Surf Instructor Test - Spot X

It has been a while.. And a lot has happened.I had an awesome weekend with my brother Joris in Sydney. Always such a good feeling when you can see family again. We had a relaxed weekend, went to Manly, strolled around in the city and figured out that a submarine is for midgets. 

Next up was my OSSCA - lifeguard and First Aid exam. Those were some really stressy days as I had to do ocean/rescue missions and the 500 meter swim under 10 minutes. But after months of training I passed every test with easily. I swam the 500 meters in 9 minutes 20 seconds so I was really happy :-).

The weekend after we had the Surf Test in Lennox Head (sharky as hell). I went there with another Belgium guy Jochem and some other dudes from Mojo. That weekend was really interesting, it was a day of theory and the other day we had to do the surf test, give a lesson, a safety talk, … 

I was pretty stressed for the surf test. The conditions were alright, head high waves and pretty much no wind at all. We were with 8 people in total included some hardcore Aussie surf dudes. So the surf level was really high. I was the first to catch a nice right hander, of course i wiped out really hard in front of everyone. Then a nice set of waves came in and everyone caught some really nice ones, except for me.. I felt the pressure rising but then when everyone had caught that set, I saw a sneaky peak rising, I thought this is it ! I was paddling so hard to get to that wave as it was on another sandbank. I paddled into it and it kept rising to an overhead barreling right hander. I grabbed my rail and got into the barrel. Everyone was cheering, It felt like heaven !  

So everyone passed the surf and practical test. I felt so good.. It’s like a dream coming true, I’m a Surf Instructor !! After the stressy weekend, I went with Victoire for a couple days to Yamba and Byron Bay. They were probably the best days I’ve ever had, no stress, all alone, spending time with my beautiful girl, surfing, romantic dinners and nights… If I only could turn back time..

Unfortunately I had to go back to Spot X to do some hours to get experience in coaching.

And of course, it had to end at one point.. Sold my Shaggy Wagon, said goodbye to all my friends and took the Greyhound bus to Brisbane.

My flight is tonight at 2AM.. Can’t believe I’m actually leaving Australia.. I’ll definitely come back. I like Belgium but lost my heart in Oz.

See you on the other side. Cheers Jasper

South Australia - Great Ocean Road

I was so happy when I was waiting for my parents at the airport. It's so cool that they flew all the way to Australia.. We Started are journey in the Blue Mountains. Did some really beautiful walks far away from Katoomba which was pretty touristic. After 2 days hiking and sweating we drove back to Sydney where we would stay there for 3 days. Sydney is definitely my favourite city of all time, it's so beautiful, clean and alive.. I had the pleasure to accompany my parents to La Bohème in the Sydney Opera house. An experience I'll never forget. Cause my Shaggy Wagon isn't really made for 3 people we flew to Adelaide and rented a SUV (highly recommend to rent a jeep as most of the roads are still unpaved) There we did Barossa Valley and McLaren vale with some really nice wine tastings. It's so beautiful.. If you're more or less interested in wine, you should definitely go there. Also the restaurants are superb (but very expensive).. After 3 days we took the plane to Melbourne. Really trendy (and hipster) city. Somehow I've managed to book a really sick penthouse for only 180 dollars.. It was so sick.. We could watch the Australian Open from our balcony ! To bad it was only for 1 night.. We started driving the other day to the Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles. Surfed some remote and famous beaches like Bells Beach but the waves were just to big for me.. The sets were 4 to 5 meter waves. So we drove further down the Ocean Road. Stopped in Apollo Bay, Lake Entrance, Narooma, Kioma, Ulladulla, ... All pretty small towns with surf but not as beautiful as the East Coast. We were always lucky with the accommodations and most of all the restaurants. I got really spoiled.. FINALLY some good food and wine, my own bed, own bathroom.. It felt like heaven haha ! After living on a campsite and public parkings for more then 4 months, you start to appreciate the small luxurious things again. We ended our roadtrip in Sydney again. Had a last goodnight sleep in a fancy pantsy hotel, A last insanely good Wagyu Beef with real Belgian Fries and a kick ass good Barossa Shiraz, said goodbye to my parents and started driving back to paradise again. So now I'm here in Arrawarra again. Training really hard on my swimming and fitness as my surf instructor tests are coming closer.. Fingers crossed !!

Roadtrip Brisbane -> Sydney !

I was so happy when I finally could drive to Brisbane airport to pick up Stijn and Lore ! It’s awesome to see some family again after 4 months of traveling. We drove straight to Brisbane to began our roadtrip to Sydney. We spent a day and a half exploring the city and the southern banks. Then we drove to the famous Gold Coast where we surfed in Surfers Paradise, Kirra and Snapper, Coolangatta. The surf wasn’t to great but it sure was fun ! We spent that night in camping where Lore made the best spaghetti ever :).

The day after we drove to the famous Byron Bay. As expected it was pretty crowded and the surf wasn’t to good either. It’s also where Stijn saw his first pot of dolphins in the surf line-up, he sure freaked out a bit thinking they were sharks ! After a day of sightseeing we checked out the chilled out atmosphere in Byron and spent the night in a cosy camping ground.

