Summercloud Bay, South Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The company Ocean and Earth were kind enough to repair the zippers on my boardbag free of charge which gave me an excuse to roll down the south coast for a couple days of surf. They're warehouses are located at Sussex Inlet just down the road from Wreck Bay. The first day was good with consistent head-high waves peaking and pealing off perfectly across the reef. The nor-east breeze was light and the grommet bodyboarders were getting barrels on every little wave that came through. It was kind of strange for me to surf with only bodyboarders. They were pretty laid back for kids but still it was kinda strange to be the only one standing up. I surfed into the dark and was out by myself for the last hour of light once the kids left to get back for dinner. The sun sets in the southern corner of the bay to the south which means the waves were a beautiful back-lit green for the last hour. On the way in I stepped right onto an urchin at sunset. Plucked out some nice pieces in the van that night with the tweezer's. Camped right there in the Park with just Kangaroo's for company. Incredibly dark as there is nothing around. The next day I had breakfast with the local dog walking crew down at Manyana beach and listened to all the local gossip. Then I headed back for another long session at Black Rock, or is it Summercloud? What about Aussie Pipe? So many names for this spot. The surf was even bigger the second day and the nor-easters were stronger cleaning the swell up even more. It was a little bit more crowded but still plenty of waves for me and my bodyboarding buddies. There were even a couple of guys coming in with surfboards as I was leaving... Great waves for a 24 hour period.

Treachery, Central Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Great 2 days surfing this beachbreak. Dave and I had it nearly to ourselves 12 years ago. While it's gotten more popular it's still relatively empty and the waves are great. Wedgy, unpredictable barrels down towards the middle of the beach and a more distinct peak up near the headland. Crystal clear waters, and this peak to myself. Can't really complain...

Lennox Head, North Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I wasn't really expecting much surf on the east coast of Oz at this time of the year, but have been really lucky. Leaving Brad and Linda on the Gold Coast, (along with some of the most crowded line-up I've ever seen at D-bah) we stopped first at Lennox. I raced down the grassy headland and got the last couple of hours light with overhead, offshore walls running down the point. It was really cool to surf there again nearly 12 years since traveling through with Rich and Dave. I even lucked into one of those Greenough barrels that comes through across the inside, sticking my arm in the wall of the wave to stall and wait for it. Yep, I also got cut up on both feet and one finger got slashed pretty good. Some things never change and the rocks at Lennox are legendary for scraping bark from ya!

Main Beach, North Stradbroke Island - QLD

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

What a great few days of surf!. Main Beach has to be one of the funnest beachbreaks I've ever surfed. Lines of swell coming in from the north east wrap around a headland and form excellent peaky punchy waves. The surf was really consistent as well keeping the weekend crowd pretty happy. The waves sometimes grow as they reel off down the line almost breaking parallel to the beach. With the consistent swell and nor-east wind blowing offshore all three days we were there, Brad and I didn't dry off the entire weekend, surfing pretty much non-stop.

Broken Head - Northern NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

After leaving Angourie, one of the most beautiful, tranquil beaches I've ever come across, we headed north up to Lennox Head where we had tea and biscuits with Gran and John who live up on the hill overlooking the point. Rich and I had spent a lot of time here years ago, so it was great to catch up on all of the local news. Apparently the weather is going back to how it was 20-30 years ago with with more tropical rain in the afternoon, wild hail storms that drop hail the size of tennis balls and more swell. The point pumped all winter long this year seeing some of the best surf in local recent memory.

We camped out that night in pouring rain at Broken Head. We cooked up a nice meal in the van and got cozy for the night. The van keeping us warm and dry. I woke up quite early and decided to check the surf. The storm had passed but left a ragged ocean in it's wake. Not too much swell out there and the waves that did come in were pretty torn up from the night's winds. I walked around the point and saw this beautiful sunrise coming up out of the Pacific. I've been taking quite a few early morning walks recently and always finding something special. If not surf, then a magical sunrise, or some funny looking native animals running for cover in the bush as the day gets started.

Angourie Back Beach - Northern NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

How much fun can you have surfing? I think this photos says it all. A few people out sharing a perfect little peak on a sunny offshore afternoon. We spent a few days camping in the National Park at Angourie and had perfect weather and waves. The wind was coming from the north so I only surfed the point one morning when it was calm. The back beach was offshore nearly the entire time and had these perfect 3-4 foot A-frame peaks running down the beach. So much fun on the twinny.

