Here's some of my pictures from my trip to Merimbula to compete in the first Mambo Classic that includes SUP.. Casso found this great hat.
Here I am all loaded and ready to do the 7hr drive north.
Once there I unloaded all the gear.. We stayed at a small holiday unit called Southern Comfort.
I tried on my new Mambo competition T shirt..and stuck a Mambo sticker on my paddle.
I then headed off to check out Merimbula... This is the north beach called Short Point.
This is the almost unknown beach called the Middle Beach.
This is the Bar beach.
This is the inlet beach... I'm not sure what that guy's doing.
This is along the inlet/lake beach.
This is where the inlet meets the main beach.
This is looking down the Main Beach towards Pambula beach at the far end.
There is so much wild life around this place.
I love the pelicans.
Magpies were on the grass in front of where we stayed.
Beautiful Rosella's where also everywhere.
There are also stingrays and banjo sharks everywhere.
Kangaroos are also everywhere.
That's about it for part one of my pics.
DJ
I love you photos DJ, love the wildlife shots - it makes me appreciate what a great country we live in!
Great shots DJ
Just incase you dont know and it does'nt "really" matter anyway but the parrots are "Rainbow lorikeets" 
I like the Banjo sharks, how cool are they!?
Hey did you get any photos of the left handers that Dogman snapped his board on ? or are you sworn to secrecy 
Thanks guys...
The first day of the comp was a beautiful day and I started with a paddle in the lake.
The color of the water is amazing as I paddled over to the other side of the inlet.
I decided to leave my Crocs behind and get some sun on my feet for a change.
So what do I do the first time I step off my board in the shallows.. Yeah.. Cut my foot on a dam sharp rock... Bugger!!
It does not look too bad in this pic but I soon had a constant flow of blood over my board and I kept looking back for a trail of shark fins behind me.
I then caught up with a couple of the RPS guys..They were also out for also out for a casual cruise on the inlet.
I then paddled over to the main comp area to see what's happening..and there was a guy out on his Naish 9'6".
One good thing about these short boards is that you don't need roof racks.
Time to hit the barbie and get some free bacon/eggs and sausage's to eat.
The wind soon picked up from the nor east and the kiter's and windsurfers were out there.. The wind was gusting between 15-25 knots with the odd higher gust.
I decided to do the down-winder that I've been wanting to do for ages.. From Merimbula bar down to Pambula river mouth and the wind direction was perfect.
I caught up with Craig and he was keen to join me.. This is us about to head off from the Bar beach.
We paddled past the guys SUP'ing on the waves at the bar..and across past the guys windsuring..and past the kite surfers.
Warrick from RPS did a jump past me on his kite gear and wished us luck on our big down-winder..He knew were we were going.
We started to get some good runners with the wind picking up behind us and the wind swell increasing.
Once we got about half way there we were hit with a very large ground swell from our left that wanted to push us right but we needed to hold our coarse straight ahead and not get caught too close to shore.
It was like a washing machine out there..We fell a lot and it was very hard to stand up to get going...It was like that Perfect Storm movie with the odd rouge wave the size of a house with a vertical face hitting us side on.
I was starting to feel like a life and death thing as we struggled on and I wondered how big the waves will be once we get to the Pambula river mouth..and also the thought occurred to me that if the current was going out at full speed we may not be able to paddle against it and may get swept out to sea.
I was leading and I caught a wave that took me right onto the river mouth but because of the outgoing tide at one point it was like a standing wave and I had to keep paddling hard to stay on it.
I paddled, paddled, paddled as hard as I could and made it in.. Phew!!
I looked back to see Craig also paddling as hard as he could and at one time he was going backwards..But he also eventually made it in also.
It was one of the best..and scariest paddles that I've ever done and things like that sure make you feel alive.
This was the last pic that I took once it started to get hairy and the wind caught my paddle when I let go of it and as I reached to get it I put my camera in the water..and it was not waterproof.. Bugger!!..at least the card was ok.
That's about it for part two (I have more).
DJ
That little Suzuki Swift looks like I used to in the windsurfing days when I owned a mini and had a few boards. 7 hours madness. I hope the hang over was worth it.
Rod
DJ,outstanding review so far.Without all the forum coming down on me,where on the map was the Mambo event!
I see your keen on the Naish brand,I know you have a 11.4,11.6,what is the other Naish?
mac
DJ,I dont know what you do for a living but it looks like your living the dream you lucky bugger!
mac
Great stuff once again DJ
I really enjoyed all the shot's mate, what a beautiful place, i have to make sure i'm there next year
Thanks 62mac.. I have the big 11'6" and the new 11'4" and the other board is my old 10'6" that now belongs to my friend Helke.
The next day Craig, Helke and I did the early morning paddle out to the point and back around the inlet.. Here's some pics.
The Crocs are back on.
After catching a few waves with Casso, Andrew and a few others on SUP's we headed out to the point.. It was another perfect day.
I'm so glad we had good weather for Helke who took time off work and flew up for a couple of days.. I think she was glad also.
It was great to just sit down on our boards and chat once we got out near the point.
This is heading back towards the inlet.. Check out the change in color of the water.
