Angourie 1978 4 guys out.
HOW TO GET MORE CHIPS.
In 1968, on a weekend surfari up the north coast, a small group of starving surfers head into town for a feed after a long day of surfing at Green Knob. They stop at their favorite Taree Fish & Chip Shop. The boys walk up to the counter and the beaming old guy behind the counter asks “Yesssh Pleassshse Boyssssh! “ Yes he had a squeak to every S.
Without batting an eyelid one of the guys orders first (…let’s just call him Jim, a normally quiet reserved guy perhaps bouyed by a great day surfing) “Can I have a hamburger and 10 Cssssentssss worth of chipsssh pleassssh!” (10 cents worth is about $3 worth now)
We all roll our eyes and figure we will be thrown out and go starving now… but the gentleman remains cool and proceeds to take the other orders then make the food.
After a tense 10 minutes of subdued behavior from us, he hands over the first order to Jim – and low and behold there is enough chips to feed an army! The rest of us get the standard portion serving of chips.
I guess he felt an affinity to the fellow speech afflicted Jimmy – or perhaps he just admired his cheekiness! The moral of the story – be an up front complete bastard and you can get away with anything.
Ronnie is getting good waves up the coast right now, here is Byron Bay in May 2010, photo by Ronnie Rudder.
Frank “Meatball” Skewes surfs a punchy right peak in 1975 at Redhead Beach.
The Angels good Doc Neeson blesses his followers and there was plenty.. and it was good.

On Surfari around southern NSW near Bega 1977 getting close to susnset, we went through this water way and then went back and did it again for the camera.
Redhead Beach from the Bluff 1977
Ray Lunn stalls hard and then later gets a nice tube from behind the Redhead Shark Tower 1977.
Not a bad surf for no one out. Redhead Little Beach 1978.
Redhead Beach by moonlight 1977. Even looks good in black & white. A 30 second time exposure.

The Redhead Shark Tower Rocks have always meant a lot to most Redhead locals, it has the best ring side seat to an awsome view of the bluff and the surf.
My daughter Lia in 1976 playing in the storm blown foam in front of the Redhead Shark Tower. This photo also appears on the ABC Website – You know you grew up in Newcastle when…see http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/02/22/2826363.htm

New Zealand’s North Island in January 1978 had excellent surf and good weather as the following photos show. The NZ people were friendly and helpful and made my short stay there a memorable one. Locals picked me up if I was hitching, took me surfing, to the pub and put me up. The beaches were unspoilt and beautiful.
Driving down the road to this point you are welcomed by a view of one of the best set ups you could imagine.

New Zealand 1978 Whale Bay
And it just seemed to get better and better…

New Zealand 1978 Raglan Indicators
Manu Bay had most of the crowd on it but this view was hard to pass.

New Zealand 1978 Manu Bay
The mid week afternoon sessions were popular with the locals but crowds were thin during the day then.

New Zealand 1978 Evening Surf Raglan
A beautiful summers day 1978 at Manu Bay with a local surfer enjoying the conditions.

Surfer New Zealand Manu Bay 1978
And another scenic point break photo with only 3 guys in the water…

New Zealand Raglan 1978

Redhead Surf Club is a big part of Redhead’s life style and has always had a good crowd.
Redhead Beach on a crowded summer day showing Redhead surf club around 1978.
The annual Redhead verses Swansea-Belmont touch footy comp presentation had all those present bemused, when PJ impersonating a female dignitary presented the losing captain of Swansea-Belmont with this Lumsdon Cartoon. A very funny moment is captured here and a good arvo was had by all.
The NSW Championships, held down at Woolongong around 1978 had the bus load of Redhead members celebrating big time after Peter Bale won the state flags. This picture shows all members were happy with the result. The ride home was very lively to say the least.
The Redhead Boat crew were a fit lot and enjoyed their sport. Shown here cruising down a nice wave at Redhead around 1978.

Here are some scenery shots I have taken from around the Redhead area.
Cloud Wave at Redhead Beach – A southerly buster on the way around 1984. I took this and then headed for cover. The cloud looked like an enormous right hander.

Another photo from the same night as above – The rocks in front of the Redhead Shark Tower. The movement of the water over time has made it appear like clouds.
Redhead Beach in the 1940’s – Details of photo unknown.
Time exposure overlooking Redhead beach with a full moon rising in 1976.
Redhead 2nd Creek – June 2007 Storm.
The Pascha Bulker grounded at Nobbys and Redhead’s Second Creek finally got enough water to break its banks and flow again. A rare thing since the 3rd Creek was created and diverted the water flow.

Here’s a collection of bits and pieces of surfing related stuff.
Mark Richards, 4 times world surfing champion taking time out to surf a local break.
Martin Littlewood and Roy Lee making boards in the old Chicken Shed down along the Redhead Road around 1976. Both are now established respected board makers. Martin as Delta Designs in Margaret River and Roy as Pacific Dreams in Newcastle.
Windsurfing was big in the 70’s and Jim Wiley was one of the best shown here at Blacksmiths.
This was a big day at Redhead in 2001, the waves were huge and some of the local guys were ripping. Unknown surfer.
A classic line up at Byron Bay in the late 70’s
Bells Beach Surfing Competion in 1977. The surf was good and big for the finals. Sorry I can’t remember who it was.
Another good line up – Newcastle Cowrie Hole in 1978.
Out of control storm in June 2007 making a mess of Redhead beach. The storm grounded the Pascha Bulker at Nobby’s the day before.

Surfing at Redhead
I started surfing at Redhead in 1963. Redhead was always a great place to surf with good surfers. Somehow I found time to take some photos along the way.
Col Smith was Redhead’s best surfer and in the 70’s and 80’s became respected for his surfing world wide.
Col Smith surfing next to the Shark Tower at Redhead about 1976.
Col started making his own harder edged Channels in his Dad’s Shed that he and Martin Littlewood from Delta Designs worked out. This one was my 6′5″ single fin.
Martin Littlewood was another good Redhead surfer in the 70’s shown here at Redhead Beach. Martin has been making surfboards since then and is now over at Margaret River WA making all kinds of surf boards under the name Delta Designs.
Peter Kuba was another good surfer from Redhead shown here in a nice tube same day as the photo above.
Here is Col Smith again in an excellent position, making getting a good photo easy. These lefts next to the Redhead Shark Tower were solid this day in 1976.
Redhead Boardriders Club was very competetive and usually finished 2nd to Merewether in the Newcastle area teams comps, having a great surfer like Col Smith helped. This team photo after a club competition was held at Col’s place and all members were having a good time as usual.






























































