The call came in at 5:30 AM, “hey Alb, it’s pumping” – music to my ears. It was the fifth day of the swell. The first was 10-12 feet – big and stormy, the second big with plenty of push and rips, the third cleaner with an off-shore breeze and more manageable, the fourth six feet and perfect, the fifth super clean and three to five feet on the sets.

Drove down along the back roads through flat grazing territory past rivers filled with the early morning bird life, mountains in the distance were sharp with a light westerly clearing the early morning haze. Past horses grazing, cows meandering, signs with homemade jams for sale and honesty boxes to collect the money. Old farms – sleepy vibe – no cars….. it could’ve been the seventies – not much had changed. There was a crispness in the air – almost a touch of autumn; an unseasonable southwesterly breeze was fanning the morning trees ….. and waves. It was the middle of summer and the surf was perfect. No better way to start the day.

The first person on the radar screen when we pull in was the Reverend D. Hunt from Babylon, he greeted us with a smile from ear to ear – one he carries permanently, “Don’t you just love it, don’t you just love it” – he wraps his arms around us, “let me feel your love”. We wax up and walk over a grassy headland covered with wild flowers along a track that would have to be one of the best walk outs in the world – The Reverend is foaming…we all are. The sets pull around the point like Currumbin without the crowds….. no car park or houses here – just wide open space and pure natural beauty. The ocean is like crystal….. the waves paper thin….. we couldn’t have been in a more perfect space.

  

  

Gratitude was flowing in abundance as we launched off the rocks and into a beautiful temperate ocean so clear you could see the grains of sand below. The Reverend took off on his alaia, sounding what was to become the mantra of the day, “don’t you just love it”. We rolled around hysterically in a state of bliss and rode wave after wave giving thanks for our good fortune and being in one of the most incredibly beautiful bays along the east coast.

The low had moved down from Queensland slowly and with the easterly swell laid its bounty on every point along the coast down to Newcastle. If you listened carefully you could hear the cries of delight from all over.

It was just another one of those days…..

Don’t you just love them…..

Photos by Jack McCoy and Robyn Wren