How could you not be happy.
I snapped a few pics as we paddled around the lake and past the shops.
That dark spot in the water ahead of Helke is a stingray.
This is on the south side of the Merimbula bridge looking towards Pambula (on the lake side)
Back under the bridge here and heading back to where we started from.. (but on the other side of the lake)
More pelicans.
We paddled out through the inlet and across to the competition area and it was great to see at least 20 SUP's out paddling in the waves.
I caught a great wave in and alongside me on the same wave was my mate John Smythe (the contest organizer) and he was having his first go on a SUP.
We rode it all the way in together and chatted about it over at the barbie soon after.
Here's what was cooking at the barbie..Nice chicken on skewers.
You grab yourself a bread roll.
Pile on some coleslaw.
..and see how many skewers of barbecued chicken you could fit on..I always got two to fit.
There was also lots of free Red Bull to drink and spunky chicks to hand them out.
Walking around the car park area there were always interesting people to talk to.
Interesting vans to look at.
and interesting boards to check out.
I checked out Scotty Mac's new wood paddle and compared it to my Kialoa Methane.
I walked back over to check out the action on the water.. Ooh look..Crocs.
It was windy, windy..and heaps of kites out..check out the skid marks.
I checked out Scotty's windsurfing board that he had made himself..It looked great.
This is JB taking a picture of Scotty ripping it up on his new board.
JB was sailing his 10'6" Naish SUP board.
This was the Frenchman's SUP board and paddle.
The Naish tent.
Scotty Mc heading up to the bar to catch a few waves.
There was action at the bar.
DogMan wasn't the only one.
The action on the beach was not bad either.
Still more pics to come.
DJ
gee mate those photo's came up great how did the photo of the wave at Pambula come out like when we where doing the downwinder?
Lets hope next yr we can get 20 SUP'S doing the paddle from bar beach to Pambula
Cheers
Boylos
Hi Craig.. I'm getting to the Pambula pics.. ..Next year we'll do that down-winder again for sure.
Each day I'd check out the surf at 6am and I'd see Casso there keen to be the first one out.
Some mornings it was like..Do I get my board or go back to bed?..and then I'd think..Jeez the Mambo only comes around once a year.
After John's briefing at 10am us SUP'ers decided to head down to Pambula for a sech and I laughed as John said when you come back tell us who won.
It was like you guys work it out amongst yourselves.
Here's some pics from Pambula.. Craig's wife had a good camera with zoom and got some great shots.
This is Craig and myself about to hit the water..The conditions were great.
This is the local plumber (Steve) and last year I took him out for his first paddle on a SUP.. He and his mate Simon from the Surf shop had just received their new Naish 11'6" boards and we paddled a couple of mornings together.
They could not believe how big they were.. Anyway.. Steve's ripping now and is keen to buy a new Naish 9'6".
Look Mom..I'm surfing.
We got to meet this great couple that had not been SUP'ing very long and only been in the waves a couple of times.. They were sooooo stoked.
This is hubby taking one on the head while wifey looks for a wave behind him.
And she's got one.
Did she make this?
I felt like yelling..Don't look behind you.
The presentation kicked off about 7pm Sunday.
Scotty Mac got a trophy for his windsurfing effort.
Casso also got one.
Matt was the big SUP winner.
Everyone's a winner at the Mambo..Even Craig picked up a surfboard blank and is going to have a board made for his kids to use next year.
Note DogMan behind Craig grinning after winning the new Naish board.
See all you guys again next year..and all those who missed this year..Hope to see you there.
I still have more pics and I'll post the last lot soon.
DJ
Here's my last lot of pictures.. Sorry if this page takes ages to load.. I hope no one out there is still on dial up.
The next morning after the comp Helke and I did another flat water paddle before taking her to the airport.
We went exploring down the south end of the Merimbula lake.. We ran out of time and headed back so next year we hope to go all the way.
I was like a SUP caddy... Lucky Naish boards are so light.
After dropping Helke off at the airport I went for a walk where we'd just paddled..There is this cool wooden walking track along the edge of the lake.
You eventually get to this little boatshed..I think it's where they used to teach windsurfing.
If you need to take a dump you can be sure there's enough toilet paper.
I suddenly thought about Stuey's boards.
The locals are very trusting.
The weather was turning crappy so it was time to hit the icecream shop.
The next morning I was loaded and ready to hit the road and wouldn't you know it..Back to perfect weather.. Bummer!
I stopped off at Malacoota on my way home..It's about an hour south of Merimbula.
Next was Marlo.. next time I'm going to paddle the famous Snowy River.
They even have these little loading platforms.
I got home late to find this note from my daughter.
That's about it.
DJ
Hi DJ,
Thanks for including Jason & I in your photo documentary of the Mambo event. Hopefully by next year I will be able to catch a wave without sticking my butt out so far!! (I might even get lucky & my butt might be a bit smaller with all the paddling I am doing - this sport is sooo addictive).
Poor Jason has no excuse though, he has been riding short boards for 30 years!
See you next year
Mel
DJ you really are one of the best pictorial story tellers on the net, great stuff,I wanna live there,NOW! cheers Ian
cheers Ian
