There were many way out of their depth In Byron Bay Today

Well there was definitely a little less rain than yesterday, but it was still a tad damp In Byron Bay Today. There are a lot of folks getting around town at the moment espousing how weird this weather is. But when all is said and done, Byron bay is pretty much sub-tropical, which can mean heavy rain at times. We’ve seen this all before. The waves aren’t huge, but it is heavy and messy right now. Most are giving it a miss. But the hire board crew keep fronting up and just get slammed or swept down the bay. Can’t help but wonder where’s the duty of care, when boards are hired out to complete novices in conditions like this?

Who knows, no doubt it’s an issue that will come up one day. Anyway, there’s plenty of messy east swell and there’s actually some inviting looking sections. Problem is the sweep doesn’t let you get to them. Oh well it’s great weather for ducks, In Byron Bay Today.

Waves, yes there’s swell In Byron Bay Today

Congratulations, it’s bouncing baby south swell, yes folks the new swell arrived without any complications In Byron Bay Today.  Well actually it started to arrive yesterday, which just proves I wasn’t mad, well at least I wasn’t mad yesterday. But who knows what the future holds. The new swell arrived and the town is all abuzz again. Now some describe Byron as a new age hippy retreat. Others think of it as a party town. Then there’s the rich and shameless who think of Byron as the new must go hep scene. Call it what you like, but those who have been here long enough will tell you. Byron is a surfing town, when the swells dead so is the town. When the sea comes to life, the bay begins to pulse to the rhythm of the ocean. You can feel it as you drive through town. The energy is almost palpable when there are waves. Traffic increases, people get speedy and all the crew are talking in hushed tones about where it may be working today. So here we are, it’s freezing, the sun is out and there’s new southerly swell lines sweeping past the cape. It brings energy, change and a hint of promise to all, In Byron Bay Today.

Sometimes you just got to go, in Byron Bay Today.

Welcome to the In Byron Bay Today Weekend Windup. What an radical week it’s been. I mean seriously we’ve had it all. Storms, radical tides, huge swells, destructive wind and then the exact opposite, calm quiet and tiny swell. We got  blessed with some classic barrels. The crew were excited and hoping it would last a few days. But it was a flash in the pan; it was all over in a matter of hours. But we’re a resilient mob here In Byron bay and some of us old salts will surf just about anything, with no more rationale for it than the idea of just getting wet. After all, surfing is meant to be about having fun. And fun was in plentiful supply as the end of the week saw small but utterly perfect logger waves slide on into the bay. The only sign of there ever being a storm at all was the dune erosion and the deep copper coloured water.  This week has been massive we’ve all had to face destructive winds, floods, massive tides and swell. Yet it all fell back into perspective as the week rolled on, revealing itself as just another big event lived the way we do it here. One day at a time, In Byron Bay Today.

looking for something to surf In Byron Bay Today

Our hopes that it may just blow over and provide some swell were dashed In Byron Bay Today. The Bureau of Meteorology has upgraded the flood watch to a Flood Warning and the weather warnings have been upgraded from Gale Force to Storm Force. You can add to that torrential rain, dangerous wind gusts, damaging seas and higher usual tides with predictions of tidal inundation on low lying land. Hmm I’ve seen this pattern before. The tide comes up the rivers, the howling easterly prevents the outgoing tide from making it all the way back out before the next high comes in on top of it. Add a storm surge to that and it could get real ugly up here over the next 24 – 48 hours. The Goldy copped it today, some poor bloke got taken out by a window blown out from a high rise. You never know when. And it’s flooding everywhere up there. To which indignity we gotta add the fact that the swell is getting bigger but the wind is far too strong to even consider surfing it. It made for some interesting moments, while I was out and about try to get some shots in the rain. But really when all’s said and done it’s a mess up here right now. Next week is looking to be sweet, but right now it’s no much fun In Byron Bay Today

Ooooops caught a rail In Byron Bay Today

Last day of the Easter weekend and it’s pissing down In Byron Bay Today. Anybody out there tired of the rain yet? I know there’s not much point whining about it, It’s not like we can make it stop. But geez Huey it’s pretty moist here in the bay. Really though, anyone that’s been here long enough  knows Easter + Byron Bay = Rain. It’s an equation that’s rarely wrong. You’ve only got to look at all the street hawkers selling box loads of gumboots to the Bluesfest punters, to figure it out.  Why does it seem to nearly always rain at Easter, who knows? One could say it’s seasonal, but the date of Easter changes every year. Maybe it’s Huey’s strange sense of humour just drenching the Bluesfest repeatedly for laughs. Perhaps it’s a chemtrail conspiracy from evil reptilian hipster gumboot manufacturer’s hell bent on world mudination. Whatever it is, no doubt it’ll pass. The sun will shine again, the silt will settle and the water will clear up. But until then enjoy the differing colours and moods on offer, after all life would be pretty boring if it were always postcard perfect In Byron Bay Today.

Big and nasty and wet, it was In Byron Bay Today

It was just a tad dryer in the lineup than it was on land In Byron Bay Today. Yes indeedy it was pissing down all day in the bay. Now if you saw a real tall bloke, with a big bright yellow head and a very long straight nose, kinda like a long tall funky coloured elephant man. You’re not hallucinating. It was just me strolling around with a bright yellow sailing jacket draped over my melon. With a  lens jammed up the sleeve to keep the equipment dry while pulling a few shots. It didn’t stop raining and it never got any lighter than twilight. So it’s been a tricky shoot at best. But shoot we did, and photos we do have, even if they are grainy from peering through a curtain of water. The swell was big, really big. It’s hard to get a perspective on the larger waves as nobody was willing to take off on them. Or perhaps they couldn’t, as there was a howling offshore wind charging up the face. Frankly I’m surprised there were many folks in the water at all. As it really wasn’t that good, the swell’s lumpy; the rain’s heavy and the wind’s strong. But it sure was a spectacle worth watching In Byron Bay Today.

The swell peaked early today, Mix that up with a king tide, and well, let’s just say our sandbanks got slammed. There’re  troughs and gutters all over the place. Even though there’s plenty of swell, the shape of the waves leaves ain’t so hot. It’s going to take a few days for the sand to settle down enough to see which banks have gone, and what new ones have appeared. As far as today in the bay goes, well it was wet, windy and there was a constant rumbling from the surf. I know this weather is bad news for a lot of folks. Yet I just can’t help but be inspired by it. There’s something about storm surf that makes me feel very much alive yet extremely humble about that fact at the same time. For me and many others, today was laced with a sense of raw energy. As we went about our business feeling small in the face of Mother Nature as she made her presence felt In Byron Bay Today.