It was a long and grueling couple of days leading up to my arrival to the Gold Coast of Australia. Seeing as how I booked the ticket last minute, I knew ahead of time that I was going to have to work around some prior engagements, but I decided to charge it anyway in hopes that the payoff would be worth it. My travel adventure started on a Monday in California, then took me back to Jersey to pack and leave on that Wednesday and arrive in Australia by Friday. The travel went something like this: Catch a red-eye home from California. Drive from Philly to Ocean City. Work. Pack. Drive back from Ocean City to Philly. Catch another flight to Los Angeles. Pound 2 Guinness at LAX on layover (it was St. Patty’s Day). Fly for 16 hours to Melbourne, Australia. 3 hour layover. Flight to Brisbane, Australia. Drive 2 hours to the Gold  Coast. All in 60 hours.

But upon first sight from our apartment in Coolangatta – home to one of the longest waves in the world – I immediately knew it was worth all the hassle. My brother, Brad, and I had arrived just in time to be greeted by a Cyclone swell as 8 – 10 foot swell roared down the 2 mile long sand bank from Snapper Rocks to Kirra. We immediately traded our grime infused clothes for trunks and tore open our board bags and headed straight out. Stay tuned to see how our 2 weeks in Australia turned out.

Greenmount Beach reeling. This is the halfway mark in the superbank and also my view from our apartment. Not too shabby.