February 9, Day 7: Budewoi Peninsula to Birubi Beach
Unfortunately I didn't take too many photos today, so this post will be relatively short. We didn't cover too much ground and spent most of the day surfing anyway.
The sunrise woke us up and in less than 15 minutes the bed was converted back into a car full of surfboards and bags. We drove about 5k south to beach called Norah Head to check the waves, but it was unimpressive. There was a neat lighthouse we could see from the beach though.
North, closer to Newcastle we found a fun little wave for Chicho to paddle out in at Catherine Hill Bay Beach. It was quite perfect as we parked the car up on small hill overlooking the wave so I could relax and watch Chicho surf.
The best part of the day was going to the surf outlet in the south suburbs of Newcastle. The strange man behind the counter didn't seem to like us much when we first got there, probably because of our American accents. But Maury, as he later introduced himself, warmed up to us after we asked for his help finding some spring wetsuits.
Soon we were chatting with him about where the best places to stay in Bali were and which beaches we should surf at between Newcastle and Byron Bay. He ended up drawing us a map labeling all the best surf beaches complete with info about wind direction and swell size for each individual beach. We were ecstatic to have some solid information from an old time local.
We both got spring suits which would improve our sessions immensely as we had been getting so cold in the water when skining it, thanked Maury and headed towards the first beach he had suggested, Birubi.
Birubi beach is an expansive section of coastline with enormous sand dunes running for miles along the coast. Supposedly these sand dunes are the largest in the southern hemisphere.
We paddled out for a nice long session in the water assisted by our new spring suits. I'm so grateful to be able to surf with Chicho everyday. He coaches me through the techniques and pushes me to be stronger and faster with each wave I catch. My surfing improves each time I go out into the water, and while I know it's because of my abilities and determination, I wouldn't be half the surfer I am today if it weren't for Chicho. I would also like to say that he gives up plenty of good waves for me to catch (or attempt to catch and fail), he is patient as I learn.
After surfing we went into the town at the very tip of the peninsula, Nelson Bay, where we found a picnic table by the marina to make dinner on.
Another early night in the Kia bed in a car park down the road from Birubi. It was rumored that the swell would be coming in tomorrow so we were excited to be up early close to a fun wave! The jungle soothed us into dreamland as the night life within the trees came alive with songs and rustling leaves.
Creeflow on as both a pupil and a teacher.
