Published on August 16th, 2012 | by Cahill Bell-Warren

Cahill Bell-Warren – Newquay WQS Blog

Getting there was a bit of a mission, 42 hours from door to door. I flew Melbourne – Singapore – Dubai – London.

I met up with Ty Watson in Heathrow Airport and it took a bit of doing to track down our hire car. We couldn’t find Ty’s brother Jordi, he had a bit of a shocker and got stuck getting grilled in Immigration, classic grom behaviour.

The biggest thing about Newquay was the waves. Super weak, sloping semi fat burgers. Think a cross between Ocean Grove and Torquay front beach.

We had a few days up our sleeves so we settled into Newquay life, we stayed at a B&B and it was a hell joint, full of my mates from Australia right near the contest.

By the time the event actually started the waves were horrendous. I had a seed and surfed late on the first day.

I don’t want it to sound like I am trying to make excuses, but the first thing I must mention is that the waves were horrendous. The waves for my heat were the smallest I have ever experienced at an event. Welcome to the QS Cahill!

I had a couple of nothings, then found a wave that actually broke and locked down a 5.5, only needing a 2 for first.

The other guys in my heat were building houses, with walls of 2′s and a roofs made of 3′s.

Next thing I know I slipped to third requiring a 1.67. I had only been chasing a 2 for first and despite many attempts I couldn’t get it.

If it were 2ft I would have been able to sneak inside and get such a small score on an insider, but when it is 0.5ft I was totally unable to get even such a small score without finding a breaking wave.

Obviously I was disappointed, but I have chosen to look at it as a learning experience.

They double banked and knocked the contest off in a couple of days. Newquay was a pretty entertaining place despite it being completely unsurfable.

Together with our crew from the B&B, we played golf, went adventuring and stumbled across the smallest ten pin bowling lanes.

The Newquay nightlife was pretty much thriving, it was the biggest week of the year for the small town. I didn’t go mad, but I sampled several ales from the various licenced venues. The pinnacle of our non surfing activities was our time spent at the Relentless Music Festival.

It was the biggest music festival I have ever been to, peaking with a mental Dizzee Rascal set on the last night.

I have since left Newquay and flown to France for the Sooruz Lacanau Pro.

Lacanau is the busiest place I have ever been to, the quiet coastal town has been completely inundated by throngs of French people and 140 or so surfers. There is absolutely no accommodation available here, we were forced to stay an hour away at Bordeaux on the first night. We somehow snuck into a hotel on the beach right by the contest for a couple of nights. Yesterday I won my round 2 heat (making sure that I wouldn’t be left chasing 2′s)and am really looking forward

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About the Author

Cahill Bell-Warren After competing in the Fantastic Noodles Big Wave Invitational, Cahill has been given the tag "big wave surfer". Don't let the tag confuse you however, he has a reputation for being an intense competitor in small waves. Growing up on the hill at Bells Beach, Cahill's surfing has been honed on the long right hand waves in the area. As a junior Cahill was not a stand out, but has developed into one of Victoria's top juniors once he hit the Pro Junior ranks, finishing the series as the highest rated Victorian in 2008. Struck down with a knee injury in his final year on the Juniors, Cahill has a intense fire to succeed on the WQS series. In between events, Cahill works full time at Surfing Victoria. PISBTW, Wingman and Team Up Ambassador