Command + C, copy and paste. Job done, time for a surf. This report could have been an easy one. A carbon copy of the two months before it, the start of September felt like a bad Indonesian rendition of the movie Groundhog Day. Donʼt get me wrong, Bill Murrayʼs a pretty funny guy (well he was in the 80ʼs apparently). Itʼs just that we werenʼt very amused by the same old storyline we were watching everyday; SE winds, peak season crowds and only a handful of clean options.

Now Iʼm probably sounding like a wave-spoilt brat because there were a lot of all-time sessions going down. And despite our desire for a change of scenery, we were definitely still scoring. Hideaways and Kandui were providing the heavy stuff and ensuring punters were clocking up their tube mileage while Pitstops and Beng Bengs were putting smiles on the dials of everyone in the area.

Eventually, like with most cheap pirated DVDs, this long winded storyline stopped suddenly. By the last week of the month, the winds lightened and swung, the crowds dispersed and the whole place felt different. The off season was here. Glassy days allowed us to pick and choose our surf spots and the swell magnets ensured we were surfing overhead waves everyday.

We were stoked. September had started packed out and finished all packed up. The masses had gone home and we were left frothing over what October might offer.//John Barton