By Phil Jarratt
Big, powerful Taylor Jensen looks like a potential winner every time he puts on a competitor’s jersey, which is why he has two world titles under his belt, and is now on his way to a third after taking out the inaugural WSL Kumul World Longboard Championships in Tupira, Papua New Guinea last week.
The Tupira event, held in near perfect waves, is a huge step forward for both surfing in PNG and the WSL longboard tour, which this year steps up from one event in China to three events across Asia-Pacific.
The debut of Tupira on the world stage is largely the result of the hard work and relentless boosting of PNG surf pioneer Andy Abel.
Through the good offices of World Surfaris, we were privileged to host Andy at the Noosa Festival of Surfing a year or two ago, and I got the story of PNG surfing from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
Its development hasn’t always been easy, with village rivalry and politics often adding to the dynamic, so I’m sure Andy would have been stoked to see this milestone achieved in perfect waves and without incident.
Joining Taylor Jensen on the podium at Tupira was Brazilian/Californian Chloe Calmon who impressed the hell out of us in Noosa in 2015 and was overdue for a big win. Mark her down as a big noise in the future of longboarding.
Freo after all these years
More than 30 years ago, I flew to Perth with my late friend, the great photographer Rennie Ellis, to cover a story on the gentrification of the rough-house port town of Fremantle. I remember our story centred on the creation of Australia’s first boutique brewery at the Sail and Anchor pub opposite the Freo Markets.
I dropped in there for a beer last Friday afternoon and checked out the Brewmuseum in the back bar. It seems incredible now that a mere 30 years ago boutique brewing was completely unknown, and that Fremantle was still pretty much a waterfront slum. Now, every town with a groovy district – and that means just about everywhere – has its own local brewery, and every urban train wreck of a town with a hidden charm has done a Freo.
We stayed at the Hougoumont, which began life more than a century ago as the Duke of York, a backstreet pub a couple of blocks from the markets. The facade of the Duke remains, as does a spacious reception and guest lounge that was probably where the ladies were allowed to sip sherry, but beyond that the Hougoumont is a testament to edgy sustainability and innovation. All of its rooms are shipping containers, stacked neatly four floors high and rebranded as “Superior Cabins”.
There was barely room to shuffle around the bed in our cabin, but I’ve stayed in plenty of Parisian hotel rooms where there was about the same, and what distinguishes the Hougoumont is its stylish appointments and perfect use of space, eliminating clutter.
The other thing that distinguishes the Hougoumont is the quality of service. On arrival we were invited to a guests-only happy hour at which we got to know our fellow cabin dwellers while the complimentary good WA wine and cheese platters kept coming. In the morning the same space hosted a complimentary breakfast bar. Pretty impressive, given that no meals were included in our modest tariff.
Surf movie tonight!
Margaret River was going surf nuts when we arrived on a blustery onshore afternoon, but that didn’t hinder the juniors from the Cowaramup Bay Boardriders from tearing apart a windswept South Point.
Thankfully the wind abated somewhat and the stars came out as people arrived at beautiful Cape Mentelle Winery for our Men of Wood and Foam screening in the garden, with the Band of Frequencies again providing a live soundtrack.
Estate manager Cameron Murphy took us on a sunset tour of the winery, where we marvelled at the beauty of the French oak casks as much as the aromas from within, then got us settled with a good bottle of chardonnay and a couple of blankets as the show began.
Business out of the way, we’re off to the Karri forests until the onshores settle down and the expected swell kicks in for the start of the Margaret River Pro.
More on that next week.
