It's the final day of the year, and what better time to look back on the year that was. While again not a standout year on the East Coast, there were more than a few moments and only a handful of days that were totally unsurfable around the Sydney region.

The first real swell of consequence was that of Tropical Cyclone Oma. A large north-east groundswell made its way down the south east Queensland coast from the initial stages of Oma, with a follow up large east-southeast as it turned extra-tropical right off the coast. Good 4-6ft+ NE groundswell fell way to 10-12ft or E/SE swell.

Post Oma, a holiday to the Northern Hemisphere to visit a mate in Colorado saw me surfing liquid of a different form and also coming across one of the craziest landscapes I've seen. Sand dunes at 2,650m above sea level with 4,000m mountains as a back drop. How they came to be is explained in this article.. The great sand dunes in the sky.

On return to Australia, the surf lit up with a great run of uncrowded east-northeast swell over the Easter Long Weekend. I swam with the housing one session and captured these shots of my mates enjoying the spoils.

Fun sessions where had into late autumn, making the most of moderate southerly groundswell pulses.

It was one of the better starts to winter in recent years, culminating in a prolonged E/NE groundswell event under offshore winds early July.

The annual roadtrip to Splendour coincided with a great run of moderate to large S'ly groundswell and offshore tending variable winds with minimal crowds. It was exhausting working on the road while the rest of the Swellnet team was on leave, but getting a few great empty sessions in made it all the worth while.

The focus then turned away from the surf to another big snow season. The third in a row, with many epic campouts and lines put down the Main Range. Take note of the inversion in the third shot down, walking above the clouds as the sun sets was one of the most special moments of the year.

In between snow trips the surf continued to provide if you knew where to look.

When two back to back days of large Shippies lined up with clear, sunny skies, I couldn't resist and bought a cheap ticket down to Tasmania and shoot the action. Perched half way up the cliff looking into the barrel I shot these photos from deep in the Tassie wilderness.

The end of the year consisted of one more holiday mixing up the surf and snow, and putting down a couple of solo lines, deep in the backcountry.

The Fight for the Bight community paddle out was a special day, seeing everyone rally behind such a great cause. Pity the goverment doesn't seem to be listening.

The final week of the year provided good waves back home in South Oz and here's to an even bigger and better 2020!

Happy New Year!