penong localism

Heard lots of stories but never seen anything with my own eyes. Personal experience has been nothing but friendly in that neck of the woods.

I'm with Ben, most are welcoming and if you bring the right attitude, ie rock up with just you, or one other person max, don't drop in, hassle or snake and don't pull back on waves you'll be fine.

I met another guy from QLD a couple of years ago who didn't follow some of these simple rules and found himself getting a short talking to, but that was it.

couple of psycho chooks spoils the roost

Agree with Craig and Ben - never really had an issue in 16 years of going there. Closest I have come is a few stern words after surfing Spoggies one day but that's about it. There's some bald guy that used to 'live' just up the track from Martin that still likes to send people in at Cactus if they can't surf as well as a guy called Bruce that doesn't mind a bit of chit chat every now and again but they are both pretty harmless. Most of the old enforcers are either dead or in their 60's now anyway. Every now and again you will get a local will a belly full of piss trying to borrow a board but they are easily distracted.

Had a few runins with Sharky..who use to go out of his way to be a dickhead on occasions but not worth mentioning...all the rest of the crew were pretty good...Does Jessie, Spider (dont call him spider), Sonny ect still live there?..herd Ronny wasnt well, but is hanging in there.

Amb, nearly 2 years ago Ronny didn't look the best and was appeared frail and weak, but he was still out surfing. A more recent trip back there though saw him looking much healthier and stronger, so hopefully he'son the right track.

Sonny is still there in the carpark fixing dings but I didn't see him surfing at all. Martin is also still there in his little nook and goes out for a knee board when it's empty. How long has he been living there for?

Lots of characters out that way though and always good to go there with an open mind and hear other peoples stories from around the country while watching the surf on the beach, resting between sessions.

Actually haven't done many Cactus trips in the last 15 years - always focused further south on the peninsula. Just those couple of extra hours on the road that always make me turn off earlier. Still, there are plenty of uncrowded spots away from the main towns. Even the most popular breaks are surfed near-empty mid week and away from the holiday periods.

From maddogmorley:

You know it's going to be a good day when you see Sunny's Kombi parked at Caves at dawn. More recently though i've seen him out on his SUP and I actually saw him get barrelled on the thing at inside Castles last year or the year before! Rumour has it SUP's are now banned from Caves now which is a good thing.

Not sure about Martin knee boarding - think you might be getting confused because he has a bad back and takes forever to get to his feet so it does look like he's knee boarding. When he does finally get to his feet though he can still surf alright. Only ever seen him out when it's PERFECT.

Reckon Martin has been living there 5 years at least - possibly more. He's got a classic tale about how him and Ronny cooked up a story for Centerlink cause they used to hassle him a lot about never being able to find a job out at Cactus. Went along the lines of him saying he had job prospects but they couldn't be ageist about it (he's 60+) and of course they said "No, No - we wont' be ageist' so he said with a straight face that he wanted to be a professional surfer and living out at Cactus gave him the best opportunity to do that. Now they just leave him alone and as he told me 'Where else can I live on the beach for $65 a week?. Can't see him going anywhere in a hurry. Plus he's now got a magnifying glass mounted to his caravan table so he sit on the lounge and watch fox sports streaming to his flip phone mounted to the wall in wide screen!

Ronny was looking a lot better last year - he had an episode on the way back from a trip to Mexico I believe but is definately on the mend and still surfs Caves. He's now putting in some septics up there and last year we helped push his new 50,000 litre rainwater tanks to the top of the hill near his house only to watch them get blown 2km over the road to the jetty and into the next paddock the very next night when a freak storm hit. The whole camp site got flattened in 20mins and me mate was hiding up in the rafters of the A-frame it was so wild. That place gets some of the freakiest weather i've ever seen. Never a dull moment out there that's for sure.

septics are in with roof's on and everything. Cactus has changed alot since the early days,with all sorts of litigation and legal stuff being threatened. Can't getaway with any old school respect teaching anymore. Did here a story not long ago about a couple of guys who were being dickheads in the general area. Didn't take long for word to get out their car got waxed with "fuck off wankers" in a melting mess and they soon found their tent in a smouldering heap when they got back to camp. have to be along trip back with their tail between their legs..

