Moving to Sydney

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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:57 am

Hahaha yea, the crowds weren't too bad on the friday, probably because of the conditions but yea as i said i had a blast for the 5 hours :p wasn't used to surfing in boardies tho and have rashes on the inside of my legs from sitting gripping the board and sore knees from duckdiving (need to learn to duckdive using my foot). Awesome, do the northern beaches go off in the autumn?

But yea i am definitely gonna try find a flat in Manly i love the vibe of it and the beaches are amazing. So you will be seeing a lot of me :P once i get a flat and job and even a car hahaha.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:42 am

I hear you, I've had 8 surfs over the long weekend and my knees are pretty raw from the tail pad and my arms are tired! I don't usually get to surf this much :-D
Last night Manly was on! loooooong wait for the big sets but when they came....! There weren't many and it was crowded so you had to be lucky to get on them. Got three of my best waves in months, if not of the year.

I don't often surf Manly because of the crowds but I forget how well the banks hold the bigger waves. Dee Why tends to close out faster on bigger days, unless you surf the point which is pretty packed with locals. Dee why has its good days on big swells but Manly seems to hold it more consistently, shame about the crowds...

Autumn is generally when the season starts, it's better than Winter because it's good swell, warm water and often better winds. Winter can sometimes get so big that you can surf in the harbour :-D
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:40 am

Sick dude, I can't wait to get among. I reckon the wait is half the fun as you appreciate the awesomeness of your rides more (unless you have to wait because everyone else around you is snaking all the waves) How do you surf after work bro? it gets dark here at like 6 and sunrise is pretty late also, is it always like this? in NZ it doesn't get dark till like 8.30-9 and sunrise is at like 5.15am. Because chances are i will be working the 9 - 5 and it just seems like the way it gets dark so early and sunrise so late it doesnt leave much time for surfing before and after work?

Also if i get a pad in Manly.... Could you show me the good spots "hint, hint..nudge, nudge" :D :D
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:51 am

After daylight savings ended on the weekend it's pretty hard to get a surf after work. Unless you can leave early....
First light at the moment is at 5:47 and will get a little later each day until June.

I struggle to get up for the early so I don't usually get into the water until 6:30 anyway. My work starts at 8:30 and is about 30 minutes away so that leaves me about 1.5 hours of surf time.

Daylight savings starts again in October and eventually it'll get dark around 8:00 in the summer.

For now if you can get into the water by 6 and on the bus to the city by 8 you should be able to get more than an hours surf in. As it gets brighter you can get up even earlier.

There aren't any real secrets on this side of the Beaches, especially with all the surf reports but I can let you know what general areas are best according to swell and winds. Check these sites for reports if you don't already know them:

The first two you should compare the forecasts and check the webcams and the last link I like the guys reports on what's happening.
http://www.coastalwatch.com
http://www.swellnet.com.au
http://www.surfit.com.au
Last edited by Aloha on Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby drowningbitbybit » Thu Apr 08, 2010 6:50 am

Aloha wrote:First light at the moment is at 5:47 and will get a little earlier each day until June. I think later on it is something like 4:45 or maybe earlier.


Huh? Maybe on the other side of the world it will, but on this side it'll definitely be getting light later :?
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:57 am

Aloha wrote:There aren't any real secrets on this side of the Beaches, especially with all the surf reports but I can let you know what general areas are best according to swell and winds.


Cheers Aloha that would be terrific and a great help early on while i get the hang of what conditions etc work best and where. Yea i have coastalwatch and swellnet in my bookmarks :P as well as surfline but its a little tricky to read atm. But that last one looks helpful also, will add that to my surf forecast bookmarks :P
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:32 am

drowningbitbybit wrote:
Aloha wrote:First light at the moment is at 5:47 and will get a little earlier each day until June. I think later on it is something like 4:45 or maybe earlier.


Huh? Maybe on the other side of the world it will, but on this side it'll definitely be getting light later :?


lol of course it is. Brighter mornings this week after DST ended threw me off. It'll start getting lighter at the end of June. By September it'll be light very early without daylight savings but there's no real surf then. Twilight starts at 4 in the morning in December, try to avoid a getting a flat near a tree that the nectar birds like, unless you own a shotgun :-D
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:28 pm

Holla,

I have been away from these forums for a while, have been very busy lately. But just thought I would update my situation since arriving here in Aus.

