How Does It Feel??-Melburnians returning to the coast.

Welcome back Melbourne crew. They did the right thing re lockdown. That deserves respect.

Obviously its been less crowded, but something im going to miss is just the vibe.

During lockdown it's just been a real cool community type vibe in the water and carpark, ive been seeing guys i havent seen in the water for years and talking to guys i normally wouldn't.

I think i will skip surfing weekends for a while now, going fishing tomorrow instead.

Hasn't been any less crowded in my opinion.
First sign of a decent bank and its at full capacity.

Actually its been more crowded ! Lots of crew with time on their hands and job keeper in their pocket

Yeah for sure

Heaps of regional crew took surfing up in the lockdown time, definite learner bias in the funboards and mals. It was quieter on the roads and at the shops, like it was 10 years ago. But once region opened up, beach scene got busy, like a decent summer time weekday.

Melbourne being able to come down hasn't really hit so far? Weekend starts tomorrow and 29 so we will see. Some city surfers must have come down, I've been enjoying watching them get waves as much as my own. Welcome back, nice wave that one was.

Btw well done everyone in Melbourne, thank you, you did really well.

Not gonna lie, the drive down to the coast last week on Monday was a glorious one, as well as the feeling paddling out. Didn't bother with the wkend due to what I thought the crowds would be like, but will be aiming for dawn surfs during this week for sure.

:)

In fact the whole thing had me like a kid on Christmas eve l. Packing the car up last Sunday night I was skipping round the house, setting the alarm for the early wake-up then struggling to get to sleep as too excited, the solo drive down in the darkness with tunes going in the car, waxing the board up in the carpark. Loved every second of it and really soaked it all in.

That's awesome. Did that many a time from Perth to Margs growing up... 3hr drive and you are first out; the light coming over the land, the smell of the scrub, you suit up and paddle out alone, then a dolphin breaches right next to you!

The weekend before the opening, my son dragged me out in the 3-4ft windswell just to give it a last bash and the waves were spaced really close together, peaky too with lots of getting cleaned up before quite punchy rides. No one else was really bothering, and it was a workout. A bookend of sorts to a really weird time with all the lockdowns. My building goal for the lockdown was complete and working by this last weekend, so that was like the end of an intense time of learning and constructing too. I forgot to restock the fridge back in March, so no beer to celebrate it just yet (I'm not much of a drinker).
In the meantime we've been trying to get the session/peak amid a lull the numbers, which is kind of like life back to normal. DX3, did you end up coming to a decision on moving/staying?

Yeh VJ it's looking likely we'll move out of the burbs, however need some heat to come out of the covid-impacted property market and a few more options to pop up, listings numbers are pretty light everywhere still also.
Hoping that a few folk start to forget the winter just gone a bit and think the city ain't too bad once you can do more things again and they ease off their regional property search. Right now everyone is still frothing to move out of the city it seems so paying overs to do so.

Ah yes, this is the bit where you start dropping gems in conversation like "How good is the Australian open?" "I love the MCG at finals time," "Where else do we have access to such good coffee in such a small area," "How could we live without such good fashion so close," "Interior design in the regions is barbaric,"- just bide your time...

I can very much relate to all of that in your first post Dx3. So good!

I made the most of my first week. Got an AirBnb with a mate on PI Mon - Fri, then headed a few hours west of CBD for Sat night and Sunday.

A lot of good waves and also having fun paddling out in really shitty conditions too.

10 surfs in my first week. Won't be able to keep that up but a good start!

That’s unreal

Hi Indo....I just read this and thought you might appreciate this , as it proves Dark Emu , is factually correct ....in my old stomping ground......what were our ancestors in Europe doing in 4,500Bc
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/more-ancient-wonders-reveale...

Great to hear guys, all that ritual and excitement after time out of the water is one bonus of being deprived.

And Brutus, that's excellent!

That's fascinating, Brutus. Cheers. Incredible what was being done so long ago.

Hi Brutus

Nobody disputes many aspects of Dark Emu, i dont think anyone has every disputed fish traps or basic stone huts?

No one has every said the whole book is fiction, what people dispute is certain aspects or claims made that have no evidence to back them up or take a line from a journal and interpret it in some manner that its obviously not written in and try to join dots based on nothing more than a wishful imagination or actually worse ignore opposing views of recorded history.

The whole Dark Emu debunked website is full of articles clearly debunking many things, much of which i really can't see how anyone can even argue with them, like just showing you the original text that his ideas are based on. (in one case something he claims is not even in the book at all)

Anything related to history or science should be scrutinised sorting fact from fiction, or at the very least being clear what is a theory and what is actually known as supported with proper evidence, but unfortunately these days things like politics can get in the way i guess.