Taj Burrow, Cape Solander aka Ours

Taj Burrow is a vagrant. He’s a resident of Bali, Western Australia, Sydney, as well as various other places during the good six or so months he spends on the road every year. Between world tour events, the recent Boost Surfsho, the Newcastle WQS and an upcoming boat trip in Fiji, he’s been logging plenty of time in the bright lights of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Yesterday this coincided with a strong east swell and light winds. At first light he was in the lineup of Botany Bay’s finest wave, Ours, along with Maroubra’s Mark Matthews. Between paddle power and the use of a 160-horsepower Yamaha and towrope, the pair surfed relatively uncrowded six-to-eight foot Cape Solander till lunchtime.

We fired some questions at Taj about the session, travelling and his time in Sydney.

Stab: What’s the best thing about travelling?
Taj Burrow: Fresh sheets and room service. I used to get homesick, but not any more. I like the excitement of waves out of the norm. Also, just little things: Different climate, different scenery, different restaurants, different people. We’ve all got plenty of time to get used to one place.

What’s the lure of Sydney?
It’s a great hub to stash some boards and baggage between events and I also happen to have a lot of fun while I’m here.

You’ve surfed Cape Solander quite a bit. What do you like about it?
I like that it’s got that sucky ledge that breaks in the same spot every time. It’s mighty thrilling whether you’re looking in or looking out of the tube.

Anything you don’t you like about it?  
I don’t like hearing about people’s injuries in the past out there.

Did you sustain any injuries?
I got run over by a ski by Jesse Pollock. We were lucky. He’d just towed someone and couldn’t turn because he didn’t want to use the throttle (you can’t turn a ski without acceleration) and I didn’t see him coming till the last minute. I kinda got under the water just in time. I would’ve liked to be deeper but a bruised arse cheek is relatively unscathed for a Ours session, so I’ll take it.