Surfari Highway - episode sixteen
- Distance travelled:
- 11,562 KM
- Location:
- Esperance, southern WA
- Travel dates:
- May 26
- Status:
- The beginning of our WA leg
- Surf:
- Four to five foot beachbreaks
- Swell direction:
- South-west
- Wind:
- Light north sou-easterly
- Weather:
- Fine, sunny.
- Tides:
- High tide 6.34 am, low tide 12.17 pm.
There are only so many ways of describing a spectacular stretch of coastal road. Victoria's Great Ocean Road. Wollongong's Grand Pacific Drive. In Esperance they've settled for the whole unoriginal hybrid, Great Ocean Drive, a modest 40 km loop that takes in the stunning beaches to the west of the town.
We've just done the Nullarbor in three days, camping out on a stunning stretch of coast, with unridden beachbreaks as far as the eye could see, at the base of a towering mountainous foreshore. Bitterly cold, not a soul around, and with no obvious way down to the ocean, I've forsaken these lonely waves in the middle of the Great Australian Bight. We have to hand over all fresh produce and honey at the WA/SA border and survive on roadhouse fair for the next 600 km. I've never been so happy to see a fresh vegetable again.
We've had a few waveless days out at the beautiful Cape le Grande National Park marveling at nature's endless splendor. And now it is time to ride some waves again.
I leave the family in Lucky Bay, comfy and content with plenty of playmates, and head off to explore the nearby coast. I know little about this area but the aforementioned coastal drive reveals one outrageously scenic strip of beach after another. The RAV loves the sweeping coastal bends, especially liberated from towing the van and the monotony of the Nullarbor. It's sunny, offshore, there's clearly a little bit of swell, and again I find myself searching for company.
There are plenty of decent looking beachbreaks, but no surfers, so when I see a van in a car park with boards and wetsuits out I pull in. Jarred and Melena are a friendly 20-something couple doing the round Australia thing in a tricked out Hi-Ace van, with their dog Bella. We get chatting and compare notes on the coast we've traversed. Turns out their from Burleigh Heads, approximately 10 minutes drive from where I live. Jarred's just as keen for a surf companion as I am, and there are some reasonable, if slightly fat, beachbreaks peaks going unridden out the front.
He asks "what I do for work and when I admit to my shameful profession they both laugh. Turns out they've been following our journey, passing each destination a week or two before us. "We've been cursing you - look he's scoring everywhere we got skunked," Jarred marvels. Really?
Jarred's a good surfer, riding a fine-looking, Simon Anderson 6'0". "Do you like your Simon board?" I ask. "Yeah, I work for him," he reveals. I've recently finishing working on Simon's biography, Thrust. Jarred is his glasser. Again, despite this country's enormous dimensions, it seems like a small world. We agree to hit it out the front despite the average conditions - four to five foot, slightly wobbly, fat, Bells-like walls. In other circumstances, it would be an entirely forgettable session, but I'm buoyed by the happy chance encounter and just having a surf partner elevates my mood.
We both race a few long walls in the middle of the beach, before we're joined by dolphins and oddly dive-bombing seagulls. Are they trying to tell us something? It's only later I reflect on the name of our chosen surf spot - Salmon Beach - and learn of its popularity with certain marine predators who dine on said salmon. And I thought I was safe when I crossed the SA border.
We swap mobile phone numbers and exchange texts in the days and weeks ahead, comparing notes and where we've surfed and now it seems like the surf fortune gods are favouring their journey.
I'm beginning to realize a huge part of this trip is about the people you meet along the way and in that regard - despite fluctuating surf fortunes - we've been blessed.
Culinary highlight: The former timber town of Pemberton is now the marron capital of the south-west, where these small fresh water lobster are farmed and available in most local restaurants.
Local tip: Cape le Grande and Cape Arid National Parks just east of Esperance and feature some of the most spectacular coast in these parts.