Okay so take two, but maybe not as long..

Thanks to Mac for arranging the BBQ board for me. He not only dropped it at the Mct factory, he picked it up at the end. I was surprised when i walked in and was greeted by Mac (whilst ordering new boards) whilst Lacey watched on.

I spent a week at Clarkes beach caravan park in a unit on the beach front. Very happy with the spot and the unit was neat and tidy.

Loved the bay, really great setup but most certainly a long board wave. The first night i couldn't sleep for wondering how i would surf it, assuming a wave right through the bay was a given. Well i was wrong. My first trip out and i drifted all the way in before i finally got a wave in front of the house. I tended to surf that spot in the end more so as it was more suited to the SP short board. I still managed rides over 100 m their so was very happy.

The storm of shore really through in some decent waves that tended to die down as the week went. I did on one session on the long board manage a few longer rides of 205 m. Sadly i messed that one up by walking of the back and if not for that gaff i think the ride would have been around 260 mtrs of so. I did enjoy that challenge and i now have a new respect for long boarding.

We travelled around a little heading down to Ballina and through Lennox one day. Lennox was cleared due to a shark sighting but it didn't look that good TBH.

One day headed up to Snapper and all though windy that looked like so much fun. That stretch all looked more SB friendly and i think id enjoy that, all be with the crowd levels how i sore it. We have nothing like that in WA. Even down south a spot that is so easily accessible.

My son managed to perfect paddling in on his own so he and i would walk out, catch a wave or two in and then walk back and repeat. My daughter didn't like the sweep, (It was really hard work) so she smashed the shops. Sadly her fav was "Spell" if that means anything.

I really enjoyed Byron, the place is so pretty and i was stunned to realise it was so tropical. so far south. Snakes, Monitor lizards as big as me, Manta's turtles, the lot..

The water clarity was great, even with the sweep. One day my daughter swam the bay and i opted to paddle with her, all in all we spent a lot of time surfing, walking and eating..

My feet are killing. One surf session i managed to cover around 7.2 kms. Bare feet and flat footed doing that a couple of times a day, made me ruined by the end of the weak.

I enjoyed my time on the long board, but I'm a short border at heart still. I enjoy the pumping and rise and fall , bouncing of the top and the lighter unit to carry around

I think i was to return id run with a different short board, maybe Sumo or a nice twin fin, possibly even a Greedy Beaver by FW

My son and i were running around trying to get on the live stream.. Funny idea but too much like hard work..






Sorry loads of random shots.

Great post JB. Enjoyed that.

The Bay's a great place for a holiday. Sounds like you had fun slidin'. Kids dug it too which is a bonus.
Enjoyed reading your post and seeing the pics.

Some nice pictures JB.

No worries I'm just the driver come board courier now days.

Cool post and cool pics.

Nice work JB thanks for putting the effort in (twice!).. Glad you had a fun holiday. Last year was the first time I had not holidayed in Byron since i hit these shores in 2000! I have been there a few times We normally stay over the hill from you at Wategoes and hardly ever surf the Pass as its just too busy for my liking. Some amazing waves not too far from there indeed. I love that part of the coast. We thought about moving there at one stage but sort of glad we didn't. Its a great place to holiday but I think it would drive me crazy living there. Hope you tucked in to some nice food whilst you were there. Some wonderful places to eat. I love the Top Shop for a late breaky early lunch. Hanging on the grass eating a feast !

yeah ted. the pass is for losers

Great read Shackman.

Ilove Byron, and have been regular at Clarkes since 1972. The caravan park really hasn't changed that much. There are more sites and many more cabins but the location is awesome. You can generally get a wave every day and you can walk everywhere you want to go.

Not To mention the great variety of food in town and the endless stream of visual delights.

Even though town is very commercial you can stI'll have a relatively cheap holiday, get some waves, walk heaps of places and hang out having fun.

ET.

Sounds like you and the family had a great trip,did you get to Brunswick Heads,great waves and an excellent pub for lunch and a coldie or two.

Food wise it was a huge part of the trip. All the restaurants were first class but we also did lots of smoothies and Acai type bowls.

Byron is a different spot. I mentioned that no one was over weight, there was that definite True greenie types. Walking down the street and a group smoking weed in the main street sent my eleven year old crazy. He also is a bit of a prude still and many of the bikinis leave nothing to the imagination. The wife and daughter spent just as much time perving on the men.

Watagoes was classic. That area is really the only time you can see the money in the area. Walking around town you would struggle to see who has coin and who doesn't have it.. There was a reasonable homeless group also who seemed very friendly. But mostly back packers in their vans..

Parking in town and having to pay for it everywhere.. That was understandable, but extremely annoying TBH..

The crowd in the water was not that bad. I think the sweep really spread the people out more than normally though.

Really friendly people staying in the park. One couple turns out flew on our flight in, live in North Beach stayed the same time we did. Freaky..

I guess what i liked is that Surfing in Byron was a life style, it was just what people did weather old, young or out of shape. One guy surfed through in his Tidy Whidy jocks, see through as you can imagine and surfed like he was on air. He reminded me of a homeless surfer dude. A mothers group were their taking turns at surfing and baby sitting. In WA its not like that, over here its just what people do as a sport..That was nice to see. Could i live there not a chance, would i go back, undecided..

good write up

Select to expand quote

E T said..
Great read Shackman.

Ilove Byron, and have been regular at Clarkes since 1972. The caravan park really hasn't changed that much. There are more sites and many more cabins but the location is awesome. You can generally get a wave every day and you can walk everywhere you want to go.

Not To mention the great variety of food in town and the endless stream of visual delights.

Even though town is very commercial you can stI'll have a relatively cheap holiday, get some waves, walk heaps of places and hang out having fun.

ET.

