Party in Geelong and Surfing Bell's Beach

Trip Start Aug 15, 2006
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Trip End Feb 09, 2007


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Sunday, August 27, 2006

So we rented a car from Budget in Frankston on Friday...driving was initially a disaster because your on the opposite side of the road as compared to North America. Damn roundabouts everywhere as well...oh well. So Gibby, Dylan, Kyle, Jeff, and myself drove thru Melbourne and around the bay to Geelong where we grabbed a dorm room at this shack of a hostel and started drinking. We walked to this bar 'Room 99' and got right into things...jager bombs,beers, whiskeys...all of it. Great time! Just a gong show...the bars stay open pretty late too. Eventually we all met up back at the hostel around 7 am...Dylan came back with a hell of a story and the urge to go surfing drunk...we all shut things down instead..woke up around 10,grabbed some breakfast at Sam's cafe and hit the road south towards the surfing town of Torquay (where Rip Curl and Quicksilver started up). We pulled up on the main drag and checked out some of the shops, the boys already cranking pints...we rented 2 boards..an 8'6" softy for Dylan and I grabbed a 9'6" noserider Bell's Beach
Bell's Beach
 . We were told the best bet was the point so we drove out to Torquay point...a beautiful day..sun shining, waves looked pretty small but no matter. Dylan paddled out with me for a bit but the water was pretty cold so he went in after 30 mins or so. I stayed out for a few hours catchin wave after wave...a lot of fun. The water was very clear and every 20 mins or so a couple larger waves would come thru...eventually I was freezing cold and the wetsuit wasnt working all that well so I went in. We loaded up the rental and headed for Bell's beach. Bell's was unreal. You park out on this cliff that overlooks a bay surrounded by jagged rock cliffs...and there is this small sandy beachhead nestled perfeclty below and between the cliffs...its a fifteen minute walk down wooden stairs to get to the beachhead...the waves looked pretty good..not huge but 3 feet with the occasional 4.5-5 footer. I paddled out...a long paddle at Bell's...and what a wave..I mean perfect. Very powerful too. I stayed out an hour or so...caught 2 real nice ones and rode em in thru the better part of the bay. What an experience.
Bell's is one of the world's premier waves. It's one of Kelly Slater's favourite waves...not to mention that it plays a key part in the movie Point Break where Patrick Swayzee (the Bodhisava) paddles out to his death. Some local told us that it had been 10 foot the week before...I couldn't even imagine that.
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