Whatever the name Uluru or Ayers Rock... it speaks for itself.

So maybe a brief explanation would be helpful.....

We flew from Perth to Alice Springs which for all effective purposes is the center of Australia. Not the Paris, London, Milan, Toronto(?) center of Australia, but the actual middle of the desert center of Australia. Its a small town with several art galleries, opal boutiques, some restaurants, hostels and a good size grocery store. Actually Alice Springs seems quite a cool little town, if you ignore the murmuring of substance abuse and other nasty things that can come with living in a remote outpost.

From here it was a 6 hour tour bus ride to Yulara and Ayers Rock. A three hour hike was squeezed in along the way at Kings Canyon, this would turn out to be just a taste of the wild landscapes that pop up in the seemingly uniform desert landscape. After circumventing the canyon we continued along the road stopping just in time to see the sunset and a tiny looking silhouette of Ayers Rock in the distance. I'm actually being quite accurate when I say 'the road'. The roads are so long and straight that a right turn is enough of a point of interest for the tour guide to point out. The last hour was navigated in the dark to the Uluru compound, a collection of tourist resorts and one (very busy) gas station. The accommodations ranged from thousand dollar a night spas to bunks in a power free cabin with swag rolls (basically big sleeping bag shells). We took the later and spent the rest of the night by a camp fire with fellow campers, marshmallows, a zillion stars and some birthday cake (what a way to bring in the old 2-5).

Five am wake-call got us to Ayers Rock just before sunrise, our tour guide put on some appropriately beautiful music as we approached this dark mass just as the sky was getting color. Single tear.

The sunrise viewing area was not short on other tourists unloading buses, waking up and gathering their senses in the cool desert morning. We wondered why we weren't seeing the sun rise from behind the rock, a little cranky and silly from the cold and lack of sleep and ready to get on with the day when in an instant the rising sun got to the right level and the whole rock changed from its dull rust color to a day-glo orange. Pow! The more I am in this country, the more my understanding of Australian Aboriginal beliefs in the land deepen. I can't imagine what it would be like to have walked across the desert to be confronted with this place standing on its own, no 'sunrise viewing area' signs, no buses, it would bring any sane person to their knees.

From sunrise we made our way along the walking path that surrounds Ayers Rocks, about a 2.5 hour walk in total, we were a little behind in time and had to jog a bit to cut it down to 2, still we were sure to take time to absorb the wild variations in the rock surface, observe the rules of the multiple sacred sites (mainly being no photographs) and appreciate it being a cool day in the desert. Tourist have the option of following a path to a couple points on top of Ayers rock, however this trail is closed about 80 percent of the time due to weather not to mention the sincere request of the area's Aboriginal groups not to attempt the climb as this is a traditional route reserved for young boys entering manhood. This request maybe more so because many people have been injured or killed meaning a necessary mourning period, ceremony and feeling of responsibility to the group.































After our morning at Ayers Rock we headed to Kata Tjuta or "The Olgas". The tallest of these dome shaped rocks is actually 200m higher than Uluru and our tour guide told us that this cropping of rocks is even more significant to the local groups, but because of this very little is known, sacred sites are not marked here and there are much fewer tourists about. The locals rights to these lands are taken seriously here and if there is a need to perform a ceremony they have the right to shut down the entire or parts of the national park. I didn't realize this before arriving and felt very thankful that after such a long journey I was able to see these wonders up close.

School of Surf vbs.tv, Why has it taken me so long to come across this?

Filmed in Hermosa beach California, school surf teams are competing against each other to eventually win the Red Bull riders cup. Here's the "best part", not only do we get to see them compete but we get watch relationships unfold, family pressures build, possibly a little teenage hilarity and maybe a dash of angst. Not to be confused as just another Laguna, Real OC spin off or whats it called set in Hawaii, this sucker looks as though it may have some real grit, honesty and passion for surfing. To be honest I've only watched the trailer but its made me excited for a good Sunday surf/reality/drama marathon. Lucky me all the episodes are on VBS.tv. I've never really checked out VBS tv before but it happens to be chock full of really interesting and  indepth docos made with endearingly entertaining/ name dropping/ hipster twists on everything from Bolivia, China and Iran to Ethan Fowler talking about his stint with veganism at age 14 , dropping out of school and being mentored by Ed Templeton. 

Super tubes?!? I'm talking about super pit!! Our brief stint in Kalgoorlie....

Unless I stumble into a time machine that is set to wild west I think Kalgoorlie is the closest I'll come to walking down the streets of a olde western town. Complete with full on brothels, skimpies (topless bartenders) and gold flowing like water from a behemoth mine. Actually its more than a mine, its a "Super Pit", how super you may wonder, its the biggest open cut mine in Oz and one of the biggest in the world measuring 3.5 kilometers by 1.5 kilometers and almost 400 meters deep . My brother was the first to point out, that we shouldn't get to excited about a big hole (mind you this is the boy who labeled Ayers Rock just a big rock), but frig, what appear to be tiny trucks working the mine can carry 225 tonnes of rock out of the pit in 35 mins like it ain't no thang. If there was ever a time to let go and marvel at the ability of man to move large amounts of dirt and operate heavy machinery this is certainly it. 

