Life Lately: Visitors and the Quiksilver Pro

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So, I think it is safe to say that I have just had one of the best weeks of my life! Why, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you why and you better be prepared to be blown away ;)
(Well, not really but I think this week has been pretty exciting!)

A little peak at some of the crowd at the Quiksilver Pro

It al started last Friday with my mum and my sister coming up to stay with me for the night. We had a gorgeous little girls night, which was much needed and appreciated, with lots of laughs and gossip to be had all around. The next day my dad, my brother and Jake also came up, and we met them at Snapper Rocks for the Quiksilver pro.

My brother has been looking forward to this week ever since I first made my mind up that Coolangatta was where I wanted to live. You see, my family is pretty big on surfing and my brother is the cutest little grom there ever was, so big sis moving to one of the most famous surfing beaches in Australia is definitely what one could call a big deal in my family.

The Grom

Although Kirra Beach isn't what se used to be, when the conditions are right this baby goes aaawwwfffff! Plus, this place is loaded with other little surfing beaches, such as D'bah, Snapper Rocks and Greenmount which all make this place a bit of a mecca in the surfing world. Since Kirra beach turned a little crappy, the famous Quiksilver Pro moved to Snapper Rocks in Rainbow Bay (still walking distance from my house) although a few heats this year, including the men's finals, were held at Kirra to take advantage of the nice, clean barrels that were rolling through there this week thanks to the massive storms we have just had.

My first ever Quiksilver Pro did not disappoint!

On Saturday, mum, Shoni and I got to Snapper Rocks just in time for the Roxy semi-finals (women's). I was super excited because three Aussies made it to the semis and the final was an all Aussie affair with Tyler Wright (from Jake's hometown of Lennox Head) taking out 1st place in the BEST heat of surfing I have ever seen! It was one of those heats where we were on the edges of our seats as the lead was tossed between the two girls with every wave they surfed. In the end it came down to the last 10 seconds of the competition, where Tyler blew the competition out of the water with her massive turns, so to speak!

 

Tyler in the water, and with her trophy. Can you believe she is only 18?

Source for both pictures

Next up the Super Groms had their turn in the water, and who else could possibly take out the victory other than Tyler's little brother Mikey Wright? Honestly, there is some major surfing talent in that family! Their big bro, Owen is also a pro (and one of my faves) but he unfortunately didn't make it past the fourth round this year. Bummer, because I was getting my hopes up for a all-Wright affair at this comp!

Mikey ripping it up at the pro, and after winning the title "King of the Groms"

Shoni's claim to fame? She has him on Facebook!

Source for both pictures

Despite Owen Wright not making it a triple-first by the Wright family, the men's comp at the pro did not disappoint, with two perfect 10's scored in the competition both by current world champion, Joel Parkinson (one for an awesome tube ride in the semi-finals against Michel Bourez) and 11 time champion, Kelly Slater just scraping past him in the finals (which I sadly didn't get to watch because I was at uni. Boo!)

Jake and I enjoying the pro

Overall, this week was great. I came within metres of some of my biggest crushes heroes of all time, and The Quikie Pro has totally got me back in the surfer-girl mind-set that I somehow lost a few years back. So much so that my dad is about to start shaping me my own custom board!

While dad was here, he also found me a new car! You can imagine my excitement over finally sorting crap out with the insurance company and getting back behind the wheel after having my accident a whopping 2 months ago! No more 2 hour bus trips to uni, yay!

The only downside to this week was the complete kill-joy called heat stroke which saw me miss uni and the comp on Monday. I was so dehydrated that I couldn't eat my breakfast and started dry retching Monday morning as I attempted to get ready for uni. I almost passed out at the breakfast table and was very quickly ushered back to bed with a big glass of water and some panadol to get well for the quarter finals of the pro on Tuesday (because obviously that's the most important thing, right?). Thankfully, a day of rest and a few litres of water was all I needed to get better, because Tuesday's surfing was absolutely amazing! Having a peeling face right now is so worth it for the amazing week I had with my family. If anyone knows of a good way to hide the fact that your face is all dry, patchy and scaly though I would appreciate the advice!

Yes, that is Mick Fanning preparing for the quarter finals!

And yes, that is me sitting just metres away from him on the rocks in the top right corner of the pic!

You can only see my legs because the grom is a shit photograper ;)

I forget who this is (Matt Wiklinson maybe?) but he sure was easy on the eyes ;)

My favourite surfer of all time, Julian Wilson

And another one of him, since he is so easy to look at! 

I swear I love him for his surfing, not just his looks!

Kelly Slater nearly snuck past me, the sneaky devil! That's why this pic is a bit out of focus.

And another one of Mick Fanning, just for good measure and because you can clearly see me in this one! (On the left)