Wave goodbye to the holidays

WINTER or not, a final surf before school goes back was irresistible for this suited-up rider at Hobart’s Clifton Beach. The popular — in summer — South Arm peninsula surfing spot was not for softies on a sunny but chilly day ahead of deteriorating conditions before the return of warmer days later in the week. Not a bad week to be back in class, as it turns out.

TASMANIAN surfers are a notoriously hardy bunch, who won’t let the cold stop them from paddling out at any time of year.

With a snow-capped kunanyi/Mt Wellington in the distance, surfers at Clifton Beach were treated to some small but fun waves yesterday as the swell whipped up by last week’s storms began to dissipate.

One of those spotted hitting the waves, teacher Michael Gowans, was making the most of his last day of holidays before returning to school today.

He drove in from Kingston — “it’s a bit of a mission, but worth it when you get a good surf” — and had the waves at North Clifton to himself for 45 minutes before he was joined by a couple of others.

“The waves weren’t much chop, to be honest, but it was a nice day,” he said. “It was super-cold, lots of ice cream headaches. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got your wetsuit hood on when duck-diving the sets, or you’ll get a pretty bad brain freeze.”

While it was chilly in the water, things were better on dry land, with Hobart enjoying a mostly sunny day with a top of 13C.

But kids will want to pack a rain jacket for their first day back at school, with Hobart set for showers today and a top of 12C.

Those showers are set to in- crease on Tuesday, most likely in the afternoon and evening, before a partly cloudy but possibly rain-free Wednesday.

The forecast looks fine for Thursday and Friday; but the rain is likely to return next weekend.