A California Surfing Family Explores the Wild Coast of Australia
Thanks to a sabbatical awarded by the California Wellness Foundation, I was able to take a 10-week break from my job as the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST, an international conservation organization, and travel with my family to Australia.
The plan was for my sons, Daniel (11) and Israel (13), and me to spend six weeks surfing and camping in national parks in Australia. Then Emily, my wife of 20 years, would join us for a final week in Australia and three weeks in New Zealand for surfing, hiking and skiing/snowboarding.
Most surfers who travel to Australia tour the world-class surf spots of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland (the Gold Coast). The boys and I were interested in the more remote and unpopulated surf coast of southern New South Wales and Victoria — described in our Surfing Australia guidebook as, “A surf explorer’s dream.”
The first part of our trip was to be an 800-mile pilgrimage south from Sydney along the coastal Princes Highway to Bell’s Beach. The location for the world’s longest running professional surf contest, Bell’s sits on a world-class reef in Victoria — just outside Torquay, Australia’s “surfing capital.”
Kauai meets Carmel
The boys and I arrived at Sydney Airport in the early morning after a long flight from San Diego. We hailed a taxi van and hauled our five surfboards and canvas duffel bags filled with wetsuits and camping gear to the Kea Campervan rental center on the outskirts of Sydney. There we picked up a 2006 VW diesel pop-top camper van that was to be our home for the next seven weeks.
South of Sydney, the Princes Highway skirts the forest of Royal National Park, the world’s second oldest national park, and then descends onto the coast at the village of Stanwell Park. Our first view of the beach was what every surfer dreams of-offshore peaks, minimal crowd and a park with showers and clean restrooms. The forested cliffs of Royal National Park that end at Stanwell Park gave the area a feel of Kauai meets Carmel.
Later that afternoon ,after checking out a surf contest at Sandon Point, we drove into an empty beachside caravan park in the village of Bulli Beach. We cooked up some lamb chops and passed out.
Kangaroo Beach
A few hours south of Sydney, the landscape changes from bucolic English pastures to Central America-like eucalyptus or “gum tree” rainforests and national parks. Our destination was Murramarang National Park, known for its population of “bodysurfing” Eastern grey kangaroos. The park is about 45-minutes south of the surf town of Ulladulla.
The turnoff to Murramarang from the Princes Highway immediately transported us into the Lost World. The gum forest was thick, dark and moist with heavy underbrush. A road sign warned of kangaroos. We spotted a lyrebird, a cross between a peacock and a turkey. Flocks of parrots flew across the road.
We arrived at Pebbly Beach and set off down the tree-covered path to a tree-lined cove.
Daniel raced ahead. Israel and I arrived at a grassy meadow above the beach and found him surrounded by a mob of kangaroos. Daniel sat motionless, grinning from ear to ear, as a joey approached and almost plopped into his lap.
After we set our bush camp at the nearby Depot Beach campground, Israel stumbled upon a swamp wallaby feeding in the dunes. He described it as ”a cross between a kangaroo and a giant rabbit.”
Between surf sessions at a nearby reef, we hung out at our camp, under a huge eucalyptus. We were surrounded by kangaroos and laughing kookaburras. At night, a pair of brushtail possums, nocturnal marsupials, nosed around our campfire in their nightly hunt for food.
Living 24/7 with groms
Back in San Diego the lives of my two rambunctious sons revolve around school, surfing, skateboarding and water polo. Living in a cramped VW van presented a unique set of challenges.
Because Israel had moved around like a worm in the upper van bed during our first night, he was exiled to a waterproof and sturdy Sierra Designs two-man tent. Daniel and I split the upstairs and downstairs van beds.
They boys quickly adapted to life on the road. Each evening after a day of surfing, they slapped steak, lamb chops or hamburgers on the gas-powered campground barbie.
They used their extra energy, during downtime in the van, to give me a surfing makeover: They hoped to improve my hopelessly out of date ’70s flow surfing style.
“Dad,” Israel said. “You really need to work on your snaps. You aren’t getting vertical enough.”
Bells Beach
An epic north swell we enjoyed during our stay at Murramarang had dropped off so we packed up the van and headed down the two-lane Princes Highway on our way to Bells Beach. The boys were exhausted from their last surf session.
We had communed with kangaroos, and had become enamored of the beautiful coastline, abundant national parks and wildlife, excellent waves and friendly people of Southeast Australia. As we drove off, each of us looked forward to what adventures awaited us. We looked forward to more surfing, more wildlife and meeting more Aussies.(Australians must be among the friendliest people on the planet.)
IF YOU GO
Getting there: We scored a deal on Air New Zealand, which in terms of friendly service is the best airline I have ever flown. Qantas is another good bet. Surfboards fly free on both airlines -a big deal if you are bringing multiple boards. Air Australia, an offshoot of Virgin has great deals from L.A.
Staying there: Discovery Camper Vans Australia
(www.discovery-campervans.com.au) is one of many internet companies that offer deals with a variety of independent camper van companies in both Australia and New Zealand. Kea, the company we used, offers the newest and probably best-maintained vehicles, but there are tons of choices from Jucy, Wicked, Britz, Apollo and a host of other companies. Best to search on the web for the best deals. We brought out own sleeping bags but Kea even provides those. We paid about $100 a day, including insurnce.
Camping: Caravan parks are everywhere and conveniently located next to many of the best surf breaks. Prices vary but we generally paid anywhere from $25to $35 a night for grassy campsites with electricity, water and clean showers and restrooms.
National parks are even a better deal. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service has a great website at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/ [7] with lots of information on campgrounds and park facilities.
Murramarang National Park has excellent cabins at Depot Beach run by the National Park Service: www.Depotbeachaccomodation.com
Eating there: With the exception of Australia’s infamous and cheap meat pies (that come in veggie and chicken models), we rarely ate out. Instead we shopped at excellent supermarkets — including Woolworth’s, Aldis and Coles. Each provided an excellent selection of organic fruit and vegetables, and meat (the boys decided not to try kangaroo steaks). Woolworth’s, in many locations, resembled Whole Foods but is much less expensive.
Surfing: I recommend bringing a bigger wave and normal wave board. The south is not really longboard territory, which seems to be more prevalent in the northern points. In the winter a 4-3 full wetsuit, booties and hood is required for southern New South Wales and Victoria.
A 3-2 short-arm will serve you well around Sydney and northern New South Wales.
Local surfers are friendly and uncrowded surf spots are abundant.
Avoid traveling anytime during summer school holidays when the beaches and campgrounds are packed.
Know before you go: Internet access in Australia is atrocious. We logged on for free (but very slowly) at the upscale McDonald’s or McCafe’s that are located in most towns. Wifi, available at caravan parks, was mostly slow and expensive. Local city libraries are the best bet for high speed free internet access.
Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST, an international conservation organization that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. He is the author of the Saving the Gray Whale and the forthcoming: Wild Sea: Eco-Wars and Surf Stories from the Coast of the Californias. He lives just north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Imperial Beach, California with his family. He received the San Diego Zoological Society’s Conservation Medal and the California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Hero Award for his conservation work.
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