29th April to 6th of May Flew into Fiji with a very promising swell forecast. Got to the Island, organised the room and boards set up. Surfed every day, most days a morning and arvo session. Had Namotu from a gutless 2-3ft on the first day to a pretty solid 6-maybe 8ft later in the week. Got Cloud Break at 3-4ft and 4-6ft, both amazing sessions and then scored Restaurants at 3ft the first time to a solid 4ft+ later. All on a SUP except for 4 shorty surfs. Swimming pools at 3-4ft was the big surprise, I wasn't expecting much from that wave but it definitely produced some really fun waves with 5 in the water. Worth checking if the wind is light. If you have wife and kids head to Plantation Island, a really nice spot for the family. If you want to party and talk to single girls then maybe stay home and go to ya local. I left the wife at home so all we could do was focus on surfing. This was the best trip ever (for me) but we were very lucky with the swell and wind Packed 1989 Toyota "Hiace" taxi...or so the badge said! Best Iced Coffee I've ever had at Port Denarau while waiting for the ferry. Getting on the boat for the first surf trip...no wind! (Actually I think this was day 2) Looking back at Plantation Island resort Water was warm and crystal clear! Namotu Lefts Got some waves with Downwinder. Was a fun surf and a good introduction for what was to come! Back to the room for some duty free and then off to the bar The bar...cos Darren has a bad back he finds it more comfortable if he holds a drink in each hand. Soko...The best waitress on the island. The more I drink the more my left eye closes! Then things start getting weird..she was tough but no match. Then the magic mud drink... Tastes really good...yeah right. Got Swimming Pools real fun again with no wind. Water started moving around a fair bit and the surfers struggled to stay in position. Meant I got plenty of waves. Had some lunch and was off for the arvo sesh. Arvo session at Cloud Break. 4ft, no wind and about 15 guys spread out. Apparently in the morning there were about 60 guys in the water. Was probably the funnest surf ever. Got a couple from the point all the way through to almost the tower. I found out that down the line about 2ft bigger, was much hollower, faster and soooooo good. Spent the rest of the session there with only Daz, me and another guy. The swell and wind picked up the following day. Cloud Break.

Nice one! Sets were solid 8ft+ with 12ft+ bombs coming through and cleaning up everyone in the line-up. Photo's don't do it justice. I wasn't going to SUP it so decided to paddle over to the shoulder and get some shots before a MASSIVE set almost took the boats out on the moarings. So I was quickly back in the boat. Apparently the arvo was 12 to 15ft. The next day the boats were all sitting 100m wide of the shoulder after a few near misses. Anyway...so we went back to Restaurants for some epic waves. Here's a little sequence I took the shortboard out and got a handful. I hadn't surfed a shorty for over 12 months and man the first couple were sketchy. Arm flailing everywhere, all wobbly but I got it together after a couple. As the tide dropped and the surfers started leaving the swell grew maybe 1 to 2ft so I got the SUP out and surfed it for about an hour. I rekon I got 20 waves for sure with 5 other guys. Due to the sweep (back out) you would pull off and be out the back within maybe a minute. It started to suck dry off the reef but it was soooooo good it was hard to leave. That was my new best surf ever! Sooo consistent and predictable I can see why it's Kelly's favorite. Back to the bar after a big day. Fun times! This was the re charge room where we slept almost every minute we weren't surfing, eating or drinking Garden Bure 323 Instant crowd towards the end, but all good blokes except the front right. Thanks FIJI...my best holiday ever!

Looks really good Brendan. Looking forward to your first dip in Bass Strait, now that you are back?

Great pics, awesome vid.....thanks.

Wow great shots looks like you scored some serious waves , how good does the resort look , thanks for posting the pics still drooling. I'm back to Fiji again at Christmas with the family , going to have to check that place out. How did the Coreban Nitro go in the big stuff. How was Kelly's barrel at the end of that vid

4ft Cloudbreak was the best. I can't believe how good that wave is...and then there's Restaurants! Wow...would have to be the funnest wave ever. I found it hard to get barreled cos it was hard to slow the Coreban Nitro down. Got a couple maybe 2 to 3 second barrels and smashed a few times but luckily no scares. That reef has to be taken pretty seriously when the tide drops. It was sucking dry towards the end of the session. Everything I'd read was that it was a really racey wave but found it super easy to surf. I'd love to stay at Namotu but couldn't afford it as this was a cheap trip before the baby comes. Next time I'm there will be with the wife and bub so Plantation will be good for them. There's 2 negatives with Plantation, 1 is the price of the boat to surf ($55 AUD to cloudbreak & $42 everywhere else), and 2 was the buffet was pretty bad (desserts were good). Thankfully our meal vouchers allowed us to eat at the A La Carte Restaurant which was really good. So if you go there eat most dinners there.

Nice account of your trip Naccas. Really enjoy closing my eyes and pretending I'm there. You and DJ might both qualify for a Vicco Wakely Award with that standard of journalism!!

Piros, a friend of a friend came home with a very similar picture on his back. But he also might have broken his hip (I haven't heard since the xrays) but he got smashed over cloud break on the big day. I got a bit scratched up on Maui years ago and if I get really stressed or over worked it seems to become aggravated again. Anyone know whats going on there? It turned into a nasty sea ulcer at the time.

Here's a little clip of Restaurants...no sound for some reason and quality a bit poor but give you a good look at the wave. Seemed to barrel more at mid tide.

great stories and action photos Brendan of your surf trip, pity there was no footage of your SUP paddling technique and facial expressions when the horizon turned grey at cloudbreak 12ft +......good for a laugh....now----(then..farrrk)

Hey Brendan looks like you got what you were looking for, was wondering how much it cost to stay at plantation because those boat fees would sure add up if you had only 2 x surfs a day, good pics mate cant wait to get back there again, getting caught inside big Cloudbreak would be a nightmare too

Wasn't a couple of kids from dee why was it?? Heard there over there running a muck