Newcastle's Dixon Park turns into Pipe for one beautiful day!
Newcastle is a funny lil metropolis two hours drive north of Sydney. It ain’t quite rural but, despite its size, it ain’t quite city.
And so you have a swinging hipster scene, the sort that spawned Craig Anderson, contrasting with ferocious Australiana, best personified by the former CTer Matt Hoy.
What unifies Newcastle is an occasionally remarkable series of beaches. With the right swell, oowee, you could be at any world-class reef.
This photo of Dixon Park, which was taken two days ago by the Newcastle photographer Peter Boskovic, shows just how good.
“Eight-footers, no problem with that, way overhead,” says Bosko. It was a session populated by a squad (squad in the military rather than pop culture sense, as in eight to twenty four men) of less than a dozen surfers.
The usual crew says Bosko. Ryan Callinan, Chad Edser, Ryhs Smith, Travis Lynch, even sixty-six-year-old local schoolteacher Tim Laurie.
Bosko describes a wave during the session pictured where Laurie, “who absolutely fucking charges”, took off sideways into the barrel and was “absolutely imploded. Sixty-six years old, mate,” says Bosko.
The surfer inside this cabana is Paul Snow, who got barrelled so far down the line Bosko has no idea if he came out of it.
I’ve seen a lot of photos of Newcastle, Luke Egan, Hoy, Ando and so forth thrusting themselves sideways and upwards, but this image electrifies me.
It touches on that dream you have as a kid when, once, just once, your local beach turns into Pipe. And, you, having grown up surfing it, are the king for one day.
Does this photo affect you in a similar way?
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I prefer hearing evideninceless stories from old blokes checking every beach on the coast without leaving their utes about when the sand at the local was just right and it was like Kirra.
And I never disbelieve. This photo enchants.
Bokovich’s timing of surfer just to left of light post is a great perspective. As is the two surfer’s or persons walking to right of frame behind the sign in sequence to surfer riding wave. Cars, sign, railing and well above average conditions..yes Enchants!
Bosko was too lazy to get out of his car across the road is all
Touche! Even more the reason i hope he gets a solid pay check from BG’s power that be..
Au contraire, mon amie.
I happened to be in that car park (truly and honestly) and he was definitely standing on the grass. I think my car was probably 3 to the left out of shot.
My kids were so bored, but I could’ve watched that all day… feeling rather inadequate as a surfer I must admit.
My local beach will never turn into Pipe but today it rained a lot and the runoff came out of pipes and into the 2 ft waves I was surfing. Now this would most likely give anyone else a serious ear infection. But me having grown up surfing in the filthy, red tide, sewage slop, I was the king for one day.
Yes! Mark Richards has a good video on instagram showing three waves reeling off down the line, if only I’d driven up the coast Sunday….
All those waves needed were Larry Blair.
It would give me a fat if you paid Bosko for the pic used in your pipe pipedrean
Nah — Bokovich will be on a promised % of website deal — but we’ll organise that down the track a little……
Exposure
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