Probably ten years ago, during my short residency in Melbourne, chasing the elusive corporate graphic design experience and the dot com “boom-crash-opera”. Mid summer, mid week, and stuck in the city,the surf cult/classic Big Wednesday was playing at the Moonlight cinema in the Botanic gardens, a short walk from where we were living. A handful of Uni mates, all surfers, and all feeling the restrain of the city, made a night of it.
A baking hot summer night in the city, a soothing ale, the romanticism of a classic surf movie and the temptation of potential waves the next day; far from our air-conditioned, concrete cubicles proved too much for at least two of us that night. A plan was hatched, to stooge “the man” for a day and head off on a guilty little sojourn to the east coast beaches of Victoria.
Meeting in Kew, post 9am phone calls to the office with talk of migraines and other plausible yet temporary ailments, the cogs of the mid week surf mission machine were well in motion. Boards lashed to the roof racks on the Commodore, the heat of the day was already in the air. The dry North wind and the thermal mass of the suburban pavement, heat radiating up through our boardshort enrobed legs, there was a comforting wave of confidence washing over us, that the right decision had been made; the only decision as far as we were concerned. Mixed with the nervous expectation of scoring waves or having our hopes dashed at the end of this self laid, yellow brick road.
Once on-board the Australian motoring icon, we weaved our way through the not so “yellow brick road” that are the western suburbs of Melbourne and finally on to the peninsular. The day was well on the way to a baking 40ºC, with that true Victorian summer day feel. The wind out of the north and as dry as a dead dingo’s nether regions, we snuck into the back of Saint Andrews for our first look at the surfing potential of our perfect”sicky”.
Straight swell lines, groomed gently by the offshore wind, the swell looked a little on the small side from our distant vantage point, a slight hesitation crept in to our confidence, wondering if the wheels were about to fall off this imagined wonderland. We consoled ourselves; having the swell a little on the smaller side is often an advantage on these beaches, the east coast is a swell magnet and will often max out and close out with any decent swell event.
Our eyes scanning the beach stretching out in front of us, deciding on a reeling left hand bank, our expectations were beginning to stabilise, as the heat of the day continue to barrel further up the thermometer. We exited the vehicle, and methodically, as we had done many times before, unstrapped the boards and prepared for our journey through the dunes and on to the almost empty beach.
To be continued…