Unfortunately, when we got to Bells Beach and Winkipop I didn’t have the right equipment to take full advantage of the conditions that we encountered. I was all psyched up ready to attempt a session at another premier Australian big wave location, I felt my preparation over at Yalingup and Margaret River would stand me in good stead for whatever was on offer, although I was worried, quite rightly as it turned out, that my board wouldn’t handle these breaks. What I should have had with me was a speed boat and a set of water skis. I was so disappointed. Bells and Winkipop were absolutely dead flat and remained that way for the entire time we were in the area.
At the end of the Great Ocean Road, just before Geelong, is a quiet little beach town called Barwon Heads and that’s where we stopped for lunch. This is where the ABC series Seachange was filmed so we thought here rather than Geelong would be a better spot to eat. Such a good spot to eat it was that we decided to stay on and eat there for another 5 days. Yet another place we would love to live and yet another place we can only describe using clichéd superlatives. And the locals were so friendly. When a small swell finally did arrive there were quite a few breaks to choose from and they were all really good. And again, even in the water, the locals were really friendly. Probably the cruisiest, lay back break I’ve ever surfed and so I had a ball. By the end of my surf there, the locals I’d been out with were telling me where their favourite “secret” spots were and even offered to meet me there. Barwon Heads was the exact opposite of Denmark, WA. The good twin to the Denmark evil twin. The Denmark in some fairy dust sprinkled parallel universe. So, in case you hadn’t worked it out yet, I really, really liked Barwon Heads, was very reluctant to leave after our five days there and if I was forced to move to Victoria at gunpoint, I could probably learn to be happy at Barwon Heads.