Surfari Highway - Episode 2

The day’s getting on and we’re looking for a camping spot, ideally on the coast and within striking distance of some decent waves. A friend has recommended a state forest just past Shell Harbour, a National Surfing Reserve no less, featuring two of the better waves in the area and so I punch the coordinates into the GPS.

The officious, disembodied female voice leads us off the highway and through a maze of side streets, negotiating a modern housing estate. It’s hard to believe there’s any kind of state forest or surfing reserve close by. I sense my wife’s mounting scepticism, but finally suburbia gives way to some dense coastal bush and a tidy little camping ground barely a quarter full. It’s too late for a surf by the time we pitch camp but I go and have a look anyway at the rising south swell in a gorgeous crescent bay as the sun sets. I resolve to get up for the early and investigate.

This is one of Occy’s old stomping grounds, where he slipped away to down the coast when he was overweight and reclusive in Kurnell in the early ‘90s and didn’t want to be seen. Dawn reveals that it’s rather more popular these days. There’s a tight local crew gathered in the car park and dominating the punchy, shifting, beach break peaks. I feel conspicuous as an outsider, park in the second tier car park, not wanting to presume to take a front row spot. But this only serves to give me an elevated position and I feel on show and sense prying eyes following me as I get a board off the roof and get ready for a paddle.

Its four to five feet with plenty of push and the locals are good solid surfers but friendly enough. I exchange nods and pleasantries and find a few stray peaks. It feels good to get in the water, for the family road trip to become a surf trip. I’m a bit stiff from the driving and camping but the muscles soon warm up and I start to feel okay. It’s only the second surf of the trip and I am beginning to understand how challenging it is going to be scheduling surf time while herding a family about the country. It is an unsettling realisation - it was actually easier to go for a surf at home. I hold the disillusionment at bay and savour the moment.

I come in to find a fleet of new arrivals, including a mini-bus and trailer, unpacking a flotilla of longboards, bridge tables, folding chairs, sun shelters and assorted club contest infrastructure. It’s a weekday so I can’t imagine it’s the local board riders. I notice the crew cuts, the tattoos, the muscled physiques and naval stickers on cars and trailer, and realise it is a Navy surf contest setting up. The times have a-changed. Even the real estate developers and the military have found Occy’s old secret spot.

The local crew appear unfazed but it’s going to get brutal out there with a longboard contest underway and I cut my losses, finding a long right to take me in. It will have to be enough, until we get further south, settle into one of those remote national park camping grounds and get down to business. The forecast is indifferent, this little southerly pulse and then not much else in sight, but I try to remain buoyant. My time will come. For now, I’m wet, cold, hungry, yet satisfied and ready to press on. There’s breakfast and an unhurried pack up - a process which will soon become a familiar drill - hitching up the van, fastening safety chains, attaching sway bars, winding up jockey wheel, folding up the bed ends and packing down the roof, and we are on our way. It’s a big job. How Doc Paskowitz did it with nine kids for years on end I’ll never know. Hopefully, I’ll find out over the months and kilometres ahead.

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Big thanks to Toyota for the use of the mighty V6 3.5L RAV4 and Jayco for the comfy yet compact Expanda caravan.

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INFORMATION SIDEBAR

Total distance travelled: 1200 km
Area: NSW south coast
Local tip: Grand Pacific Drive is a spectacular tourist drive that hugs the coast, featuring the stunning Sea Cliff Bridge. A worthy rival to Victoria’s beautiful Great Ocean Road.
Surf spots surfed: One.
Favourite children’s distraction: Berry Cuckoo Shop.
Schools visited: Valencia Public School, Jervis Bay, for writing workshops and talk with grades 1 to 6.