Mt Woodgee. It’s more than just a brand name.

It’s a mountain found geographically on the map of the Gold Coast, Australia.

A unique place; Mt Woodgee has it’s roots entwined at the core of some
of surfing’s richest history.

The rustic farmhouse on top of the mountain was built in 1918 and stood
on old hardwood poles milled from the land. The Gold Coast’s classic point
breaks were all clearly visible at the front, and the majestic Mt Warning was
a backdrop to the west.

Little wonder that at 365 ft above sea level, the farmhouse with it’s 33 acres of tropical rainforest made a perfect haven for the hardcore surfers who called her ‘home’.

Mt Woodgee and it’s legendary farmhouse were truly heaven on earth for us.

We had no power, water, telephone or amenities. We had corrugated iron water tanks, candles and lamps for light, a barbeque out the back and car batteries hooked up to our black and white T.V. A six foot hole in the ground was the toilet. But best of all – there was no rent to pay.

We were stylin’!

A great aspect of farm life was that you could wake up to the sight of Kirra and Snapper Rocks barrelling below, without even getting out of bed. As our lives consisted of surfing, surfing and more surfing, our home could not have been more perfect.

Mt Woodgee’s founder – Nick - shaped his first boards under the farmhouse in the early 70’s. In what proved the ultimate set up, he would come home after surfing all day and go straight down to his shaping bay with a mind full of inspiration.

One memorable day, he woke up at 4am, shaped a board and then laminated the bottom. After a morning surf, he came home, finished the board and surfed it at Snapper Rocks in the afternoon…as fresh as they come!!
In the ‘70’s surfers had a less than respectable reputation to say the least. The Woodgee gang was no different. People in town couldn’t quite come to terms with the enigmatic, wild looking crew from the remote farmhouse in the rainforest.

It was bloody difficult to negotiate the kilometre long track up to the house. Even we would frequently get bogged. Those uninvited visitors silly enough to ignore the ‘keep out’ sign would – more often than not – grind to a muddy halt amongst the cane toads and carpet snakes.

….so what was going on up on Mt Woodgee?

Grommets spoke in whispers of the place and it's crew…. awed, maybe even a little frightened.

The mystique of Mt Woodgee drew curiosity from a wide range of people.

These included invited crew, like our great mates Rabbit Bartholemew, Jack McCoy, Micheal and Tommy Peterson, Michael Ho, Gary Elkerton, Al Byrne and countless other ‘surfing brothers’.

Unfortunately it also included other uninvited elements who were neither surfers nor brothers.

The police were so convinced that Mt Woodgee was at the very epicentre of world drug markets that they routinely raided our idyllic environment with their helicopters and attack dogs. In fact they became such frequent visitors that Nick started selling surfboards to them for their sons.

And the results of all of the Drug Squad’s massive efforts? Giant fields of marijuana plants, their swollen buds reaching into the heavens? Massive underground caches of narcotics, deviously buried in the rainforest?

No.

Wheatgrass.

Wheatgrass, the grain that when juiced produces a drink that cleanses the system and invigorates the soul.

The cops had finally exposed us.

Yes…. we were health freaks.

It was quite funny really. Of course all of this attention deepened ‘the mystery of the mountain’.

The truth behind the ‘mystical’ Mt Woodgee is impressive not for it’s many legendary tall tales of week-long parties, territorial surf nazis, womanising and grommet sacrifice.

The real truth is much more humble.

It is really all about living the ‘surfer’s dream’ – a bunch of mates enjoying a simple, self sufficient life in an impossibly beautiful setting, shaping surfboards, and surfing their brains out in some of the world’s best waves.

With it’s variety of snakes, fruit bats and cocoas palms, the farmhouse exuded an ‘otherworldly’ charm; especially at sundown with good friends sharing an after surf barbeque under the stars.

In contrast to the often superficial world of the Gold Coast, visitors to the mountain saw our way of life as spiritual and unique. Mt Woodgee had a whole fascinating infrastructure that people really identified with, and a total spontaneity not unlike some outlandish movie set.

It is because the Mt Woodgee crew have lived this life and carry it in our hearts; that we committed to sharing the joy with our fellow surfers.

That’s how the business – ‘Mt Woodgee Surfboards’ began to grow.

At first, Nick would make boards for friends with an ‘upfront’ payment to buy materials. Later, as they became more and more popular outside the immediate circle of friends, he would get the materials on credit and make batches of boards that he’d sell on ‘runs’ up and down the coast.

After a few trips, he’d be able to fund an overseas surf mission, and off he’d go for a few months. Of course, there was never any shortage of caretakers at the farmhouse due to the free rent!

‘Mt Woodgee’ surfboards were growing so rapidly in popularity that a move to formalise the business was inevitable.

In 1984, Nick opened the company’s first shop in Dutton St Coolangatta. It was all of 20 square metres and contained ten surfboards, ten pairs of boardshorts, twenty blocks of wax and forty t-shirts.

The list of Mt Woodgee team riders from this era was a virtual ‘who’s who’ of Gold Coast surfing and – coupled with the excellent response to the ‘farmhouse’ based artwork on our clothes – meant that more outlets and distribution were required to ‘share the joy’.