The long way home 

12/19/06 - A short hike near Hilo yields beautiful waterfalls.

12/18/06 - The southernmost point of the United States as denoted by two rusted out trucks and the volcano.

Ripping up South Newy 

 9/16/06 - The morning offered up clean 2ft. waves.  Brian, still nursing an injured ankle, took some shots of me making the most of a beautiful day.

Learning in progress...

9/6/06 - We had a nice 2-3 ft. swell and the 'rents captured the graduate school surfing crew in action at the cliff.  

South Australia

8/26/06 - 8/28/06 - The 'rents treated me to a tour of the area around Adelaide.

Scenes from Newcastle Beach

7/28/06 - Big surf in the afternoon.

The Haircut

6/9/06 - The day it all came off. 

Queensland 

 6/1/06 - 6/8/06 - We arrived in Cairnes and proceeded to the barrier reef first thing in the morning.  After a couple of dives, we headed inland into the rain forest and camped on the edge of Davies Creek.  Another day's drive brought us to Magnetic Island, just off the cost from Townesville, where I spotted a Koala snoozing in the trees.  From there, we struck out down the coast driving and camping our way to Brisbane.  A quick day trip down to Surfer's Paradise finished off the expedition.

Tazzy 

5/15/06 - In a fine rental car, I drove down the east coast to Hobart.  I stopped at 9 mile beach and Swansea for some photos.

5/13/06 - 5/14/06 - Launceston Tasmania is a sleepy little town that sits at the mouth of Cateract Gorge.  The town features a surprisingly lively downtown area, a lovely waterfront on the Esk River, and, of course, the gorge.  Launceston is also home to Boag's bewery, probably the best beer in Australia. 

Proof!

4/14/06 - I really can surf.  I finally have pictures to prove it. 

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

4/16/06-4/19/06 -  We awoke at 4:00 AM and hopped the train to Sydney.  After several grueling hours of travel, we were greeted in Uluru by a friendly swarm of flies that would be our constant companions for the rest of the trip.  We had a fine time despite some unexpected rain (in the desert!) and snapped some great photos.

Newcastle Surf Fest '06

4/9/06 - The finals were blessed with a frightening double overhead swell.   The event was moved to the favorable break at Merewether Beach and got underway a bit late.  It was a shame since the biggest waves came early, but the locals were out to produce some unforgettable scenes.  When things did get statrted, Brazialian surfer Neco Padaratz stole the show, managing to capture three pipes on the way to a convincing victory.  The crowd was also treated with a couple of waves from Newcastle legend, master surfboard shaper,  and four time world champion Mark Richards (yellow board).  The day was a fitting end to a great event.

4/8/06 - Saturday morning brought a nice swell, but conditions were choppy at Newcastle beach.  The surfers fought on in difficult conditions.  Jet skis were used to assist the surfers paddling out.  In the end, very few good waves and even fewer good pictures.

4/7/06 - A fairly small day at Newcastle beach, but some excellent surfing produced a very nice collection of photos.  I had a good surf in similar conditions the previous day, but didn't provide nearly as much entertainment.

4/2/06 - The big swell finally arrived.  The juniors finals were moved to Nobby's beach because Newcastle was not breaking clean in the larger conditions.  Nobby's has a reef break that gives a slow rolling wave and a sharp beach break.  The reef was still choppy mess, but good enough for a few great rides.  Later in the day, some big swell started wrapping around the back of the ocean baths.  The best Newcastle locals braved the rocks to ride some impressive overhead waves.

4/1/06 - We were expecting big surf on Saturday morning, but were greeted by choppy 2-3' conditions.  The juniors still did their best to put on a show.  An unusually high tide led to some great closeups.

3/30 - I woke up and hit the waves myself at sunrise.  Perfect sets were rolling in at 3-4' over a glassy smooth ocean.  A small wind kicked up around 11:00, but conditions were still near perfect.  After lunch, I grabbed the camera and headed down to Newcastle beach for another round of pictures.  As you can see, I was not disappointed.  

3/28 - The waves were working pretty good on the morning of 3/28.  When I got down to the beach, the biggest sets were still pushing 10', but the swell came down as the sun rose.