I now have both a JOB and a FLAT. My job is based in North Sydney and I am about 2 1/2 weeks into it, and I got me a flat in North Curl Curl 5-10min walk to Curly beach which I move in on 12th.

So Aloha, or any SW members in that are in the area. Is there anything I should know about curly beach like some tips/rips/rocks, which part of the beach is usually best, which part to stay away from locals etc as I have never even been to Curly :D and will most likely be surfing solo.

I have done fleshin' all surfing since arriving in Aus and I am having major withdrawals but when I move into my flat all that is going to change.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:50 am

I'll PM you.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Wed Jun 09, 2010 10:00 am

Bro, thank you so much. That was more than I could have asked for. I will hopefully see out there one day to thank you personally :D but I think during winter I am going to be hard pressed surf during the week :(

Hopefully I will be able to dust off the boards this weekend finally and get back out in the water. Ohh Aloha one more question (s), are there any good surf shops around the area, that do fairly cheap repair jobs for dings and dents etc (when flying back over here after Grad like 4weeks ago, Air NZ put 2 decent dents in my fish one on the tip of the tail down to the foam and one crack on the rail) and I was also looking to buy a new board (probs 2nd hand but thinking about custom) to suit the aus waves better
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:28 am

No worries.

Yeah the thing is with ding repairs around here is there is usually a minimum spend. So no matter how small the ding is you will pay around $50.

My shaper's warehouse manager gets me a good deal ($20-$30) but I get a lot of boards off him so he'll probably charge you $50. Aloha in Manly, Chaos in Brookvale http://www.chaossurfboards.com/ are quite good but it's a $50 minimum with them.

I only get jobs done when it's really a bad ding that's difficult to repair. Otherwise I just fix it with Solarez, if I get a few more bad dings then I might take it in.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:56 am

Yea mate I hear you. I usually whip out the Solarez too but its on the tail point (of a fish) so want to get it fixed properly just to be safe.

Buses are all good with you taking your boards on them ay??
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby drowningbitbybit » Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:33 am

Supafly wrote:Buses are all good with you taking your boards on them ay??


Usually, but not when its busy.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:02 am

Hey Aloha,

I took my board to your mate at Chaos to get the ding repaired, ended up having a chat about getting a possible board shaped. I have been looking to get one shaped for a bit, and one that would be more suited to Aus and my skill level. How would you rate his boards??

Also who would be some other good shapers to check out in the area?
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:09 am

Chaos are pretty good and well known in the area and must be within walking distance of you :-D.
Most of the other shapers are all in Mona Vale on Darley St.
Other popular local names are
http://www.haydenshapes.com/
http://www.psillakissurfboards.com.au/ (if you ever see two identical guys absolutely killing it at Long Reef then that'll be his sons)
http://www.ochresurf.com/

You might want to ask this question on http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/index.php as I've only been living here for 5-6 years.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Aloha » Fri Jul 16, 2010 5:53 am

I just want to say sorry for talking up winter in Sydney. It's been terrible this year! Autumn had a couple of good days but it looks like I jinxed Winter..... :(
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby Supafly » Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:42 am

Hahahaha yea tell me about it. However because of work I have become a weekend warrior during winter, so BRING ON SUMMER and the crowds :shock: but at least it wont be completely dark by the time I get home.
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby volcomism » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:53 am

:claps: Thanks for the info in this thread!

I'm moving to Sydney from Santa Cruz, CA on October 12th and couldn't be more stoked. I surfed Manly, Dee Why, and Bondi on my last trip there and the breaks alone made the decision to head out easy enough.

I'd like to live closer to CBD, but getting to the breaks on public transportation is going to be killer. I'll probably settle down on the beach at Manly or Bondi.

I learned how to surf an 8'6 and 9'4 Longboard here at Pleasure Point a few years ago, and I'm going to try to transition into getting a shortboard or maybe a hybrid of sorts. Any tips or pointers?

Any suggestions now that you've had a few months in?
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby drowningbitbybit » Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:10 am

Bondi to the CBD - EASY!! :D
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Re: Moving to Sydney

Postby volcomism » Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:46 am

I found the break at Manly to be a bit fun (it was about 5-7ft that day). I really didn't get a chance to surf Bondi entirely. It was windy and completely blown out, so I really can't judge it. The only catch is my girl goes to Macquarie (Lane Cove) and would be staying over a bit. Cityrail says she's pretty much an 1h20m away from either break. That sound about right?
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