Next up was Yamba ! Small town with some pretty good surf conditions. We had the luck of having a good camping spot at the waterfront which made it pretty epic ! It’s also where I got my first tattoo ! I was so stoked that I finally did it :) Thanks to Stijn and Lore !

We decided to go further south to Spot (se)X, Arrawarra. Probably the best stop along the East Coast. Arrawarra is just paradise.. White beach, perfect surf, palmtree’s, blue water, parrots everywhere and a lot of surf chicks. We spent 2 beautiful nights there before we drove to Coffs Harbour. From that point the weather changed to pretty stormy and we kinda had bad luck in finding camping spots. Everything was fully booked cause of New year and Christmas. We drove and checked Port Macquirie, Shelly Beach, South West Rocks, Tweed Heads, Crescent Head, Hat Head, Avoca Beach. They were all super beautiful and looked epic surf spots but there was no swell at all. (And there is no worst feeling for a surfer)

After 2 days of looking for surf we decided to go to the Blue Mountains for 5 hours adventurous climbing and walking in the rainforest. It’s such a magical and beautiful place ! In the afternoon, after our walk, we drove down to Sydney. Definitely one of the best stops we did ! Sydney is amazing, from the suburbs to the center ! We had a really nice Hotel in Glebe. Glebe is a really trendy suburb with a lot of cosy pubs and restaurants. We decided to do a pre New year’s eve drink in ‘The little Guy’. Definitely a night I won’t forget ! The next morning we stood up at 6AM to go for a surf in famous Bondi Beach. (It’s the best hangover cure) 

After our hangover surf we drove to the city center for some sightseeing. As it was New year’s eve all the streets were car-free ! Also all the women were super dressed up, read: half naked. Australian women also don’t wear any bra under their dresses or tops and strings are their favourite panties. So that was nice. I wish all the women in Belgium would do that haha! We found a good spot to check the famous Sydney fireworks, cracked a bottle of gross Cava we got for free and counted down for 2016.

The day after we drove to Manly for our last surf together and chilled at the beach. But after all good things comes an end.. I had to drive them back to the airport. It was an emotional goodbye, I really enjoyed it and didn’t want them to leave.. So as I was pretty down I decided to go straight to Spot X to see some friends cause at that moment I didn’t wanted to be alone. Anyway it sure was a roadtrip I’ll never forget :)

Fraser Island - Sand everywhere

After my epic sailing trip in the Whitsundays I drove down to Hervey Bay where I booked a 2 day 1 night tour on Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. I recommend you go to Rainbow Beach instead of Hervey. It’s quite ugly and not a lot to do or see there. Anyway, the next day I jumped on the ferry to Fraser where I would meet up with the rest of the group and start my tour on the island.

Fraser island was really cool, especially if you can rent your own 4X4.. There are no paved roads, it’s all off-road so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride !

On the first day we drove to Lake McKenzie and Lake Wabby. McKenzie is similar to Whitehaven Beach. The sand is so pure and soft that it even goes through your cameras underwater housing. The second lake had some weird little fish in it that bite (or suck) your skin away. Those were some hungry little basterds ! We ended the day in Eurong, a little resort in the middle of the island where we would spend the night. (Finally a hot decent shower and a real bed ! )

The next day we did some more off-roading to scenic outlooks, lakes, little deserts, saw some wild Dingo’s on the way, … The whole time I was annoyed I hadn’t brought my surfboard with me. The surf was pumping ! But no one was in the water.. Well on our last stop I found out why. At Indian Rock you could saw all the sea life in the water. At first I saw some turtles, mantras, stingrays, .. but then after a while a giant (bull?)shark.. and then 2 other sharks just 50 meters away from the beach.

Around 18PM the tour on Fraser Island was over, said goodbye to an awesome group people and took straight the ferry to mainland cause seeing all that unsurfed swell (and lots, lots of sand) was driving me crazy :).

For the moment I’m driving down the sunshine coast from Noosa. Trying to find some uncrowded beaches to surf.

Next up: Brisbane with Stijn and Lore !!

Whitehaven Beach in all its glory

Some photo's from Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise.

Time for a little heads up !

It was hard to leave Spot X, made some lifetime friendships. Such an awesome place, definitely going back ! After spot X I drove to Coolangatta where I met up with Clara, had really awesome days with her. Checked some surf spots as Snapper, Kirra, rainbow Beach and Surfers Paradise. Sadly I had to say goodbye to her as I needed to drive to Airlie.

The drive to Airlie was fricking hot and lonely.. It takes some while to get used to it being on your own after some awesome days with someone. Anyway after 1200 km’s I finally arrived at Airlie Beach. I stayed on the public parking at the lagoons, kinda living on the streets and using toilets and showers from the nearest swimming pool. Had some weird friends who stayed their as wel, brought me to this trippy weird party. Trippy as in mushrooms, funny herbs and people wearing horsemasks and stuff. That was probably the weirdest experience in my life :p.

Anyway, I survived that night and went to the harbour the other day for a 3 day sailing trip on the Broomstick to the Whitsunday Islands. Such an awesome experience ! Whitehaven Beach is stunning, Dived and did some snorkeling with beautiful fish, sharks, turtles and women. Now it’s time to head back south, probably have a stop in Agnus Beach, Noosa, Fraser Island and then back down to Brisbane where I’m picking Stijn en Lore up from the airport ! Can’t wait !! Yeew !