Back Beach, NYE, South

I went up to Lancelin again on Sunday, it was pretty rough and decided to go windsurfing at back beach where thee others I went up with were surfing. Tom went out kiting too. I was on my 5.2 and was a little underpowered getting out, which made the small but punchy breaking waves hard to get through! It was hard work and I got washed up by a few big waves, but made it out plenty of times into the swell and on the way in had some great rides on the waves. I did some great backside top turns and tried some down the line rides, but it was a bit too onshore. It was hard work, exhausting, but great fun! We stopped in Lancelin for dinner and then came back to Perth. I got an early night to prepare for New Years Eve.

Nobody had made any particularly solid plans for NYE and we had kind of decided to go to the OBH, the huge pub attached to the hostel. The wind came up in the afternoon and Tom and I went kitesurfing in South Cottesloe. There were some big ramps and I made some of the biggest jumps I have landed so far. I was kiting pretty well and using my smaller 10metre kite for the first time. It was great to get such a good session in on New Years Eve and I was really in the mood for a good night. In the end it sounded asif the OBH wasn't all that interesting, and there were loads of people in the courtyard, so for economy's sake and because it seemed fitting, I spent the whole night in the backpacker's courtyard. the atmosphere was good though and we had a good time.

On New Years Day I had a lay in and then went to meet my friend Matt Sweeting for lunch. he and I had trained as windsurfing instructors seven years ago in Sydney, and also worked together in Spain in 2003. It was great to see him and we had a good long chat. He tried to convince me to stay on the west coast, which was tempting as I'd probably get more windsurfing and kitesurfing done. At this moment in time that would be a good thing, as I'm coming on so fast with both sports. But I'm keen to move on, see more of Australia and stick to the plan of getting Nick to Melbourne for the 26th and meeting Mark in Sydney early February.

After lunch with Matt I went back to the hostel and Nick and i packed up the van ready for another roadtrip. It was sad to leave Cottesloe, the Ocean Beach Backpackers had been a great place to stay, I thoroughly recommend it, and its such a great beach and area in general. I will probably be back in april while I sell my car before moving on to New Zealand, but who knows what will happen in the next few months!

Nick and I headed south, bound for Margarets River. the distances weren't so huge as when we headed North, and within 3 or 4 hours we were in the Margarets River region. Its a beautiful place, much greener than perth and the North, and we instantly liked it. Driving into the town of Margarets River we became very excited, it looked like a very cool town, with loads of surf shops and great looking restaurants. We continued on through another 10k to Prevelly, on the coast, and we were amazed by what we saw. It was stunning, and whats more, just out to sea were some of the biggest waves I've ever seen with my own eyes! We were very excited, Nick's face was a picture! We checked into the campsite, which was a little more expensive that we're used to, but was beautiful with huge pitches amongst tall trees providing morning shade, and fire pits on every pitch. We pitched the tent and settled in for the night, relaxed in the knowledge that it would be a week to remember!

Thismorning we got up and went to Rivermouth, where there is a slighly smaller more manageable wave. We had a look to see if there were any hazards to be aware of and then went out surfing. It was pretty good, although some big sets were coming through and it could be a bit all over the place at times. I got a few rides, not quite as good as in the more timid waves at Geraldton back beach, but I was happy that I was getting closer and closer to actually dropping in on a wave properly. Thats what I'm going to work on this week. Since then we've popped in to town for supplies and are about to go back to the campsite to chill out. Oh, and I found the film 'Willow' on DVD in the supermarket for $8 so we're going to watch that tonight!! Hahahaha!