Aussies rule...heaps, I reckon

Nothing like a good surf or 2 to quell mutinous thoughts amongst the crew. Last night at 4 Bobs we had a really fun session with some building size and surfed until dark and today we had a pretty damn good day over at Beng Beng. It's still nothing super good but it's at least clean and a little more size so the boys and I were all trading waves for hours and having a fun time, but I know it's certainly not what they/we were really hoping for; frothing Aussies are always hungry. No big deal to me; it's still head high everywhere we go, clean, fast, 79 degree water and there are a maximum of 6 guys out and we all share the waves and hoot each other into the wave and look out for each other. Couple that with our great surf guide/friend Ray and the Indo guys driving the boats and the fantastic camp/resort and I see no reason why anyone would ever want to leave!

4 Bobs was killer on the fish; I had an insane time...maybe one of my best fish sessions, ever. It was about head high and my confidence surfing reef is getting heaps better and 4 Bobs and I buried the hatchet, at least for 1 session. I had a couple of big drops then zooming back up the face at breakneck speed and just gouging the turn at the top and pumping to make the last section about 30 yards down the line and zooming out the back wondering how the hell I just did that. For the first time ever I got the big ass twin keels loose out the back of the wave and sort of did a little tail-slide and threw some quality Indian Ocean spray and was just blown away that I could do that on that board and my friends here seemed just as shocked/stoked as they were hooting like mad. It's such a cool feeling to have my new Aussie friends paddling back out and hooting me into waves and cheering me on down the line as I'm navigating them ducking and the ever present gnarly reef about 2 feet below me; makes me feel good to have others acknowledge some good surfing, or rather, a surfer having the time of his life.

Speaking of Aussies, I reckon I'll be talking like them for years to come. Hands down my favorite term used quite a bit by 2 of them from W.A. (Western Australia) who are professional Aussie Rules Football players, is "heaps" which is a substitute for "a lot" or anything indiciating larger quantities. Also, the use of "reckon" is commonplace with all 3 of them. Oh yeah and a common expression of surprise or skepticism is "f*ck off" said with a quizzical tone and inflection; classic. A typical conversation might sound like this:

Me: So, have you guys ever headed over to the Gold Coast and put up with the crowds at Superbank?
Them: Aw yeah...heaps.
Me: I've always wanted to go there...
Them: I reckon you'd loike it (that's how "like" comes off their tongue) but I'd stay away from the place if I were you; it's bloody crowded and the blokes are always frothing...it can be a real bugger.

That's a typical conversation around here; I love it!! We all got a little loopy drinking Bintangs and vodka and listening to Pearl Jam, Jamiroquai and Moby last night trading stories and laughs; real fun guys.

Swell picked up today and might back down a bit tomorrow but there's still waves around here. Hell, 4 Bobs out front has never been less than shoulder high and most days it's been head high plus. Sunday we're supposed to get a new swell with some more West in it which should hopefully turn on some of the more hallowed spots like Rifles, E-Bay and Kandui. Tomorrow or early next week we're gonna check out Pitstops when the tide is right which I'm stoked on; it's one of the waves in this world I've got on my list to surf, along with Rifles...but the winds show no sign of turning so I might have to grab Rifles on my next trip out here, which is going to be happening much sooner rather than later...