It has finally stopped raining!! Which is just as well because I was beginning to get cabin fever. I hadn’t been in the water for three weeks until this weekend because the weather over here has been horrible. It has rained constantly for the past 3-4 weeks and not just your regular rain, crazy winds and big storms. It’s been raining so hard drought experts think it might even go some way to fixing the drought that Australia has been suffering! So for Aussies the weather has been great for especially for the big wave chasers.

The past few Saturday mornings we’ve walked up to Dead-man’s point in Manly and watched the hard-core as they surfed some MASSIVE waves. I spotted at least three broken boards coming out of the water, plus the ferry to work has been a good laugh with people falling out their seats and lots of ooing and ahhing – it’s like being at the fair.

I hadn’t been prepared for an ozzie winter at all – I didn’t think they even existed. However I’ve been wearing my snowboarding jackets to work and even bought a scarf. When it’s cold I’m used to being cosy in a centrally heated house and our beach pad isn’t exactly kitted out for the colder months so after my constant moaning we’ve bought a heater which has definitely cheered me up.

When the beaches are closed the amount of stuff that washes up on the shore makes you realise why nobody goes in the sea after a big storm – it is pretty disgusting. So Saturday morning I surprised myself (and Stevie) as I dashed out the house totally hung-over and jumped in the water before the line up got busy. I have to say salt-water definitely fixes most ills. From hang-overs to even a wee touch of home-sickness, when I’m in the water I forget about everything apart from getting on that wave, which is such a thrill when I actually catch it!

Now that the sun is shining again I can’t believe I was actually moaning about the cold – especially as I am wearing what would be considered a ‘summer’ wet-suit in Scotland – must be getting acclimatised and forgetting what cold actually is – Machrihanish beach in July!