Yeah the cabins were really good. The location was the best and compared to WA prices not that bad either.

There is a house out at the point that is tree covered but all week all you could hear was pumping music. That would be a great pad. The girls spent a lot of time looking of for Mr Hemsworth

A lot of people were complaining about the commercialisation of the area. Especially the parking situation.

Select to expand quote

Ricardo1709 said..
Sounds like you and the family had a great trip,did you get to Brunswick Heads,great waves and an excellent pub for lunch and a coldie or two.

Yeah we did actually. The surf shop was super cool and the young guy was born and breed in the area. The surge through the mouth was crazy and he was saying the banks have all been dredged recently and destroyed the break.. A few kite surfers out that day. Walking over the bridge i saw the biggest black bream I've ever seen

www.commongroundaustralia.com/byronbay/photos-2/summer-swell/

Some picks of behind the rock at Byron from last week. Sorry i have no idea what that spot is called

Thanks for the write up and pics, great read.

The whole east coast has surfing as lifestyle that WA doesn't other than down south, and even then it's not the same as the population is smaller and the surfing population isn't as mainstream and accepted.

I really like the versatility of Tallows - longboard, shortboard or hybrid all work. Easier to get barrelled on the latter two.

Loved the piccies. Byron to the Sunshine Coast is pretty much what Jurien to Kalbarri would be if it actually rained here. Similar latitudes if memory serves me correct. It might not. It is very lush country over there.

Ted is heading to the Northwest later this year and I suspect the drive up will be an eye opener for East Coast/Indo boy. It has its own beauty in the austerity and I love it, but also appreciate it isn't for everyone.

There's a few spots further south you could try for your next holiday which are just as wave rich with less people, but not as holiday-y as Byron - which is part of the appeal for the family.

Start planning the next one.

We are going to be in the Sunshine Coast next summer. Might see you there.

That's a cracker of a Bungarra!
I woke up after a nap under a tree whilst waiting for the tide in Bali a few months back with one like that sniffing my face. Scared the **** outta both of us

Nice work bro!!

Bryon is cracker but too full of people for my taste

Select to expand quote

Tux said..
Nice work bro!!

Bryon is cracker but too full of people for my taste

It was packed, but after Aus day the population halved. The surf was never that busy that you couldn't get a wave. I think i posted it but sometimes id just call people into the first wave and they'd go. Then id get the pick of the set (That was more so in front of the park, i think they call it Clarkes beach..)

The sweep really separated people IMHO..

The Bangarra (If thats what it was i have no idea) was huge. He was different then all the others as he gave no interest in us, just strolled through the park like he was the king. I was woken one time from a nap by a Turkey (I think thats what they were) peking my leg, inside the unit those buggers hurt

Wow...Perf must be really crowded if you thought Byron during school holidays was ok...

Heh ..JB..sounds like you had a brilliant time...and perhaps we were there at similar time with them mention of the Australia Day and the "thinning of the crowd"
We stayed a little south of you...did you get the swell just before Aus day...my son cracked some photos (not of me....seems he liked to photo other more), but of what we had for two days...was brilliant
You just needed to keep moving down the line and not stall
(Sorry photo quality was poor as taken from far away at 7.00pm at night ..love daylight saving)

Select to expand quote

SP said..
Wow...Perf must be really crowded if you thought Byron during school holidays was ok...

I guess it was just that people were so thinned out due to the sweep.. Lots of spots to catch waves also. Long boarders i found did tend to share a few waves also and that didn't bother me too much..

The guys that tried to drop in out the front would collapse the line so they got chatted too, but it wasn't that bad TBH.. So yes Perth is bad Another big part was no body boarders..

Select to expand quote

climber said..
Heh ..JB..sounds like you had a brilliant time...and perhaps we were there at similar time with them mention of the Australia Day and the "thinning of the crowd"
We stayed a little south of you...did you get the swell just before Aus day...my son cracked some photos (not of me....seems he liked to photo other more), but of what we had for two days...was brilliant
You just needed to keep moving down the line and not stall
(Sorry photo quality was poor as taken from far away at 7.00pm at night ..love daylight saving)

We were there from Sat to Sat so yeah probably the same time. The guys surfing out behind the rock, especially late at night, thats just crazy.. Not so the size, but its dark and looks like deep water. We would walk out and watch people still surfing at 8:15 from the lookout

The entire day light saving thing is weird, especially when at Tweed and one side of the road was one time, the other side an hour later

I really enjoyed watching the tourist kayaks heading out daily, especially when the surf was up Very entertaining

My family really needs to work on their photo skills.. This first one shows me meeting the rocks face first But it shows the ends of the waves i was riding..out the front of Clarkes..

An average day crowd, not that bad really..




I liked these sections..





ON a low tide this spot was the start of the inside run..





Just a few more photos i found sorry..

thanks for sharin the love bro... great spot to stay and play ..

Select to expand quote

jasdeking said..
thanks for sharin the love bro... great spot to stay and play ..

No worries. I will say there was some amazing surfboards around though The McTavish factory had me drooling hard I will also say the guy Dave i dealt with day one was a super cool guy.

Even Big Spazz was there with his boat and it actually didn't look that big with him riding it though.. But the weight of the long boards is a killer, i guess you get used to it but my chicken arms were a lot happier with a Shortly..

Loving the read..... Have been up to Byron a few times now,
Reading this takes me back

Thanks for the post, really enjoyed everyone's thoughts on the area.

My family and I were there in early Jan this year and I'd made this video of our 2 days at The Pass (and board factories).

Hadn't made it to share, more a keepsake so apologies for the length as I know 2-3 mins is the attention span max for video clips but given it seems relevant here it is.

....I hope the GoPro footage captures the lineup for those who've not surfed there.