West OZ

Our flight landed in Perth just before midnight and we were exhausted when we finally got to our rent a car. We strapped two huge board bags on top of our car and went out in search of a hotel room. After three unsuccessful attempts we finally found a hotel with a room for a reasonable price. The hotel resembled a trailer park and for some reason came with a carton of milk upon checking in. The milk provided many laughs and would accompany us for the next few days. We woke up early the next morning and made the three hour drive down to Yallingup where we would meet up with Alfy Carter and stay at his house. We finally arrived and found that we would be staying in his small cottage that resembled a small house boat. The house did however have a direct view of Rabbit Hill where we could sit and drink a beer while watching the swells come in at sunset. We spent the next ten days at Alfy's house, chasing swells down to Margaret River, Gracetown, and throughout Yallingup.
The thing about surfing in West OZ is that every wave is down a different long dirt road so it takes about an hour to check each wave. It also never fails that each wave you check almost convinces you that another wave about an hour or two away is really good. Walsh tells us this is just how West OZ is, you get up at 6 am, check 4 different waves, surf none of them, and throw in the towel at 2 in order to hit a few wineries for some free tastings on the way home. This becomes a very dangerous thing as the waves over the next few days need to be good enough to keep everyone from saying, "this looks fun but...I want to try the Cab from that cool vineyard we just drove past...". Luckily when the waves get good in West OZ, the wine stops become celebrations filled with stories from the sessions everyone just shared. Our ten days in West OZ were filled with wine, meat pies, beer, and some really fun waves. At the end of the trip we watched as all of the swells we just scored were moving right on up to Indo. The boys, looking to get out of a wetsuit and into shorts and a Bintang, decide we would follow the waves up North...

Australia Edit from Justin Clark on Vimeo.