Golden Gate, Aerial iPhone

Golden Gate Park, Aerial iPhone

The City, Aerial iPhone

The Shire

Waking up to the sound of rain drops heavily falling off the leaves of the rustling trees, I remembered that we were in Australia.  Tucked into a small shire of bush along side a freshwater pool we slept, as a storm passed us in the night.  Luckily, I brought a two-person tent, but unfortunately there were three of us.  Too paranoid to sleep in the open exposed to the elements and deadly creatures that lurk in the bush, we opted for the tight squeeze in the tent.  Still not caught up on sleep from the long flight a few days earlier and with the help of a few muscle relaxants, sleep came easily.  

As soon as it was light enough to see, we were out of the tent anxious for a morning surf.  Right behind our shire camp there was a nob situated high enough to give us a vantage of the two right point breaks that flanked us to the north and south.  To our delight, there was definitely more swell than the day before.  Our agenda for the next three days was fairly simple:  eat, sleep, surf and wait for Weber to pick us up.  

Needless to say, here in Yuraygir National Park Joe, Lars, and I had a blast.  Tuning our internal clocks to that of the sun we made the most of our stay in the shire.

angourie

from the Goldy

Driving north past Surfers Paradise the beach terminates at The Spit where there is a car park. Anxiously, we slip into the water, not heeding to the warnings. The paddle across the channel to South Stradbroke Island is only about 100 meters, long enough for stories of bull shark attacks to replay through your head. After 10 nerve racking minutes we are across, thankful to have made it in one piece for now. In the line up at South Straddy, we do not have the comfort of the 11 nets and 35 bait hooks that are found on the Gold Coast to the south of us. Despite the abundance of sharks and side shore wind, we manage to have a fun session pulling into head high dumpers. Walking back up the beach with new, open wounds we know the experience is not over...

I am glad to report we all made the paddle back to the car.

welcome

Hello

It is my hope that I will be able to provide some sort of insight into my life as chronicled through these various blogs of mine. As a way to quickly get you up to speed I will tell you that I am in good spirits these days as I am about to embark on a 3 week surf stint to Australia. I currently reside in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco and have been working off-and-on for a small environmental consulting firm in Sonoma County. I expect to continue work on a land hazard project with a large vineyard development when I return from my trip.

Today, I find myself in an uncommon fog in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. I will be spending the day wishing my mom and grandma an early mother's day, and later continue to make final prepartions for the trip. Tonight, should be fun as I will be with a few good friends, Ras Alan and R Thach.

To give you a heads up as to what to expect from this blog in the near future...I have recently acquired a digital video camera. Considering the fact that I will be travelling with 3 of my best friends from Santa Barbara, antics will most likely ensue. Stay tuned.

Ryan