coast of Taranaki and the mountain behind it with Sally Fitzgibbons who was recounting as many helicopter crash stories and burning helicopter scenes from movies that she could remember which made the adventure all the more enjoyable! 

                                                                                    above, view of Mt Taranaki from Heli ^^

Below: Sally Fitzgibbons and I pretending to be on the helicopter sky traffic alert...

                   

The contest ran the first day down the coast 20 minutes from Oakura and then moved to Fitzroy Beach  or the later rounds due to a massive cold, rainy and rather large change. I had my 3^rd round heat yet again against Paige Hareb and coming up against the local town hero in this event was somewhat a little unnerving. Paige got me back for the last two events and moved through to quarter finals. 

It was a hotly contested event and the door was wide open with the upset of the event seeing Steph Gilmore going down to tiny wildcard Sarah Mason. Carissa Moore the eventual winner displaying epic new school moves mixed with a strong solid back hand attack. She also donated her prize purse to the local Boardriding club (a cool 22 000 NZD) which was a completely selfless and kind hearted thing to do.

Next stop the 2010 Commonwealth Beachley Classic, Dee Why, Sydney Australia!  For all the action go here: http://www.beachleyclassic.com/

For more pics and info on the NZ COMP go to http://www.nzsurffestival.co.nz/ !