First let me begin by telling you about last night's dinner. Oh ... my ... goodness. See, Parko landed two decent sized yellow fin tuna the day before, so as appertisers here on Namotu we were treated to fresh sashimi, and grilled fish cubes on skewers, before a main of surf and turf, or reef and beef, call it what you want, but you get the idea. Big hunks of steak sprinkled with grilled prawns and a simply divine hollandaise sauce. Dessert was an innovative sweet spring roll - crisp but light pastry stuffed with fruit and deep fried to perfection, topped with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Stunning. Tonight we are in for ...
What's that? The surfing? Pardon me. Here goes.
The surf held over night and Cloudbreak remained in the six to eight foot range. Last night Kelly and Tavarua manager Jon Roseman took a ski out and surfed it with a handufl of others, but opted to paddle in by the traditional method. This morning the early session ws hectic - 20-odd pro surfers trading gaping but ellusive barrels and big hacks, before competition resumed at 8.30 am with the rest of round two.
"It's all about hunting the barrel today," observed Occy, scanning the lineup. "There's not a lot of them but you've just got to find them."
Indeed, Occ did this effectively enough to shutdown an inform Kai Otton, to advance to round three, where he will meet none other than Mr Slater in perhaps the most anticipated heat in recent history.
Dean Morrison, Joel Parkinson, and Occy had earlier enjoyed phenomenal Restaurants by themselves at dawn, while the rest of the pros scrapped it out at Cloudbreak. Parko reckoned he had the longest backhand tube of his life. In other news, Bobby Martinez stood tall, casual and proud through the day's most stupendous tube to send young wildcard Yadin Nichol packing. Aussie Dayan Neve got past his Brasilian brother Leonardo Neves, to divide loyalties in the Neve(s) household.
And Frenchman Mikael Pikon sent Bruce Irons home with a dirty turd (33rd). In another long day designed to squeeze the most out of a waning swell, the first few heats of round three went off in mid-range and windy Cloudbreak late this afternoon. Bede Durbidge, Luke Steadman, Timmy Reyes, and Bobby Martinez advanced to round four. And in the heat of the day, Taj Burrow scored a perfect 10 to oust Tiago Peres, who scored a 9.67 of his own. Meanwhile, Dane Reynolds has pulled out due to a staph infection contracted in Tahiti and was warned by doctors not to fly. An early start tomorrow to get through round three and most of round four with perhaps a week's wait for more swell to finish the event.
COMPLETE ROUND 2 RESULTS:
(1st advances to Round 3; 2nd finishes =33rd)
Heat 1: Taj Burrow def. Matia Waqa
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge def. Isei Tokovou
Heat 3: Mark Occhilupo def. Kai Otton
Heat 4: Bobby Martinez def. Yadin Nicol
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan def. Ricky Basnett
Heat 6: CJ Hobgood def. Daniel Ross
Heat 7: Adriano De Souza def. Jihad Khodr
Heat 8: Royden Bryson def. Dean Morrison
Heat 9: Chris Ward def. Tom Whitaker
Heat 10: Rodrigo Dornelles def. Taylor Knox
Heat 11: Tim Reyes def. Ben Bourgeois
Heat 12: Pancho Sullivan def. Daniel Wills
Heat 13: Dayyan Neve def. Leonardo Neves
Heat 14: Mikael Picon def. Bruce Irons
Heat 15: Jay Thompson def. Neco Padaratz
Heat 16: Damien Hobgood def. Luke Munro
COMPLETED ROUND 3 HEATS:
(1st advances to Round 4; 2nd finishes =17th)
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge def. Royden Bryson
Heat 2: Luke Stedman def. Mikael Picon
Heat 3: Tim Reyes def. Roy Powers
Heat 4: Taj Burrow def. Tiago Pires
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez def. Heitor Alves
UPCOMING ROUND 3 HEATS:
Heat 6: Adrian Buchan v. Rodrigo Dornelles
Heat 7: Damien Hobgood v. Ben Dunn
Heat 8: Kelly Slater v. Mark Occhilupo
Heat 9: Mick Fanning v. Aritz Aranburu
Heat 10: Dayyan Neve v. Jordy Smith
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores v. Chris Ward
Heat 12: CJ Hobgood v. Kieren Perrow
Heat 13: Joel Parkinson v. Travis Logie
Heat 14: Pancho Sullivan v. Jay Thompson
Heat 15: Andy Irons v. Fred Patacchia
Heat 16: Adriano de Souza v. Michael Campbell