Floodwaters down East Creek

Just before the turnoff to Point Leo, East Creek travels under the Hastings–Flinders Road. In the wet season, it can be seen as a virtual flood plain on the Red Hill side of the road.

These waters are channelled into a narrow, fast-flowing creek as it heads down towards Point Leo. Following a brief geographical survey carried out by Wilko’s Outback Adventures, the first group of volunteers lined up, keen to go. They started right at the bridge on the main road.

Gordon Smith, John Jolly, Peter Wilkinson, Sean Coleclough, and Phil jumped in on some well-chosen, battered old surfboards. The boards soon became completely finless as the troop bounced from one tree stump to the next, over mini-waterfalls, and literally through dense blackberry patches. The thorns later resulted in some of the team wearing gloves to protect their shredded hands.

Coming around a blind corner, Wilko spotted Sean trapped under a log and was luckily able to release his leg rope before he drowned. Here’s what happened next, in Phil’s words:

“There were five of us that started up at the main road, but we only travelled about 30 metres before getting hung up on a barbed-wire fence. Our leg ropes were a massive mistake, as they got caught on absolutely everything. We had another two attempts to get in, but only succeeded from about halfway up Point Leo Road, roughly 100 metres above the rapids shown in the fuzzy old photo. As we approached, there was a deafening roar and no escape. Gordon was in a real panic, so we just went for it!

The next obstacle was a massive foam ball blocking our way. We held off for a while, then Pete let go and got sucked right into it. He was completely gone from view when, suddenly, out of the middle of the foam, his head popped up covered in blackberry vines. The rest of the journey was a cruise, and five minutes later, we were washing up on the beach.”

Ten years later, the younger crew decided to give it a go from below the rapids. The water had risen 4 feet from the time we first checked it and was really raging when Simon jumped in and instantly disappeared. I quickly followed him, only to find Simon coming up boardless some 100 metres downstream. We teamed up and completed the rest of the trip together.

The next day, the water level was back to normal, enabling us to find his board wedged tightly under a tree root 6 feet below where the flood peak had been. Twenty-five years later, Simon still says it's the scariest thing he has ever done, and fortunately, no one has been dumb enough to try it again!

Guinness World Record

My old panel van suffers under the strain as Phil stacks the boards to break the Guinness World Record in the first carpark at Gunnamatta. This lighter moment took place during the Wavelength East Coast Pro, which was won by our own surfer-shaper, Garry Taylor.

But is it art?

Max “Two Straight” McPhee’s art installation titled “Man and Dog”—nominated for listings at the McClelland Sculpture Survey awards—bears an uncanny resemblance to Wilko and his faithful companion, Jep.

Unidentified Surfing Object

Phil always believed anyone can learn to surf! You can spot the Surfing Hippo on the roof of the Point Leo store.