Tuncurry - NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The surf has been pretty small the past few days but I've still been managing to get out there for some small but fun beachbreak surfs. We started up the coast and stayed in Catherine Hill Bay our first night. Staying here reminded me of good ol' Simon, our larrikin Aussie mate who caused all kinds of trouble in California in the early 90's before essentially getting deported from the US back to Lennox Head. He had always told Rich and I how good some of these spots could get. Surf was fun but small. Perfect offshores and some of the friendliest older locals you could ever meet. I was even invited back to surf with them any time. Nice little shorey wave. The locals even let me know about one of the points around the corner that most people don't ever get too. The next day we headed up to Boomerang Beach where there was a really nice set up in the southern end of the beach. Swells were refracting off the headland making for some really nice wedgy peaks that were protected from the afternoon southerlies. Head high and only few school kids out. Perfect little twinny waves... Later that day we made our way up to Tuncurry. The northern breakwall here is really good. It set's up a bit like D-bah with a rebound off the wall creating really peaky, punchy waves. Fun surf till dark, but a little crowded after the solo session at Boomerang. Heading to Hat Head National Park this afternoon. Hope the swell picks up.

Dreamride

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've got to find a way to ship one of these babies home. Load it up with boards and still room to sleep in. Check out those rims too!!! Long Beach to Lowers in 15 minutes.

The Farm - South Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Nick and I had a late start driving south from Sydney and arrived late somewhere near Wollongong. Too late for a caravan park to still be open so we camped out in the beach carpark and woke up to howling north winds blowing the surf to bits. We started cruising down the coast and ended up at the Farm, just south of Shellharbour. This beautiful beach is tucked up in this little bay, protected from the winds. We had a really fun surf in the peaky head-high waves. Crystal clear water that is getting much warmer as we head north. There are so many twist and turns on the aussie coastline that you're guaranteed clean conditions somewhere. Just have to keep looking to find it. We ended up camping at the state park here surfing heaps, BBQ'ing some salmon and having a roaring fire to keep warm. Still spring here.

Bell's Beach - Victoria

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Happy 36th Birthday!

Three days of pumping surf at Bell's, Winkipop and Bird Rock October 3rd, 4th and 5th. What more could a surfer ask for for his 36th birthday? After the wild surf down south this was heaven. Perfect ruler-edged lines of overhead swell with all day offshores.

Johanna - Victoria

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've been getting hammered down here. Nearly all my sessions I've surfed alone. I guess I should learn something from that. Follow the locals... The thing is, offshore, onshore, high tide, low tide, tiny or fricking huge, if that's what it looks like when we happen to be passing through that's what I'm going to end up surfing. Traveling up and down the coast is a crap shoot where you hope you end up at the right place at the right time. Without any kind of local knowledge you wake up, assess the conditions and try to make the right call on where to search for the day.
On this day at Johanna I got absolutely slaughtered. I'd started the morning looking at some of the reefs in the area, but the swell wasn't really clean enough for any of them to be working. The offshores were cleaning it up though, so in the afternoon I thought I'd have a chance at Johanna. It looked absolutely perfect from the lookout. Offshore, empty, clean and green back lit barrels. I grabbed one of my bigger boards and headed out. After 30 minutes of non-stop paddling and catching only one wave on the inside I pulled out. I'd been wondering where all the other surfers were. I guess they knew better and were up at Bells actually riding waves rather than getting drilled into the sand like me....

Cactus - South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Ummm... Yeah, there's waves out there in the desert. I surfed mid-afternoon on this day, (trying to avoid the evening feeding hour), and believe me it wasn't as good as this photo makes it look. The wind is really temperamental here in S.A. I still had some solid, clean overhead walls to myself. Somewhat reminiscent of Silverstrand even though this is over reef and breaks in exactly the same spot every time. Very deep channel I'm guessing. When I was heading out this local guy, (I guess he's a local since he lives there half the year in a caravan) started to have a yarn with me about the place. After a few minutes of talking and looking at the waves, I thanked him for for the conversation, and headed out to surf. When I got back in he was laughing at me saying, "Oh that's good you survived!! I forgot to tell you about the 100 bronze whalers that live in the channel just next to the wave. No one's been surfing that spot since a couple of guys got taken there a few years back." They've got a funny sense of humour over here in South Australia. At least it wasn't 100 Great White's...

