PARKO’S BIG GRIN AS CROWDS BARREL IN
WORLD champion surfer Joel ‘Parko’ Parkinson has joined droves of surfers and bodyboarders lapping up near-perfect waves across the Gold Coast and Tweed.
Beachgoers have been warned off swimming in the hazardous surf caused by a low-pressure system.
But it has not stopped wave riders flocking to the Gold Coast at the start of the school holidays. They have put on a show at surfing hot spots, including Snapper Rocks and Burleigh Heads, where a crowd gathered on shore to catch the action.
Former pro Parkinson was snapped at Duranbah Beach yesterday, watching on from the shore sporting a grin as his peers made the most of the barrels.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist David Rock said waves of 3m had been recorded but data was received from open-water buoys and heights could vary.
While conditions along the Gold Coast were expected to ease from today, it was likely slightly smaller waves would roll in throughout the week.
Mr Rock said this week’s impressive showing on our shores had been out of the ordinary.
“There’s a big easterly swell at the moment all up the southern Queensland coast, from Fraser Island to Coolangatta and into New South Wales as well,” he said.
“It was generated by a low-pressure system near New Caledonia over the weekend.”
Winds associated with the low have been driving waves towards the east coast.
Similarly large lowpressure systems in the Pacific Ocean are usually recorded in summer and early autumn.