Welcome, Pommy. There's a few of your countrymen on the forum. Lennox Head is a pretty nice part of the world, some good rock platforms from what I could see driving from Byron down to Ballina, and back inland.
I can't say I'd be keen to go kayaking or swimming in that area, with the shark attacks in recent years, but some good fishing, no doubt.
I think opinion is divided about Alan, over here, but plenty of keen fishos know about him and read his site. I think his reviews are quite useful to add into the mix of my decision making. But they do tend to get a bit over my head in terms of technical analysis. Are some of the issues he notes really going to affect me in the lifetime of my reels, given I'm not doing hard core kingie jigging etc?
Others aren't convinced about his conclusions based on their personal experience with a particular reel. And some have picked out what they reckon are errors in his background observations.
I'm sure dyed in the wool Daiwa addicts are tired of his slamming of the magseal technology and servicing, but others can see where he's coming from.
As you can see from this thread, everybody is different in terms of budget, rod they're balancing the reel with.
I presume you're talking Saragosa when you say SW10000. Lot of fans of the Saragosas over here. Do you mean the Lethal 100? Pretty heavy reel, certainly heavier than to match my rod. But others on the forum have rated it as bullet proof and good for the money.