Streaky Bay - South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

There's been plenty of swell the past few days but the winds have been howling all directions and I haven't found the spot with the right combinations of swell, wind and tide. Looking down at a left point with no one out I decided I had to do something. One of the local guys pulled up while I was checking it and he told me the wind might lighten up or turn a little more from the south which would be a good thing for this spot. He said he'd probably see me out there in a little while. I thought that was encouraging so I suited up and ran down some stairs to the rocky beach below.

It wasn't perfect but it was overhead and empty. I asked Hedda to keep an eye on me since this is a notoriously sharky spot and no one else was in the water. I'm not sure what she could've done if I actually was attacked but it felt better all the same. The paddle out was nice and easy through a channel just to the south. I did see a pretty big shadow somewhere in that deep water so I kept pretty close to the reef. I ended up catching a few waves before getting kinda spooked out of the water. The winds came up really hard onshore and I was pretty much just duck-diving most of the sets. For some reason I wasn't real comfortable sitting waaay outside to wait for the bomb sets.

This place is called "The Granites", and I found out why when coming in. The whitewater surges onto these huge granite rocks. When making my way in I ended up in one of the channels between the waves and the rocks where the water was well over my head. The rocks were totally smooth which was a good thing, but it also meant there was nothing to grab onto! I got lucky and without getting hit by a wave, was lifted up in a surge and onto a rock where I ran before the next wave hit.

Flatrock - Coffin Bay, South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I checked this spot early in the morning after driving in circles, nearly running down a HUGE black snake of some sort and running up the dirt track so I wouldn't get the van stuck in the sand. The tide was coming up and this shallow sucky reef wave was just beginning to work when I snapped this photo. I started to get my wetsuit on and then the wind started howling cross-shore. Not too much luck this day for surf. The National Park was beautiful though. I'd love to go back with a 4X4 to do some exploring sometime.

Smashing Roo's

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

A word of advice for those of you who haven't driven in Australia at dusk. It's bloody dangerous!!!! I know you're probably thinking about all of the mad footy players, cricketer's and other freaks that inhabit this red continent but I mean the wildlife. Hedda and I were driving into Coffin Bay National Park the other day and nearly had heart attacks at every turn. I was creeping down the road. I mean I'm driving a slow little camper van going about 2mph and families of kangaroo's are hopping right into the road in front of me. We only drove a few miles but in that time we almost ran over two families of roos, assorted wallabies, more rabbits than I can count, a couple of snakes and probably an Emu or two. Once we arrived to the campground Hedda walked out into the darkness to scope out the best campsite. Armed with only a headlamp with low batteries she came face to face with a Big Red Roo that easily towered over her. She kept her cool and calmly hopped back to the van to tell me we were just fine where we were.

Darwin at Dusk

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We've been in Australia less than 24 hrs and Hedda
is already getting attacked by cross-dressing footy
players. It's gonna be interesting driving straight
through the guts of this place.

We're off to Australia tonight

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I still can't believe I was able to spend the past five months here in Indonesia. What a dream. Hedda thought we'd be here for two months at the most. I didn't want to break it to her then that it was going to be a lot longer than that. Still, our marriage has survived, I've surfed some of the best waves of my life, and now I've even got her considering a trip to the outback surf destination of Cactus in South Australia. I really got lucky with Hedda... Check Hedda's blog for a Best of Asia review. Above is one last look at the Bukit.

