By now you’ve probably checked out Puerto Rican surfer Dylan Graves Weird Waves episode set in Lake Superior. Good, wasn’t it? It had us thinking about some of our own weird waves. Novelty has always peaked humans’ curiosity and surfers are no different. Now these might not contain three degree water and deranged Americans, but they have a good claim to being Australia’s weirdest waves.
Tweed River
“Riding the inside wall of the southern groyne of the Tweed Bar, the river rats dangled their toes amongst the bull sharks and fetid waters for a few chocolate carves and brown barrels.” So wrote Tracks Editor Luke Kennedy on the Tweed River wave that breaks every couple of years when the sand builds up next to the breakwall. “It doesn’t happen very often so it’s kind of special when it does,’’ says Tracks photographer Swilly. “It doesn’t have as much push as other waves, but it doubles up and breaks next to the wall and you can still get barreled.” <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/uMcc1HEFUEQ” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Mandurah Wedge, Perth, Western Australia
A rare, but sometimes spectacular righthand wedge with the odd left, “The Medge” is located behind the southern groyne of the Dawesville Channel. Here, abnormal lumps of backwash and sidewash ricochet off the breakwalls and into the funneling swells causing warping wedges and all sorts of wave abnormalities. It is a booger favourite, but any time it breaks expect to see a slew of locals trying to get pitted before being blasted sky high.
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Angel Island, Dampier Archipelago
The image taken by Salty Wings indicates that this might be some type of mythical dreamtime inspired Pass-like righthander, of which no human has ever sullied its pristine surface. Yet the reality is a little different with surfers from nearby Karratha frequenting the very inconsistent “mal wave” for years. Still, as a rare wave in one of the most isolated patches of Australian coastline, it deserves a start in our wacky waves list.
<blockquote class=”instagram-media” data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BqriNp5B1we/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading” data-instgrm-version=”12″ style=” background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% – 2px); width:calc(100% – 2px);”><div style=”padding:16px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BqriNp5B1we/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading” style=” background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;” target=”_blank”> <div style=” display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;”> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;”></div> <div style=”display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;”> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;”> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style=”padding: 12.5% 0;”></div> <div style=”display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;”><div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);”></div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;”></div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);”></div></div><div style=”margin-left: 8px;”> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;”></div> <div style=” width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; 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Kendalls Bombie, South Coast NSW
Not really a novelty wave in that it is neither a novelty or even really a wave. That hasn’t stopped various madmen like Dom Wills and Mitch Kenyon (below) from attempting to tackle its 16 steps and 24 lips. No one ever seems to have any success surfing the abomination, unsurprisingly, but as long as it continues to upload on itself it will no doubt continue to draw madmen into its clutches.
<iframe src=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/226726164″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/226726164″>Surfing The Bombie</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user3137478″>conor hegyi</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Nightcliff Beach, Darwin
Only breaking in cyclonic weather with massive tides and offering weak, brown water closeouts, infested by crocodiles and box jellyfish you can understand why Darwin’s wave-starved surfers clamour to hit the city beach every time it breaks. These magic conditions only happen a handful times a year however, making Nightcliff’s allurers all the more addictive for their rarity.
Nielson Park and Dobroyd Head, Sydney Harbour
Shark Beach, located at Nielson Park, near the posh suburb of Vaucluse is Sydney Harbour’s prime location for the annual “You won’t believe where these crazy surfers are surfing” nightly news segment. Obviously needing a ginormous North East swell to get through the Heads when the two-foot lines eventually dribble around the rocky bend they are usually met by a pack of 30 novelty wave fetishists, all desperately trying to get their wave shown on Channel Nine News. Meanwhile, on the other side of the harbour, big south swells aim themselves at Dobroyd Head, where a lurching left can actually break with legitimate size. Just park your yacht in the channel and get out there.
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