Pome Surfer?!

[jakc]

Hi, first post.

Me and my missus moved over from england about 5mths back, we live in Brunswick, Melbourne, and are looking to take a couple of weeks off around end of October to head off in my ute down Torquay direction for a surfin holiday.

Im a beginner in the sport, used to borrow a friends longboard (cant remember exact size, but im 6ft2, weigh around the 80-85kg mark, and board was somwhere between 6ft5 to just under 7ft.
We also both did a month in portugal, but only managed to get in about a weeks surfing. To be blunt, im crap - can stand up and just about manouvre a longboard, but im still falling off more than standing up,
The other half rode a blob type board and is probably a little better.

Anyhow - we have fun, and intend on getting down coast a fair bit.

1. Need to get myself a board and wetsuit.
Have read a number of internet guides, but would like some general advice on what board to get.
So taking into account my size, inexperience, and the fact that im a pome, can you recommend me good board shapes/types, 2nd hand shops to get them from, is ebay/gumtree dodgy, etc
I guess its tricky choice - do I stick with a longboard type shape, i.e. something thats easy to get up and on, but run the risk of wanting to upgrade sooner when I get better (it happens, right?) or get a beginner style shortboard shape? Look - I aint into looking cool, and I aint gonna be hitting anything huge, so I just want a board thats gonna be real fun to ride.

2. Surfing holiday
Rough plan is to pack camping stuff in ute, buy boards beforehand, head down to Torquay, and depending on weather conditions, head to where the forecast is good.
Would like a list of beaches/spots where we are not going to piss off locals; surf is generally consistent (as can be), and ideally not too rough/dangerous for amateurs.
Open to any suggestions, dont really want to drive more than 5hrs from melbourne unless its really worth it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[DaneAU]

Well for your board, you need something that is going to float you easily and something that is stable - a mini mal is a great idea, which is what i believe you may have used previously

Best bet is to pick up a second hand mini mal something in the mid - high 7 ft range with a bit of thickness and heavy rails so you spend the time paddling into waves and improving rather than sitting their concentrating on not falling off your board

As for the surfing holiday - i really cannot help you as i am from Sydney not that area, i would however say there is great surfing north of sydney ~ smaller beach breaks that are safe and accessibly, which i am sure Victoria also provides. The water this time of year is more than likely still really quite cold down there ( just guessing ) so for a wetsuit your more than likely going to need a steamer, especially if your the long type of surfer ~ meaning you stay out for hours eager to get a better wave than the last ~ something reasonably thick but no such thick that you can barely move.

Maybe a good idea is to have a look through the surfschools section of the site and give some in your area a call and ask for some advice from them, i am sure they would be happy to help. There are quite a few learners on this site, perhaps the member WooleyShaping on this site might be able to be a little more specific with what would suite your needs too

Anway have a look http://www.surfaus.com.au/learn-surf...chools-40.html to get some solid advice as to what is the best type of board for you to learn on