22 Photos From Around Australia – Easter Weekend, 2014
As we roll into a second consecutive long weekend we thought it'd be nice have a look at the pumping four day Easter weekend just past with a sprinkle of frames – from WA, Victoria's Surf Coast, the south and north of Sydney, the North Coast of NSW, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast – for a bit of daydream believin'.
Sydney Easter, School Holidays Swell Recap
By Ben Horvath
A week to remember...
It is not often that you can actually hear the surf in urban Cronulla, but late on Good Friday night (perhaps because the pub and clubs were closed) not only could you hear it, but you could see it, sense it and smell it. When I took a late night walk down to the beach to investigate the rumbling sound to see if what i thought i could hear was real, i was blown away.
On first inspection it looked genuinely Hawaiian. Extremely long period lines were brushed clean by light offshore westerlies and illuminated by a three quarter moon.
It was a mad night, the biggest and cleanest I had seen the surf in recent years. It was a solid 10 – 12ft, no exaggeration whatsoever.
My mind started racing. Where will be good in the morning? How am i going to fit my friend and at least 4 bigger boards in my sedan? Where are the soft racks again? Why did I buy a sedan, aargh i digress...
I struggled to get to sleep, excited like a grom, full of anticipation. However, by sunrise conditions had clearly changed. The wind was more SW/S putting a wobble in the swell, and the size was slowly on the decline.
I don’t want to underplay things, because there were still plenty of chunky 8-10ft waves on offer at protected reefs, points and bombies on Saturday morning, but the wind did sour what could have been an absolutely mindless day.
Some solid waves were ridden on Saturday and some serious poundings accepted, much like the Saturday previous in all honesty, only on Easter Saturday, the waves were thicker and straighter due to the longer period SE/E swell.
The great run of swell in Sydney and surrounds started the Saturday prior, Saturday April 12 to be precise. A solid 6-8ft plus south swell powered by a winterish low in the southern Tasman set the tone for what turned out to be a consistent week of 4-6ft waves from the SE.
Protected point and reef breaks like Sandon, Cronulla, Shark Island, Solander, Winki and Dee Why delivered 4-6ft pits all week. There were mornings when the wind was light SW and there were SSE arvos when it was not so clean, but the swell kept on keeping on.
Good Friday was epic with all day offshores and 3-6ft of clean SE swell. There were so many outstanding options up and down the coast. It really was a memorable day.
As mentioned, Saturday was serious. The remnants of Cyclone Ita had moved south and merged with the lingering Tasman Low. Matty Grainger, The Captain and co charged some solid 10ft sets at Queenscliff Bombie. Scores of surfers milled at Solander, but only Damien Wills went out, surfing dangerous, wobbly chunks of 8-10ft Solander solo.
The kids challenged the older guard at Cronulla Point. Conner O Leary, Harrison Martin, Shane Campbell and Jared Hickle scored some hollow caves. Earlier in the week, Campbell scored some deep caverns at Shark Island along with some of the older guard like Boogs, Terapai, Ox and Jezza.
Easter Sunday saw a return to some sort of normality. It was still a solid 4-5ft first thing in the morning, there were some fresh banks, so the beachies, reefs and points were all options.
In summation, it was without doubt the best week of waves we have experienced in Sydney and surrounds this year, and it was obvious the seasons had changed. After an inconsistent first few months of the year everyone has now had a taste of power. May, June and July are historically the best months for surfing in this city, so clear the calendar. Yeeow.
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