It's the best surfing I've had. The sky was clear, the water was warm, the sharks were well fed, the waves were perfect and ... . but we'll go into that later.
First it's necessary to cross the Tasman Sea and head to the correct piece of coastline.
"Go south
from Sydney," said my surfing guru, who's been riding the waves since shortly after Adam and Eve fled the Garden of Eden for somewhere with a beach. "Don't take a break until you've passed Wollongong. And don't stop until you get to Batemans Bay."
So we headed out of Sydney Airport and travelled south, across Tom Ugly's Bridge and along the Princes Highway; past Botany Bay, where Captain James Cook's expedition gathered botanical samples; past the beautiful view of Wollongong from the top of the Illawarra Escarpment; past the settlement of Shellharbour on Lake Illawarra.
By the time we got to Kiama it was time for a lunch break and this beautiful town, with its great Brumby's pie shop, was the perfect spot.
Kiama means "the place where the sea makes a noise". The rolling waves thunder into a huge cavern then spray up from a spectacular blowhole, sometimes as high as 60m.
There was more than enough spray to soak the Japanese tourists trying to have their photo taken with the blowhole in the background.
But I was here to surf so off we raced again, past Jervis Bay, with its dolphins and whales; past Hyams Beach, which boasts the whitest sand in the world; through Ulladulla and over the bridge across the tranquil waters of Lake Tabourie, a haven for bird life and a great place for kayaking.
And there it was, Batemans Bay, with lovely towns, magnificent national parks, beautiful beaches, rolling surf ... and veteran Kiwi surfer Greg Ansley, the guru who enticed me here.
The area has had a building boom - it's popular with folk from the landlocked capital of Canberra a couple of hours' drive away - but there are so many bays, so much land is protected in parks and the residential areas are so covered in trees that it still has an undiscovered air.
The wildlife is wonderful. Buy a packet of bird mix and put some in a dish on the deck and you'll soon have a passing parade of all sizes and colours: sulphur crested cockatoos, galahs, black cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, king parrots and finches.
Take a drive down to the fantastic, wild, empty beaches at Durras and there's a fair chance of seeing a lyre bird pull up its skirts and skitter across the road. At sunset, hundreds of kangaroos from Murramarang National Park come down to the camping areas and reserves to graze on the grass. They also beg food from unwary visitors (don't be tempted, they get aggressive when you stop).
Even the sealife is plentiful. Ansley, who hangs out at Batemans Bay whenever he gets the chance, says he's often shared the waves with whales, dolphins and sharks. At Malua Bay there's even a sign asking surfers not to annoy the grey nurse sharks that breed just offshore. All very well, but will the sharks return the compliment?
That's a good reason to spend a bit longer in the safety of dry land. The town of Batemans Bay, sited at the mouth of the Clyde River, has interesting shops and several good places to eat, particularly On the Pier and the Starfish deli, both with great views of the water.
The locals claim the Clyde River oysters are the best in the world but I'm afraid that's a bit of Aussie exaggeration. Still, the fish and chips at the North Broulee takeaways are nearly as nice as those from Kaiaua.
A little way inland, the historic gold mining town of Mogo is wall-to-wall knick-knacks, crafts and antiques and sells great icecreams. The reconstructed Old Mogo Town gives a taste of what life was like when gold was king and bushrangers ruled the roads 150 years ago. Mogo Zoo's exhibits include rare white lions and snow leopards.
Down the coast is Moruya whose claim to fame is that the stone for the pylons of the Sydney Harbour bridge was quarried there. A better place to study the area's volcanic rocks is Bingie Bingie Pt with its strange formations and beautiful seascapes.
Surfers shouldn't miss Bodalla either, famous for its cheese, but also home of the Malibu Mex, with its great Mexican food and surfing memorabilia.
Further south again, Narooma is a centre for big game fishing and the gateway to Montague Island, a fantastic place for diving and home to masses of shearwaters, gulls, fur seals and penguins.
And everywhere there are beaches, great, long empty beaches, with great, long empty waves rolling in from the Tasman Sea.
At South Broulee you can walk out on the rocks and sit just a few metres away from the surfers sitting on their boards, bouncing gently over the 2m swells, waiting for the right wave.
Finally it's time for me to hit the surf, too. I've never surfed before but Ansley, who started surfing at Christchurch's Brighton Beach when he was 11, reckons it's easy. "No worries, mate," he says. "We'll get you up on a board."
So here I am, at South Broulee, kitted up with an anti-chafing vest, wetsuit and my mentor's trusty old malibu, plus lots of good advice. The water's nice and warm, the waves are filthy - apparently that means great in surfspeak - and on only the third wave I'm swooping into the beach kneeling on the board. Easy peasy.
After that it gets tougher. Getting to your knees is one thing but standing up is another.
But I do have excuses. "The waves are a bit heavy," says Ansley kindly. "It's a heck of a rip. There's too many other people in the water. Let's move to North Broulee and see if conditions are a bit easier."
Sounds good to me.
The surf does seem gentler at North Broulee but it's still damn hard to catch the wave, get on to the board, stand upright and keep your balance for long enough for anyone to notice. And it's tiring. I'm running out of steam.
I figure I have the energy for one last try. Ansley repeats his advice. Then we're off ... and I'm up and cutting the wave to shreds for ... an eternity, two seconds, maybe three before overbalancing into the water.
Greg gives a triumphant "Yeee haaa" (presumably because it means he can finally go home for a rest). A guy on the beach claps his hands and when I stagger ashore shakes my hand. "First time up, eh," he says enthusiastically. "Great stuff."
I'm sure it was the tight fit of the wetsuit rather than any bravado that caused me to swagger a bit.
Still, I believe I may buy myself a really gross Hawaiian shirt to mark the occasion. If anyone asks where I got it from I can say, "Batemans Bay. Great beaches. Great waves. Best surfing I've ever had. You should go there."
Getting there
Air NZ has fares to Sydney starting at $189 (plus taxes and levies).
Kiama
For more information visit the link below on Kiama.
Batemans Bay
Batemans Bay Visitor Centre is at (61) 2 4472 6900. The Eurobodalla Nature Coast is on web (link below).
Further information
See www.sydneyaustralia.co.nz (link provided below) or phone 0800 100 006.
Jim Eagles visited Batemans Bay as guest of Tourism New South Wales and Air New Zealand.
