Kelly Slater, Tamarama Beach, Sydney

After surfing Straddie all day on Tuesday, Kelly Slater received a call from Koby Abberton about Cape Solander on Wednesday. Chasing the swell down from Queensland, he flew to Sydney and drove straight from the airport to the line-up at Ours. During the session he towed, he paddled and, as everyone in the lineup was thrilled to witness, even took a few beatings. Riding a 5’9″ semi-round-nosed raft, the biggest crowd ever seen at the break lined the cliff to watch the champ in action.

When Taj Burrow, who was also out there, took control of the ski towing kelly, word in the lineup was that Taj was going to tow kelly way too deep on the more nasty, shallow part of the reef – making a play at putting Kelly out of world title contention. Kelly dealt with the steps and boils with the relaxed aplomb you’d expect. As the afternoon onshore cleaned up and went offshore, the spectre of the proximity of this wave to Sydney city hit home.

Kelly surfed for three hours and, from the moment he hit dry land, spent another few hours tracking the swell. “This whole system is moving south and isn’t losing any intensity,” he said. With a synoptic chart on his phone (iPhone 3, no case, white!) he charted the swell. “I think this east swell is gonna be perfect for Tasmania’s east coast.”

He was planning to head south to surf with pal and former pro, Todd Prestage, but opted to stay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

After dining last night in Surry Hills with current-ranked world number two Taj Burrow – no autographs, no photos – the champ surfed with Taj again this morning, this time at Sydney’s Tamarama beach.

Sydney’s been flanked with a clean east swell for three days and even the wobbly Tamarama beach (pictured) has delivered enough to satisfy the voracious surf appetites of the world number one and two.

“Not really,” said Kell when Stab asked if he ever tires from surfing or is surfed out. “Maybe for about half a day. It’s the adrenalin that gets me. I’ve had my adrenal glands checked. They’re overactive, they squirt too much,” he laughed.

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