Okay, forgive me, here's one last roll of the Gold Coast dice and then I promise we'll be back to normal programming next week. I keep getting asked about the Gold Coast – probably spurred by the freezing cold temperatures we've endured this past week, but definitely in line with New Zealander's obsession with this Miami of the Southern Hemisphere. To be frank, I'm not so fussed by the shops and hustle and bustle of Surfer's Paradise, but damn some of those buildings are beautiful. It fries my brain trying to imagine the shallow little sandy foundations that hold them up. It looks like it would take one decent puff and they'd all be toppled. Let's hope not. Beneath them is a buzz of beaches (some with okay waves) and people – very fit, healthy people from all walks of life. Take the arc to the south (or north to Straddie) and that's where the real gold lies on this coast.
When I lived in Sydney I'd head up to Brisbane a few times a year for work and always stay at Kirra. I scored that place so many times I lost count. Then they started up the sand pumps to improve the Tweed River mouth for shipping and inadvertently killed off Kirra. But the sand pump gave life to the Superbank at Snapper Rocks. A long, hollow, draining righthander that has become the focal point of performance surfing ever since. That's where we stayed on this last trip. I could see the take-off spot from my apartment and out the back window was a full view of Duranbah.
Mostly I surfed, in boardies, and shot between Greenmount and D-Bah right on the border between Queensland and NSW. We had a few small swells most of the time and often long stints with favourable winds. But it's not the wind or the swell that defines a surf at Snapper Rocks. It's the crowd. Here's a good example of what you can expect, a blow-by-blow from one of my more memorable sessions jockeying for position behind the take-off rock.
Firstly, the paddle out is dead easy, but the sweep when you have 2-3 footers coming through is pretty intense so you're basically paddling constantly to hold position. Everyone is and you're snagging legropes and clashing boards constantly. When a wave comes you have to own it – hesitate and you'll never get another chance. I managed to grab one early and was dropping down the face eyeing up the next sections, which were filled with faces willing me to fall. That's about when the wall of the wave disappeared and I fell straight to the bottom with about six inches of water to protect me from the sand. I hit so hard with my hip that I would limp for weeks afterward.
I regathered myself and paddled wide back into the lineup. I watched as Occy – one of the Aussie legends from my grommethood – took off on a few bigger, wider waves. I made a beeline for that spot. Sure enough a wide one lurches past the main peak and I am in position. This time I make the drop and tuck into the wall when I can see a guy paddling like mad to drop in on me. I have a choice: chop this miscreat down and risk damaging my borrowed board or straighten out. I decide to stand up for myself when at the last moment I realise it is Occy. I straighten out and give the 1999 World Champion free reign. It just wouldn't be right to challenge the Occ.
I return to the same take-off spot and instantly a set appears, my good deed rewarded. I get in early and I'm stoking as it is eaily overhead. I angle down, knifing in, but seem to run out of speed. And then I'm free falling completely upside down and land directly on my head, directly onto the sand. I can hear my whole spine crunch and I'm immediately trying to figure out if I have feeling in my legs. I do. I take the rest of the beating. Pop up and paddle straight in. I replace my board with my camera and that's where this shot below comes from – right on dark, my tail between my legs. That's what the GC does to you.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS If you missed our Pro-Creation exhibition at the Dunedin Community Gallery last week you can still catch some of my own work from my new Energised series at the Box of Light Gallery at 8 Castle Street – that's directly opposite the Dunedin Railway Station. It's always best to make an appointment first: text or call 021 139 8188.
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