“It’s gonna be a while. There’s heaps of trees and debris and s**t on the road.” This is the last thing I want to hear from the man in the florescent green jacket directing traffic and sporting a thick aussie accent. At this point I have already been on the road for 8 hours and am waiting in line with a bunch of other cars in the middle of some random mountain pass where fallen trees have wreaked havoc on the man made snake trail through the forest. The worst part is that I am four hours inland and still heading away from the coast. My sights are set for the infamous Outback.

A couple of days prior when I was checking the LOLA models on Surfline I noticed a large low pressure system was taking shape just north of the Gold Coast. After seeing predictions of 20 foot plus seas and seeing the epic barrels that graced Kirra for the WCT event held there just two months earlier, my friends (Steve, Ja Mike, and Ryan) and I decided to leave our outpost in Sydney and make the 12 hour drive up the coast in hopes of scoring Kirra in its finest hour.

As the low began to take shape and butt heads with the coast, it quickly became clear that this was no ordinary weather system. Rain engulfed the entire east coast – literally. Winds up to 133 km/h were reported at several points on the coast as seas in the 20-30 foot range swallowed sand dunes whole. The night before our intended departure the local and national news channels were littered with reports of widespread destruction and catastrophic floods as rivers purged the heavy rains over their banks and into the nearby towns. But I mean how bad could it be, right? A little rain, a little wind – minor. So being the really dumb smart kids that we are we turned a blind eye to weather and headed out on what is normally a straight shot drive.

About six hours into the drive our convoy was confronted with “road closure” and “detour” signs indicating that the next 300 miles of the highway was closed and would likely remain closed for several days. That’s when the fun started. After consulting a map it was apparent that our only option was to either turn around or take a massive detour through the Outback. A nice 8 hour detour to be exact. Turning around wasn’t really an option as the thought of glistening tubes on the Gold Coast made sure that nothing would stand in our way. I mean c’mon I would sell my soul (and have done so before) in order to score the Gold Coast. So there was no way a little rain was going to stop us.

So we charged it. We weaved through endless mountain passes that separate the coast from the outback and swerved around flooded roads and fallen trees. Then we firmly jammed the gas pedal to the floor through the desolate, dry, and most importantly flat Outback just as the sun was setting in the distance. As much as I didn’t want to take the detour, I will never forget how breathtaking that part of the country was. Truly amazing. 

After another agonizing drive in the dark through more mountains we finally made it to Coolangatta. It was a brutal lovely 20 hours in the car but we made it. And in one piece. Now for the love of God, please let the waves be good tomorrow…..

Quick, kids, get your flood pants

Looks like T-Rex was just here

Rally car through the mud

One of the nicer moments of the drive