Layne Beachley Classic!! Beaten by a 14 year old!

Tyler Wright is the tiny 14 year old from New South Wales who beat out world champs, recently retired Layne Beachley and my WHOLE fantasy surfer team at Manly beach this year. After winning an international grom search title last year Wright is wasting no time and taking no prisoners as she takes the title of youngest winner of an ASP World Tour event.

  Exciting times for the ladies, yet no live video feed, little to no photo albums, press? flashy websites? .....ok Wright did get a good amount of mention in the local and international press and I know its a male dominated sport but really, you'd think that would make women's surfing all the more enticing. What I'm trying to say is aside from them being super fit and wearing bikinis they all shred! who doesn't want to see more of that? 

ps photo borrowed from LAtimes website

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Thanksgiving is by far one of my favorite holidays, good food, good family times and changing leaves. Being in a foreign land that does not celebrate such a fantastic holiday this formula had to be altered slightly. We maintained the good food and home cooked an eff'en tasty meal complete with pumpkin pie. The changing leaves miiiiight have been one-upped by morning and pre-dinner surf sessions. Finally in a bizzare twist, a group of monks appeared walking down the highway and took a break at the bus stop across from our house. I'm not really sure where that fits in...but I know its worth the mention. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

The waves grow as we head further west to witness 'hardly any swell' at Margaret River

As we travelled further and further westward hugging the south coast as closely as we could the intermitent stops at ocean lookouts made it clear that the waves were only going to get bigger as we approached the south west section of coast line that Margaret river makes its home in the center of. 

My anticipation rose as we got closer and closer to the motherland of big surf. After a gas station attendent in Augusta (a burly lumberjack looking man who was delicately making me a veggie sandwich) told me not to get too excited, there was 'no swell', I was feeling a little disappointed. He handed me a map with the coastlines surf spots marked on it. I guess the intimidation level of the waves here make the crowd issue less relevant thus maps of waves easy to get. I quickly set to highlighting all the classic spots I wanted to check out, from Gallows and Guillotine to The Farm and Bone Yards, swell or not.  The report I had read was calling for 16 foot surf and rising. As we arrived to Margaret River mouth I quickly realized that this was just not considered a big day,  but hey coming from a long flat summer every wave I saw was bigger than what I was used to and hell I'm not going surfing in 16 foot waves, not yet anyways.

Sadly the waning light and very real realization of the distance we still had to cover before our plane left from Perth the next morning meant that we were only able to marvel at a few large waves. The unsealed roads and necessary hikes also threw off the game plan, but I'm certain I will make it back in the next year to give the area a real one over.

South of Albany, Torrondirrup National Park......

The waves can get fierce and angry around these parts, that boulder weighing about a 100 tonnes was tossed up on shore by a single wave. 

South of Demark, Ocean Beach provides another testament to beautiful waves and beaches with nary a soul in sight.

We've arrived, telling it like it is at Margaret River Mouth....

Note there is just one guy out, must be cause there is 'no swell' hey-sus!

Looking southward from the river mouth.....

There she blows, Smiths/Supertubes! pretty epic but sadly the disappearing day meant this was as close as I got.

Just north of tubes at Yallingup before we lost what sun there was....

Layne Beachley Classic!

Just days after Mundaka, Slater's ninth world title and CJ Hobgood beating out Joel Parkinson in the last seconds of the final for a second time, its time for the girls to get some action. The Layne Beachley Classic is in waiting for the next 5 days off the shores of Sydney, Australia. Among the 17 competitors there is a mixture of this years consistent first places and a couple locals including Beachley who has yet to win her namesake competition.

Pretty excited to see who sets the bar this time round as the ladies compete for the biggest prize purse and most points on the women's circuit this year.

South of Kalgoorlie....

               Arriving to the coast just south of Kalgoorlie it was all small town, cows, the odd kangaroo and epic empty beaches. In mid August the south west of Australia certainly isn't hot but I'm told that the lack of people can only be partially attributed to the winter temperatures. Life is just quieter here compared to the bustling east coast. I'm not complaining. Its pure beauty and magic walking along beach after beach of pure white super fine sand while watching perfect emerald green waves crash set after set with only the company of my mom and little brother as far as the eye can see. Its pretty cool I have to say and totally worth wearing a hoodie and jeans for.  Disregarding the temperature we (actually my mom) were unable to resist the call of the water and did manage a swim that was all in all much more pleasant than the few Canadian spring polar dips I've experienced. Its all westward from here to Margaret River......