Adam Lewis traded his usual winter haunts for Western Australia this year and wasn’t disappointed with his decision! Read on as he brings us his tips for a successful trip down under and how he fell in love with the place and its people.

Words  Adam Lewis  //  Photos  Adam Lewis, John Carter

Originally published within the June ’18 edition.

After a slightly unsuccessful trip to Cape Town the previous winter, my ability to pick a quality winter trip for both a surfer and windsurfer hung precariously in question. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cape Town, it’s easily one of the most beautiful places in the world. But bumpy, impressively busy and blown out waves had left both my partner Lucy and I looking for something more. Would the wilds of West Australia be the answer? Both of us have pretty hectic schedules through the summer, so the winters are really the only sustained period of time that we get to spend together, adding if anything a little more pressure to the situation. On paper Western Australia seemed to have it all, if a little risky with the prospect of forgoing the creature comforts of a big house with a hot tub in Cape Town for a small van and life on the road in W.A. However even during planning, it felt like a dream trip.

FLYING
Flying with windsurf gear to Australia looked tricky not to get stung with excess charges. Some companies let you fly pretty easily with 2 x 23 kilo bags, which if you only wanted to bring one board and a few sails would be fine. But having broken all of my masts in the first week the previous time in Australia, I was determined to bring enough spares this time! A slightly more cunning solution was needed. So after a lot of searching I found some flights with China Southern Airlines; I’d never heard of them, but the stopover was short and more importantly you could fly with a “golf” bag for free and extra windsurf bags were only around £100 per bag. Having priced up my baggage with Qatar at around £650, £100 a bag seemed like a steal, although a little risky as you can’t pre-book and have to pay on the day.

VAN
Lucy was in the Philippines when I arrived in Perth, so it left me with a couple of weeks to source a van and kit it out for our time on the road. There are a lot of options in West Oz, you can hire a plain panel van, a campervan or, as we did, buy a van and kit it out. I guess it boils down to time. It’s probably going to take at least a week to sort the van and get on the road; if you’ve got the time, it’s a fun project. I used Gumtree to find the van, there’s a huge choice on there, so after a few days searching I’d found a good looking 2000 Ford Econovan with fewer k’s than the rest and a decent price. Most go for the slightly more trustworthy Hiace from Toyota, but on a budget the Ford was the best choice, they are cheap and there is an abundance of parts across Australia. Kitting it out was pretty straightforward. A top tip is to build the bed frame and legs at your desired height, then head to Ikea for the bed slats to support the mattress. It’s a lot cooler and the same price as the standard plywood platform and after a month of sailing your back will thank you. Probably the next top tip/essential would have to be a solar panel and fridge. There is a company called Super Cheap Auto and as the name would suggest their solar panel kits are cheap but the performance is anything but. This little addition transformed the van; suddenly wherever you go an ice cold beer was ready after sailing. Heaps of fresh veggies and no more dinners of pasta and tomato sauce that are the normal fare for a van trip. Oh last top tip, get a 12 volt fan, running off the solar panel powered spare battery, those hot nights on the road were bliss with the fan! Again we got that from Super Cheap Auto, which along with Gumtree proved to be invaluable when kitting out the van. Probably a little obvious, but not to be overlooked, is to get a mechanic to give your prospective van a decent check over. There is no such thing as an MOT in WA, so pretty much as long as you’ve paid the rego (registration), it’s road legal. With the K’s you’ll clock up, getting it checked out is pretty essential.

“ The conditions offer some of the best sailing to be had anywhere in the world. ”

WILDLIFE
Now what about the snakes, sharks and pretty much everything else in Australia that wants to kill you? Well, they are there! I’m pretty terrified of snakes, in fact they bring out a completely (almost) irrational anger. I think within an hour of Lucy arriving we’d accidently run one over as it lay on the warm evening tarmac. This led to me immediately pulling over and very timidly checking the wheel arches and underneath the van as apparently it’s common they find a way into the van and just appear when you least expect it. Thank goodness this wasn’t the case, I have no idea what I would have done if one were there! Lucy thought I’d lost the plot completely and in fact it wasn’t until a chat with a local chap a few days later confirming my suspicions about snakes and vans that she believed me.

ROAD LIFE
Are West Oz trips miles and miles of driving? Yep, they sure are! You’ve got to be prepared to put the hours in, 2 days driving for 2 days sailing is normal – off road, sketchy tracks, the lot! The flies? Yep, they are pretty much all over the place all the time too, a bit of extra crunch with your breakfast in the morning! But personally, after one day of sailing in NW Australia, all the negatives fade away! Long clean walls, section after section, the place goes off!