Ronnie has spent a bucket load of money out there in recent times. Septics and actual flushing toilets make the desert experience just that little more "homely" you might say. The shelters constructed over these toilets are highly architectural in design. Sunny is SUP'ing really well. Enjoyed a little session with just three of us out recently. Pulls up in his little corner at Caves, paddles across to Castles and then up to Cactus and back again. If SUP'ing can get those older guys back into surfing a few more waves out there then i'm all for it. Moose was out surfing Caves. Doing a lot of paddling and sitting but not catching many (think he finds it harder to get to his feet these days). Had a nice session with Ronnie. He's still surfing well and the new toilets are making his job a little easier. There's still a couple of "local" guys up that way with an attitude; like the world owes them everything. Spending more than 4-5 days out there starts do to my head in so can only imagine the effect living out there permanently will do for someone's soul. On my last trip out there late last month one of the schizophrenic locals pulled up in the Caves carpark yahooing and doing burnouts only to realise it was 4am in the morning and not paddle-out time.

Yeah, made that mistake a few times too Victor!

I had the same experience when I took my mum there some years ago. A close family friend had died over there and after the funeral I convinced mum to come to Cactus for a few days. It was a strange feeling in contrast to the usual cool reception you get out that way to have the older locals pouring on the charm and combing their hair etc.

I heard that there was a proposal to make Cactus a surfing reserve like Angourie, Margs etc. I also heard there was resistance to this amongst a few Penong crew - I am guessing due to a perception it will make the area more well known and more heads in the water than there currently is now. I'm pretty sure its well known anyway, and the line up on the premier wave there on a good day is fairly busy between 8 and 11ish anyway just from local crew (after that the pub starts calling em). The main thing keeping people from visiting, staying out there for extended periods or moving there is its remoteness and harshness. These factors wont change from making the place a surfing reserve, just help protect it more. There'll always be visitors but 99% of people are ready to leave after a week or two after swallowing the obligatory kilo of bush protein (flies)...
I was at Angourie a few weeks ago and had a 1.5hr afternoon surf at the point 3-4ft by myself on Australia Day, moderate cross shore SE wind but hitting the bowl nicely and clean faces as it wrapped into the wind. The surfing reserve there hasnt adversely affected the crowd factor there that I have noticed if you like finding sneaky uncrowded windows of opportunities - I suspect this would be the same over west.

I was out at cactus once when a mob formed on the hill and a local started firing a shotgun, He was warning us that the 15ft. Great white that had just attacked sharky at Castles was heading straight for us.The heaviest locals eat you.The next few days the surf pumped but no one ventured in.Jack the shark fisho had baited the whole bay to catch the offending fish. Next day a few of us were out at C----and same thing,gun shots and mob on rocks, the five of us shat ourselves as the unmistakable silhouette of a huge noah cruised through the 5' wave standing up in front of us.By the time we got changed Jack was tying the tail of a shark to the mast of his boat. He took it around to the jetty put a few shots into its head for good measure and we all hauled it up onto the jetty. Moose rocks up with the remnants of sharkbaits board and declares that the jaws fit the bite marks perfectly.They got the bastard.

we towed cavatys a few times victor and i know shit can get pretty distorted by the time it gets away from the westcoast into hands like yours!!...the time we towed it and did the "badlands book" with laurie, pete tomlinson.a californian lad,. josiah and stu gibbo, moose was gunna come out with us but sumthn came up and he wasnt at the beach in the morning and then never got out there in his gannet as he wanted to. He was trippn that we got to surf it and that it was a serious slab that he had known about for a long time and was frothn on it as far as i could tell....he wasnt into skis at caves tho and why would you generally.....i'd like to tow it maxn 8ft with SE on it....itd be fun and there would be no one out....but all them days are takn up getn shacked behind the rock at indicators coz we cant be bothered drivn to sideshore caves!!! makes sense?? one day we'll get it wen indys gets too crowded with all these skis on the westcoast now....So crowded!!

haha victor cesar botha......the shit that gets dribbled on a boat trip. Only ever done one and we still talk about it!...u knw wot??? while they are talkn bout you they not talkn bout me. Another thing is if you lend someone 20 bucks and you never see them again it's not necessarily a bad thing. As far as towing caves i never knew you couldnt tow there?? As a matter of fact there was only one wave that couldnt be towed in SA that i know of and that was the island. Well thats changed now as well and i assure you that the coast is clear in SA for towing and thats all we may be doing in a few years because the last shark boats are leaving now for vicco and I assure you we will kill no more pointers in SA so get ready for the population explosion....Better get a ski now!!!.....cant believe i can type!!! not bad eh??

