On Friday morning January 14 the winds were offshore from the south-south-west early and the points started to pump as the swell cleaned up. There was a lot of water moving around and the sweep on the east facing points was very strong, so it was the north facing points that were handling the conditions the best. Noosa, the Coolangatta points and Byron were the pick.
On Saturday the swell was cleaner, straighter, bigger and stronger as Cyclone Vania moved further south, the sun was out and the winds were southerly at around 15 knots. Once again the north facing points were firing and really crowded as a result of the limited options and the weekend holiday crowds.
Surf mag aficionados could be forgiven for thinking this is a classic old school Kirra line up taken by Marty Tullemans. It is not. Joli shot this on Sunday morning January 16, 2011. Photo: Joli.
On Sunday morning it was bigger again and very clean, in the six-eight foot+ range with bigger sets on the exposed open beaches. Once again Noosa, from Snapper to Kirra, Main Beach Byron and the Pass handled the swell the best. There were plenty of overhead pits to be had if you could handle the crowds. The swell kept building during the day, peaking mid afternoon.
On Monday it was a bit smaller, but ultra clean in the four-to-six foot range. Cyclone Vania had slipped away to the south east to the north of New Zealand. It was full on the early high tide but there were still plenty of fun waves to be had before the wind swung onshore from the north east late in the morning.
Cyclone Zelia is now hustling her way down the coast, predicted to be off the South East Queensland coast on Monday evening. The monsoon trough is well and truly set in place. Looks like surf season is on.
