29th April to 6th of May
Flew into Fiji with a very promising swell forecast. Got to the Island, organised the room and boards set up. Surfed every day, most days a morning and arvo session. Had Namotu from a gutless 2-3ft on the first day to a pretty solid 6-maybe 8ft later in the week. Got Cloud Break at 3-4ft and 4-6ft, both amazing sessions and then scored Restaurants at 3ft the first time to a solid 4ft+ later. All on a SUP except for 4 shorty surfs.
Swimming pools at 3-4ft was the big surprise, I wasn't expecting much from that wave but it definitely produced some really fun waves with 5 in the water. Worth checking if the wind is light.
If you have wife and kids head to Plantation Island, a really nice spot for the family. If you want to party and talk to single girls then maybe stay home and go to ya local. I left the wife at home so all we could do was focus on surfing.
This was the best trip ever (for me) but we were very lucky with the swell and wind
Packed 1989 Toyota "Hiace" taxi...or so the badge said!
Best Iced Coffee I've ever had at Port Denarau while waiting for the ferry.
Getting on the boat for the first surf trip...no wind! (Actually I think this was day 2)
Looking back at Plantation Island resort
Water was warm and crystal clear!
Namotu Lefts
Got some waves with Downwinder.
Was a fun surf and a good introduction for what was to come!
Back to the room for some duty free and then off to the bar
The bar...cos Darren has a bad back he finds it more comfortable if he holds a drink in each hand.
Soko...The best waitress on the island.
The more I drink the more my left eye closes!
Then things start getting weird..she was tough but no match.
Then the magic mud drink...
Tastes really good...yeah right.
Got Swimming Pools real fun again with no wind. Water started moving around
a fair bit and the surfers struggled to stay in position. Meant I got plenty of waves.
Had some lunch and was off for the arvo sesh.
Arvo session at Cloud Break. 4ft, no wind and about 15 guys spread out.
Apparently in the morning there were about 60 guys in the water.
Was probably the funnest surf ever. Got a couple from the point all the way through to almost
the tower. I found out that down the line about 2ft bigger, was much hollower, faster and soooooo good. Spent the rest of the session there with only Daz, me and another guy.
The swell and wind picked up the following day. Cloud Break.
Looks awesome.. You lucky buggar Brendon.. 
It must be nice being back in Melbourne with rain, hail and snow on the hills predicated for tomorrow.. 
DJ
Nice one!
Sets were solid 8ft+ with 12ft+ bombs coming through and cleaning up everyone in the line-up.
Photo's don't do it justice. I wasn't going to SUP it so decided to paddle over to the shoulder
and get some shots before a MASSIVE set almost took the boats out on the moarings. So I
was quickly back in the boat. Apparently the arvo was 12 to 15ft. The next day the boats were
all sitting 100m wide of the shoulder after a few near misses.
Anyway...so we went back to Restaurants for some epic waves. Here's a little sequence
I took the shortboard out and got a handful. I hadn't surfed a shorty for over 12 months and man
the first couple were sketchy. Arm flailing everywhere, all wobbly but I got it together after a couple.
As the tide dropped and the surfers started leaving the swell grew maybe 1 to 2ft so I got the
SUP out and surfed it for about an hour. I rekon I got 20 waves for sure with 5 other guys.
Due to the sweep (back out) you would pull off and be out the back within maybe a minute.
It started to suck dry off the reef but it was soooooo good it was hard to leave. That was my
new best surf ever! Sooo consistent and predictable I can see why it's Kelly's favorite.
Back to the bar after a big day.
Fun times!
This was the re charge room where we slept almost every minute we weren't surfing, eating or drinking
Garden Bure 323
Instant crowd towards the end, but all good blokes except the front right.
Thanks FIJI...my best holiday ever!
Saw Kelly surf Restaurants and BIG Cloud Break.
Then bumped into him at the Malolo Island Airport when I was going to the mini mart...sounded like he was flying out to film this.
Looks really good Brendan.
Looking forward to your first dip in Bass Strait, now that you are back?
WOW! Looks like you had a great time. Cloudbreak at 15ft would have scary even from the boat - which is where I would have been.
Some great shots there and it looks like you had an epic holiday. Did you see DW in the water at all?
Thanks for sharing.