we towed cavatys a few times victor and i know shit can get pretty distorted by the time it gets away from the westcoast into hands like yours!!...the time we towed it and did the "badlands book" with laurie, pete tomlinson.a californian lad,. josiah and stu gibbo, moose was gunna come out with us but sumthn came up and he wasnt at the beach in the morning and then never got out there in his gannet as he wanted to. He was trippn that we got to surf it and that it was a serious slab that he had known about for a long time and was frothn on it as far as i could tell....he wasnt into skis at caves tho and why would you generally.....i'd like to tow it maxn 8ft with SE on it....itd be fun and there would be no one out....but all them days are takn up getn shacked behind the rock at indicators coz we cant be bothered drivn to sideshore caves!!! makes sense?? one day we'll get it wen indys gets too crowded with all these skis on the westcoast now....So crowded!!

By: "jeff-schmucker"

Funny how there is 2 sides to every story, cause I got told just about the opposite to Jeffs said, while at caves one day.
Gee wiss, crowded with Jet Skis, 10 years on writing tourist brochures on towing in on the west coast will do that.

@jeff " the last shark boats are leaving now for vicco "

g'day Jeff glad to hear from ya..are they leaving due to the seal/sealion numbers being capped? & are you going or staying?.

supers will get towed wen its big...already has been before...i'm surprised no one tows it now...if i lived there i'd be towing it for sure....i never seen anyone surf it...the bommies dwn clare bay are sik too...the only reason theres no skis in penong is coz they cost ya plenty of dollars!!! there is one ski owned by paul which lives in lincoln and is dominating a new wave down there called windmills....someone was on that ski the other day telling us to fuk off back to streaky?? i coulndt believe it....good for the young fellas to show some balls!!! they should stop wearing life jakets wen its six foot tho!! that blows their cover!!! Hey AMB the 1-2 sealions have been reached...therefore the zones will be closed to GILLNETTING only for 18 months....we are n our way to vicco....i heard about a certain left in the entrance of Pt phillip bay that you can tow when the tides screeching out so we goin to check it out.....iv'e only seen 1 or 2 guys paddle all day but its possible to tow all day in a wide variety of conditions...oh and SHAUN have you tried towing?? you might be able to book a cupl lessons on that tourist ski brochure and have a try?? i'm sure you will like it!!! wish i was in the carpark at caves that day! shaun i cant believe you can mention the name of the sacred spot on here.

@jeff "the 1-2 sealions have been reached" is that per license or for all fisho's?..either way its rediculous there seems to 100's of em around..State Govt again making it hard for small business & victoria says thanksyou very much (again!).

Hey Shmucho! When was the last time you paddled? By the looks of that pot belly of yours its been awhile since you've been able to lie on a board without rolling off.

I heard Shadow from streaky wont be shark netting for a while cause he's locked up in Hawaii after doing a nudie run on the north shore and punching out a copper who tried to stop him. He might get two years in the slammer. Anyone have an update on that story? Bummer.

And shaun-haha well said. Ive seen smux towing indicators while people are trying to paddle it and he doesnt give a shit. Greedy. Towing sucks unless its too big to paddle. The best part of surfing is making a big drop. And yes I have towed a bit.

Hey Schmucker,Love your work, your son must be the luckiest prick ever to be born.My old man was an accountant. How about putting some more pics on swellnet, its been awhile.

The Oasis, circa 1980. Best restaurant at Cactus.

haha shaun the prawn and yoke surfa should get a ski together then while they wait for the next set you can whinge to each other....get a smile....you ever seen anyone paddle behind the rock at indys?? we dont steal waves off anyone out there...i know it makes for good whinge material but it is a serious waste of good barrels from behind the rock if no one is towing....as for shadow he's a free man i believe...probably not goin back to the states tho....damm he's got a ski now 2!!

So word has it your moving to Vicco to enroll in clown school in Melbourne, just add size 18 shoes and a big red nose and you have Shmucko the clown, king of the tow-in circus.

No-one goes Whacko like Schmucko.

Ruff!!

No-one goes Whacko like Schmucko.

Ruff!!

By: "zenagain"

Classic!!

Victor, you know this is not real life, it's the internet.

So.. how is Cactus progressing in the National Surfing Reserve list?