Living in a van is definitely a sink or swim test of any relationship and you certainly get to know one another very well! But I have to say it’s surprising how quickly you get used to it and how comfortable you become. When we were based around towns we could even train in the gym, normally after a morning surf and before the wind picked up. An old mobile phone loaded with data meant we had Internet wherever we went (although further North you can forget about it). Cooking was fine too; a little gas stove proved its worth and some guys even ran slow cookers off their leisure battery. If you are feeling a bit over the van, splashing out on a higher end campsite will normally provide a nice area to chill out in and a decent kitchen with an oven etc. It wasn’t long before the little van felt like home and the whole of the West Coast became our oyster.

CONDITIONS
The conditions offer some of the best sailing to be had anywhere in the world. The surfing is world class and some of the spots we surfed were empty and pumping, which in this day and age is hard to find. A few spots you’re even happy to see a few faces in the water as some of those exposed reef breaks out on points start to feel a little “fishy” on your own.

I was lucky at the start of the trip, James Broomhead from Severne kindly put me up on his sofa in Perth whilst I was doing the van up and we sailed most afternoons (cheers Milky!). The wavesailing in Perth can be limited, for flat water blasting or freestyle it’s pretty good though. The sea breeze comes in strong but waves are limited thanks to Rottnest Island. This meant heading an hour north to Lancelin. The place can be a little hit and miss. How the wave breaks and how predictable it can be is really affected by the tide. Definitely for the guys that haven’t quite worked the place out it can be a bit of a love/hate relationship. It feels a little like an ocean pass out on the corner of a reef.
The sweep and current is strong, meaning you need to be really powered up in the lagoon to stand a chance on the reef. The wave if you find the right one can really bowl up and offer some of the funnest sections around. It can also however totally disappear, leaving you a little confused as to where on earth the solid lump of swell you’d committed to out back has gone! After a week of sailing I’d got to grips with “Lano” and really enjoyed the sailing.

When the van was finished I headed further north to Geraldton and Coronation beach. “Corro’s” has to be one of the best places for windsurfing in general I’ve ever seen, you can have logo high sets out the back and completely flat further inside. I’ve never been anywhere else that a total beginner all the way to world cup pro and everything between can enjoy the same spot and come off the water revelling in the same amount of stoke. It can get pretty busy, but it’s a big playground so with a bit of upwind or downwind sailing you can normally find a quieter peak.

As the season moved on we headed south towards the famous and equally stunning Margaret river. The surrounding area is really gorgeous and it’s worth spending a few days driving around checking out all the different surf beaches and little cafes and corner stores. The main break rarely gets below logo high but most of the time it offers a big safe channel to escape the unforgiving bowl. Margies is all or nothing, you have to hit the main section if you want anything from the wave as the shoulder offers a big wrapping carve that can get a bit boring after a few waves. Hitting a decent section in Margies is tricky but one of the most rewarding feelings. It’s a heavy wave and the bowl has no problem snapping masts like matchsticks. The beach and parking itself offer one of the best viewing platforms to sit and watch the action on the water, it’s a natural amphitheatre.

I’m pretty lucky with Lucy, probably like most of us she’ll put up with an awful lot if the conditions are pumping. As long as the surf is good, she’s happy. The morning wind can be strong, but it’s normally offshore, grooming those longer interval swells till around 10 or 11. Then it drops before quickly picking up in a more side-shore direction throughout the day until it starts to back off and go more offshore into the evening and night. Pretty much the perfect combination of surf, jumping and epic waveriding.

After 2 weeks camping in the desert it’s safe to say I was in the good books as Lucy scored morning sessions on dreamy reef breaks with hardly anyone out and I had easily some of the best sessions of my year. Sharing stories of the day with a beer or two after the session or back at camp was the icing on the cake. In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever sailed so much and been so tired but still felt so keen to sail more!

PEOPLE
Right from the North West down to the South and around Margaret River the landscape and temperature changes so much it’s incredible. Bone dry deserts to stunning white sand lagoons teeming with aquatic life to lush vineyards. It was really an adventure. One of the standouts of the trip was how friendly everyone was, once we got the van stuck on a sand track and within 5 minutes a guy had stopped, keen as mustard to test out his new winch on his pickup and pull us out. Chatting to people at cafes or on the beach they were genuinely interested in where we’d been and keen to suggest spots or places to check out, happy to loan the use of their showers, driveway or a living room to relax in. Genuinely lovely people and I can’t wait to go back!

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