When all the Pro's came to town

The pro surf tour, formally known as the World Qualifying Series (WQS) came to town a few weeks ago, and after a year of being out-of-the-loop with all things surf related, I jumped back on the bandwagon and got involved in all the fun.
The Mr Price pro, a 6* Prime WQS event took place from July 2nd-8th, and with the event practically being in my back garden (I'm a local Ballito girl), I was able to get on staff for the event and help run the contest. I assumed the role of event assistant for the week and got involved with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The event was such fun, and it's always my favorite time of year. I love it when different accents can be heard around the beach, and the world's best surfers get to show off on our waves. In the end, Glen Hall, an Irishman from Aus took the contest win on a sunny Ballito sunday, and that closed off an amazing week of surfing and pack-out beaches full of avid supporters.

Two days after the Mr Price Pro ended, the second leg of the South African WQS events began down at JBay. The Billabong Pro, also a 6* WQS event started on Tuesday July 10th, and I was lucky enough to travel down to the Eastern Cape and be a part of the action. When I was much younger, my dad used to work for ASP, so as a part of his job, he would go to the event every year and most years I would go with. The last time I was in JBay I was just a little girl, and so it was amazing to be back there  and watch the Pro for the first time in years. The waves over the contest period in Jeffrey's were absolutely phenomenal.  It was between 6-8ft most days, and the conditions were perfect. It's seldom that the planets align and such perfect waves are delivered for a contest, but the Billabong Pro was a definite exception. I spent most of the week watching the event from the top floor of an apartment building right on the point at Supertubes, and with a panoramic view like that, I definitely had the best seats in the house. Our South African surfers put on a really good show throughout the event, but unfortunately were unable to clench the win from Brazillian Adriano De Souza who ended up being crowded the 2012 champion.
I had such a stunning time in JBay, and despite the cold weather, and often gale force winds, we still managed to watch the surfing all day (with Vida Coffees in hand) and then burn holes on the dance floor at 'The Mexican' by night. I made some great friends, enjoyed relaxing and watching top class surfing, and remembering all the trips to Jeffrey's as a kid.