This article from 2010 detailed a meeting in Penong to discuss whether they'd push ahead with it.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/09/30/3025941.htm

And the NSR website even lists it as an example in their 'essential criteria' for a National Surfing Reserve: "A place considered sacred by the local and national surfing community (e.g. Cactus, Angourie, Crescent Head)"

http://www.surfingreserves.org/what-is-nsr.php

It's also on the nomination page: http://www.surfingreserves.org/nomination.php

So, where are we at?

Last I heard and it was from Ronnie is that it's all been done and confirmed and all that's left to be done is the official ceremony, which is just a symbolic thing.

haha south u knob...no schmuko schmako its juz plain old krak me an i krak u!! the boys at the wonthaggi plant already ringin me lookn for some scalefish or some crays wen we get in...i dont agree with you about bigger better down there...we see if i come home with the tail between the legs...mixed it up with the roughest in bristol bay AK and come out relatively unscathed...its smart ass pussys like you that get spanked from time to time around the globe...the ones that be cheeky on forums like this that wont put their name to it and squeal wen someone drops in on them!!!seriously tho lighten up!! thats wot this forum is about....penong localism has a familiar ring to "jism" and i'm entitled to my opinion like yu bruz!! bless ya!!

gd ta see pistola backdooring the island on here today...yeeew

Schmocko. spoken like a real christian, you have so many conflicting opinions you must get confused yourself.

now u the judge o faceless one...u musta got pounded as a kid too?? i do get confused juz like you beautiful one! that wat makes life interestn

you dont piss me off by the way...i like to play chess an i bored out here makn money

hey shaun do u like the wotd ?? or does it piss you off that the w.c is overcrowded?

I just wander why Jeff feels the need to exploit the west after all these years of having it to himself and buddies. I have nothing against you personally jeff and you are the only the local with the balls to back it up. Is some of your openness and willingness to discuss what once were 'secret' spots like the island and vb's and cancers etc to do with trying to help your son become a profesional surfer beause your going about it all wrong. It is talent that companies pay money for once it is opened up there is no going back ..Look at my home break of yorkes. As soon as swellnet calls swell every man and his dog come over and then some. Sometimes being loud can have its down falls. Not trying to have a go at you I am sure I'd buy you a beer sometime. Have fun at C.....r!

Jeff has always flown to his own tune from day one. When me and few mates got our licenses and 1st went west, plenty of so called (blowin locals) would resond to a casual "g'day mate" with "fuck off home". Jeff always had a smile, share waves and give advice. You could see he just loved life out west and was happy to share and didnt have much time for dole bludgen grumpy blowin locals. Some of the barrels he got were amazing.
All the best Jeff in VIcco.

Jeez, smuccko it would appear from your last 3 posts you've hit the bottle early on in the day.
Actually, I think it is a smucko impersonator.

when was the last time you encountered a "fuckwit with attitude" in "jeffs' home town", victor?

why oh why ? can someone tell one why once again this has degenerated into threats and the like? the only ray of light as per usual , is one , and as such am obligated to remind youse that one loves youse all and will resort to (fake) threats of his own if youse dont stop squabblin' like youse own the establishment or sumfink! right!!??

now one has despenced with the formallities of admonishment , one does expect a certain amount of decorum from long serving minions and am agast at level as to which some of our esteemed and reviled( in equal parts)contributors will claw their way down to.

the uncoothness of the new contributors is to be expected dear followers it behoves us in bigwaynes wonderful world to not imbue our knowledge upon the uneducated .... with me?

this was bought to you by a nearly lost his poddy calves in the floods and nearly could not pay his rates but is okay now HRH bigwayne

settle down cowboys....while we get epic waves,as is so often the case on surf trips on swc, the trips we have are really made by the LOCALS we meet, the times we shared and watching others get barrells. That and the fact that the threat of our car tyres were going to get slashed never became reality...maybe we were lucky and someone was looking after us and gave us a pass to surf with them until we could surf no more....tube ater tube after tube with the handy and efficient(shall i mention) "jetskis". smux n crew who are always keen for waves and knowledgeable about the ocean and everything in it. Hes(smux)is a true and passionate LOCAL and a really good surfer and always frothing to get us barreled... onya smux....it doesnt get any more perfect than the swc, but before you get to excited, have a good look at how much deep,dark water is surrounding these waves, and that water aint empty....