Dengue Hospital 2

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

Waking the next day at 4:30am to the mullah's morning calls I knew I had to contact Hedda and let her know where I was. The 5 or 6 teenage girl nurses were basically useless. It wasn't till after a few days had passed that I realized they were giving me sleeping pills in the morning. No wonder I felt so completely out of it!!!! At one point during the day I woke to discover my IV line was blood red. Thought that was kind of strange... The nurses had been coming in to monitor the level of the IV bag and had been replacing it when it got low. I was knocked out. Probably due to the daily dose of sleeping pills I'd been given that morning, so I hadn't noticed the drip. I was blown away once I realized that instead of receiving the nourishing, hydrating fluids from the IV, my blood was actually being pumped out of my body and was filling the IV bag!! There being no call button for the nurses at this hospital, I grabbed a flip flop from the ground and started whacking the wall trying to get someones attention. Eventually a couple of nurses came in and nonchalantly took the IV needle out of my hand. No worries, this happens here all the time I thought. I decided I had to call Hedda right then. I explained to the one male nurse that I needed to make an international phone call. There was no question of doing this from the hospital since they didn't have a working phone line. I got on the back of his motorbike and we rode over to the Telkom office a couple of miles away. This was one of the most difficult phone calls I've ever had to make. To call the one you love half a world away to tell her you have contracted some scary tropical fever is not easy. I really didn't want her to worry about me. I also began to realize just how serious my situation was. Hedda was incredible. She stayed calm, organized the insurance and began to chart her own flight changes to come to me. After finishing the phone call to Hedda I actually felt much better knowing I wasn't completely alone on that island out there. The photo above is of the Hospital in Medan where I eventually met up with Hedda after a week in the Clinic on Simuelue.

Dengue Hospital

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

That first night in the hospital was hell. I was still alternating between sweating and shivering under the blankets and was suffering from a major headache as well as pain throughout my body. I was woken at 4:30am. My room was about 50 feet from the hospital mosque so, five times daily I had to endure listening to the call to prayer. Aaarrrggghhhhh!!! Once the sun came up I had my first good look at the room I was in. On the positive side of things, my bed wasn't bad and the sheets seemed relatively clean. That's about it on the positive side. On the other side of things...... A/C was not working no matter how many people came in and fidgeted with the remote control for it. No fan either. The temperature hung right around 90 degrees Fahrenheit day and night. My room was in the corner of the building with two sets of windows so I had plenty of natural light. Now I know you might think this is a good thing but unfortunately because there were so many curious Indonesians constantly poking their head's into my room to stare at the sick foreigner it wasn't. The walls were absolutely filthy. On my left side the wall had fingerprints of blood sliding down it along with some sprays and splatters of blood that had never been cleaned up. Unbelievable!!! The toilet was a typical squat situation which I nearly fell into that first morning and was filled with mosquitoes. There was a TV with Indonesian language channels but at that moment I couldn't move let alone try to read or watch TV. Dr Leo drifted in at some time during the day to tell me his first diagnosis of Malaria was incorrect. I actually had Typhoid. Loads of anti-biotics and other pills were given to me. I later discovered the nurses were mistakenly giving me sleeping pills during the daytime. Huh??? Who knows what else I took... Some involuntary moaning slipped out as I lay there drifting in and out of sleep/consciousness, hallucinating about tall dark figures striding towards me whenever I closed my eyes.

Dengue Fever

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

The call to prayer at the mosque across the street let me know dawn was not far off. I hadn't slept all night, racked with body aches and sweating like crazy. I knew right away that morning I was in trouble.... The moaning call to prayer actually sounded almost as shitty as I felt. As soon as I heard some life waking up downstairs I grabbed the railing to the stairs and made my way down to let Mama know I wasn't well. A'an from the Losmen drove me straight to the hospital. The two main buildings were shut down from the recent earthquakes so the reception had moved into one of the smaller buildings. The nurse unwrapped a sterile needle, they took some blood, and told me to come back later. A'an took me back to the Baroqah Losmen where I lay down, alternating between sweating and shivering in the 90 degree heat of the afternoon. I didn't take any meds since I didn't know what I had at this point. It was a very long and painful afternoon at the hotel. Later that evening, A'an drove me back over to the hospital. After waiting a few minutes for Dr. Leo to finish playing badminton, he came over to give me his initial diagnosis of Malaria. Wasn't too happy to hear that.... He said hopefully it's not Falciparum which people can die from. Um yeah, I said let's hope it's not that. You might not be able to play much badminton the next couple of weeks if it is. Back into the emergency room so they could draw more blood for more tests and then they hooked me up to the damn IV drip. They laid me down in a room an hour later at about 11 pm after giving me a Panadol for the pain and fever. Great! Give me some damn morphine!!!