Recent shark activity here on the East coast has us on a higher alert than even the most remote parts of WA and SA with regular surf reports all stating similar warnings. Last week at Broken Head near Byron there was a shark attack and all beaches were closed. But being Byron Bay there was still 100 people out in the water at the Pass even when the closed beach signs were put up on the sand. I found the further we got away from the bigger towns and cities the friendlier and more helpful your fellow Australian’s became. We had a blow out on the van at a 110kmh and I pulled over leaving a smoking rubber and steel skid mark across the highway. We were in remote WA, approximately 100km from any town, but within two minutes the next car to come by pulled over and pretty much took over. Seeing I was a rookie caravaner, he helped me jack up the van, change over the spare and then gave me his mobile number to call him any time if I needed anything while the van was getting fixed. He even offered to put us up in his back yard. That would not happen in the city, actually that would not happen on the East coast.
My favourite sign of the trip thus far was a sign just out of Carnarvon which stated WARNING-no water for 643kms. Yep that’s a big country with no taps. We are currently in Yamba NSW and still loving the trip. There are way too many amazing beaches in Australia, we feel like we have just scratched the surface and in this write up I have only mentioned a few as if I listed them all in detail it would fill a book. We have two months to go and over twenty more surf spots out of about 200 more between here and home. If you ever get the opportunity to do a SUP trip around your own island or your closest coastline, take it. I have found since starting SUP surfing that you can do it at almost any location, as long as there is water. Our most remote paddle was a lake in the middle of Northern Territory, Crocodile Dundee country. The kids paddled, my wife paddled and so did I, we were 3000 km for the nearest possible shark and my mate assured me there were no crocs. “But there might be some fresh water crocs, but shit they won’t kill ya“. SUP
