{"id":76436,"date":"2026-08-20T07:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76436\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T07:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:57:14","slug":"in-a-town-known-for-its-wild-coastline-a-surfing-star-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76436\/","title":{"rendered":"In a town known for its wild coastline, a surfing star is born"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not a technical term, but as our ute hurtled along a steep track down onto an isolated beach, I finally understood why the bar above the front passenger seat is nicknamed the ‘oh sh*t handle’.<\/p>\n

I shouldn’t have worried. It might have felt like my 18-year-old driver was flinging the four-wheel drive left then right, but Ruby Berry was navigating the sand gullies as well as she commands the waves on the ocean \u2014 like a pro.<\/p>\n

The rising international surfer wanted to show me one of the West Australian beaches close to home near Augusta where she trains.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

Ruby Berry was eager to show me her slice of paradise. (ABC iview: Back Roads)<\/p>\n

And she was determined to get me in the water and standing on a board.<\/p>\n

She’s a bit disappointed when we get there to discover we’re not alone. Half a dozen cars are parked on the sand, and their occupants are already in the water. That’s the problem with secret surfing spots \u2014 someone always spills the beans.<\/p>\n

This is Ruby’s first year on the pro circuit, and she’s one of the reasons Back Roads has headed to Augusta.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ruby tells me women’s surfing is a fast-growing sport. (Back Roads: Eren ‘Pinky’ Sener)<\/p>\n

The town, around three hours’ drive south of Perth, is known for its wild coastline. And, as we discovered, the weather. It definitely puts the gust into Augusta, and with predictions of 50 kilometre per hour winds we knew it was going to be a challenging week.<\/p>\n

At the famous Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, you can see that you’re at the very south-western tip of Australia, shaped by the power of both the Southern and the Indian Oceans. Augusta is also bordered by the impressive Blackwood River.<\/p>\n

\"Waves<\/p>\n

This is one of the beaches Ruby goes to train.\u00a0 (ABC iview: Back Roads)<\/p>\n

No wonder so many of the 1,400 people living here spend their days in the water. Ruby’s mum is convinced she’ll be a world champion. That’s the dream and there’s no reason to doubt it. She’s confident enough to take on tubes that would overwhelm some of the most experienced surfers.<\/p>\n

“It’s just so exciting. It’s hard to explain, you feel at one with the ocean,” Ruby told me.<\/p>\n

“I always still get a bit nervous when I’m going out to a big wave \u2014 which is natural ’cause you can literally die \u2014 but once I’m in it, I’m pretty calm.<\/p>\n

“I guess I’m a bit desensitised to it from being out there from an early age. Dad used to surf some pretty big waves, and I just got bored watching and wanted to have a go\u2026 so I did!”<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The majority of Augusta’s residents are old enough to be Ruby’s grandparents, but they show the same kind of take-no-prisoners approach to life.<\/p>\n

What do they put in the water out here?<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/a>The saltwater way<\/p>\n

I get another lesson in how these spectacular natural features inspire people when I meet up with Noongar custodian Zac Webb.<\/p>\n

The Noongar people cover a huge area from Perth down to the tip of Cape Leeuwin, and they’ve been caring for \u2014 and have been nurtured by \u2014 these waters for millennia.<\/p>\n

Zac and his dad Wayne are Wadandi, saltwater people. And they’re both part of an exciting project blending traditional knowledge with modern science.<\/p>\n

\"Zac<\/p>\n

Zac Webb is a cultural custodian of Wadandi Country. (Back Roads: Eren ‘Pinky’ Sener)<\/p>\n

In 2022, they were asked to be cultural consultants for the University of WA, whose scientists were mapping the sea floor with high-tech equipment.<\/p>\n

Zac and Wayne were curious to see if the detailed maps of the sea floor would line up with the traditional Wadandi songlines and stories.<\/p>\n

\"Rocks<\/p>\n

Augusta’s rugged coastline. (ABC iview: Back Roads)<\/p>\n

“Our old people have always told stories, passed down generation to generation, telling us of our old camps that sit out in the ocean, places that they fished and hunted,” Zac explained.<\/p>\n

“That Country is under the sea now \u2014 out there \u2014 but it’s still our Country.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to see if we could see evidence of the camps, the rivers and landscapes that we heard about in these stories.”<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Zac and his father, Wayne, worked alongside scientists to map the sea floor.\u00a0 (Supplied: Undalup Association)<\/p>\n

The sea levels might have risen and fallen dramatically over time, but the evidence was there. The maps showed where rivers had once run, just as their elders had told them.<\/p>\n

The tables were turned when they began guiding the western scientists to places underwater, to the chasms that were once the riverbanks of the Blackwood River.<\/p>\n

Hearing these stories makes you stop and pause. It’s the same feeling when we later traverse one of the inland caves, where teams have been digging through layers of rock to uncover the history of this country’s first peoples.<\/p>\n

Lisa Millar on small town festivals<\/a><\/p>\n

Lisa Millar was reminded why nothing beats the small-town festival while filming the latest episode of Back Roads in Gayndah.<\/p>\n

With our rented hard hats on our heads and gripping our light stands, we waited outside the dark cave while Zac called out for permission from the spirits to bring us in.<\/p>\n

His dad, Wayne, who has an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of WA acknowledging his work in this field, watched and waited as well.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes I’ll get a sense it’s not the right time to go in. It could be dangerous. But we’ll feel a breeze through the trees if they’re OK for me to take you in there,” Wayne explained.<\/p>\n

And sure enough, as Zac called out in his language the wind \u2014 which had been completely still for the 10-minute walk to the cave opening \u2014 brought the leaves to life as it rustled the trees for just a few seconds.<\/p>\n

We all had goosebumps.<\/p>\n

\"Zac,<\/p>\n

The caves are sacred to the Wadandi people. (ABC iview: Back Roads)<\/p>\n

So many of the stories of this place connect back to the water. It’s hard not to leave here in awe of the power of this coastline.<\/p>\n

And just in case you were wondering, Ruby didn’t manage to get me up on the board. Not even a pro surfer could stop me nosediving into the sand.<\/p>\n

“Jeez, that’s hectic,” she said, using her favourite word as I was tumbled into the shore again.<\/p>\n

I used other words, but we won’t print them here. You can be sure though I’ll be cheering “CHAMPION” when I see her name on the leaderboard and claim fame from the fact I was once (kinda) taught to surf by one of Australia’s top pros.<\/p>\n

Stream Back Roads free on ABC iview<\/a> or watch Thursdays at 8pm on ABC TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not a technical term, but as our ute hurtled along a steep track down onto an isolated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,113339,1576,113342,113341,12493,113340],"class_list":["post-76436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-back-roads","tag-beach","tag-lisa-millar","tag-ruby-berry","tag-surfing","tag-surfing-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}