Yep Bnaccas Fiji's the ants pants I love the place Had fun Cloudbreak all afternoon today 4ft and there's a new swell on the way. Next time you come to Fiji, come stay on Namotu been catching BULK yellow fin. How's this for an idiot the Lifeguard from Tavarua had to leave the island last Wednesday as he got punched in the head from trying to tune one of the guests girlfriend and his daughter young people just never learn.
Wow great shots looks like you scored some serious waves , how good does the resort look , thanks for posting the pics still drooling. I'm back to Fiji again at Christmas with the family , going to have to check that place out. How did the Coreban Nitro go in the big stuff.
How was Kelly's barrel at the end of that vid
That reef has to be taken pretty seriously when the tide drops. It was sucking dry
towards the end of the session.
Yep definitely agree with , been back from Fiji 4 weeks now and still healing . The reef is razor sharp.
Nice account of your trip Naccas.
Really enjoy closing my eyes and pretending I'm there.
You and DJ might both qualify for a Vicco Wakely Award with that standard of journalism!!
Piros, a friend of a friend came home with a very similar picture on his back. But he also might have broken his
hip (I haven't heard since the xrays) but he got smashed over cloud break on the big day.
I got a bit scratched up on Maui years ago and if I get really stressed or over worked it seems to become
aggravated again. Anyone know whats going on there? It turned into a nasty sea ulcer at the time.
I usually run the Jamie Mitchell fins
in it but when it was big they had to much drive and it bounced around a bit.
Yeah I found exactly the same thing with the JM's in the Lithium 8-11 , if you look at this pic you can see by the end of the session the JM rear was at the front of the box as it would make the board bounce on the bottom turn , the base width of the front fins is just too wide for the board plus they are too big. The stock set was far better but still just lacked that bit of bite in the meaty sections. That's why we had the stock centre right back. Hunting for that extra grip. The stock set is pretty well right for 85% of your surfing
Paid a visit to the boys at the Futures warehouse on the Goldie and this is what we came up with (second photo).We put in a Futures 6" rear and the SG's in the front (Super Grom's). The standard centre rear on the Coreban has a real bulbus front and no flex the future rear is a about a 1" longer with the same rake and base width with a finer entry and nice tip flex. The SG's height and width are a touch bigger and much stiffer than the stock 350 plastics. I really found this set up gave alot more flow and controlled drive/speed out of the turns. After a fews waves I bumped up the Futures 6" to half way in the box and that was the sweet spot.
Both the Nitro 8-5 and Lithium 8-11 have similar outline and tail width so I reckon this will work well on the Nitro.
Apologies for the thread Hi-Jack. Re the scars yeah I started to ulcerate couldn't keep out of the water , it's sealed up now bit I have a very nice Fiji tattoo for life.
Here's a little clip of Restaurants...no sound for some reason and quality a bit poor but give you a
good look at the wave. Seemed to barrel more at mid tide.
great stories and action photos Brendan of your surf trip, pity there was no footage of your SUP paddling technique and facial expressions when the horizon turned grey at cloudbreak 12ft +......good for a laugh....now----(then..farrrk)
Hey MJ, yeah there would have been some "sh!t myself" facial expressions when that set can through.
I didn't take my paddle though, thought I'd just prone paddle so I didn't have to worry about the paddle
when I was getting the photo's. That quickly turned to horror and I've never paddled so fast in my life.
Camera in mouth cos I didn't have time to put it back in the pocket and paddling sort "Road Runner" style
like in the cartoon. That should draw a good picture for you!
Hey Brendan
looks like you got what you were looking for, was wondering how much it cost to stay at plantation because those boat fees would sure add up if you had only 2 x surfs a day, good pics mate cant wait to get back there again, getting caught inside big Cloudbreak would be a nightmare too
Warrdy,
The trip cost me 1840 which included flights, accom, all meals and a $200 voucher for drinks etc.
LOTS of drinks, food from the mini mart, some watersports, internet and 9 surfs over 6 days ended
up costing me $842fj ($458) so it was a pretty cheap trip.
Total $2300 - plus duty free booze and perfume for the wife!
It felt like a lot at the time and 2 trips a day would definitely add up over say 2 weeks. But I was pretty
happy with the final figure.
