I got myself a fairly stiff graphite 12 ft rod for casting big poppers, it was rated to 10-15kg and teamed it up with a Okuma Soltera SLR-10CS. However the rod I bought was way too stiff for my liking, The poppers I cast out were about 180gm-200gm and about 220mm long but just didn't like the action of the rod nor could I get any more significant distance out of it than when I used my 9ft overhead rod, but it had more height to keep the line out of the surf better, since then I haven't done any more surf fishing so I have mothballed it and if I do any more surf fishing I will go back to using the 9ft.
Granted it was a cheapy rod I picked on E-Bay so bought it sight unseen, it was for a quick trip for a few days down at Kirra beach, I rarely go surf fishing so didn't want to spend decent money on a rod that I might only use once every ten years or so, my advice would be if you do a lot of that style of fishing then get a decent rod, go to a tackle shop, get their advice and put one in your hand to get a feel for it.
If you don't want to spend decent money on a rod then I can lend this one to you for your holiday duration, I live near Caboolture. Just PM me for details.
Cheers
Ed.