Cape Circus from Josh househam on Vimeo.

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The east coast of oz has been going crazy this winter and last weekend i ventured up to Sydney to try duck under a few slabbing lips…
My friend Benny Newman picked me up from the airport with his mate Daz. They were super hung over from a big Saturday night, but were keen as to head over to Cape Solander to take some shots and shoot a few clips. We arrived into the car park at “OURS” and it was by far the most crowded i’d ever seen the arena there. Storm Surfers were shooting there stuff with RCJ and Tommy Carroll and the usual locals were out there getting amongst it. But for how many people that were watching the action, the lineup was pretty uncrowded. Throughout the day there were only a handful of people paddling (sometimes no one) and 2-3 crew towing..
I paddled a few waves to warm up, then “Bones” came over to whip me in. On my first wave it was a bomb, i hadnt really towed “ours” before, so i was a bit sketchy and how to approach it. Ended up hitting the step on take off thinking i had it in the bag, however when i landed my board stopped dead and i proceeded to face plant and get sucked over slamming into the bottom.
It was really slow all day, but when the good ones came it was great. The arvo glassed off and the swell got cleaner and we had an amazing session trading waves with Chalk, Dingo, Bones, Roo and Dom.
I was staying at Dingo’s pad that he shares with Parramatta Eels legend Reni Maitua Fuimaono and Ren’s girlfriend Nat. They were the best hosts ever and during the time i was staying there i met some really great people. Ren’s pad is just behind the beach with a full view of the coastline and the kid surfs pretty damn good too.
Dingo was being his usual self, waking up an hour before dark frothing for surf, we head round to Chalks and wake him, then load the bus for a mish down south. The waves weren’t as good as we had hoped, but we still had heaps of fun pulling into 4-5ft spitting rights and no one else around.
Overall was a great trip with good crew, fun waves and great food. Was great hangin in Maroubra and meeting the people and surfers that make up there community. Cheers everyone that i met and thanks for the hospitality…And big thanks to Reni and Nat and Dingo for lettin my crash at there joint, Bones for whippin me into some nuggs and Chalk for taking me surfing….

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Marty Para from Jacob Wooden on Vimeo.

This is some stuff shot from my trip to NSW…..
Thanks “Woody” for the clips bro…And young Alex and Juggy for the shots. And thanks Mooney and Jug for the hospitality…
It wasnt 15ft pits, but it was heaps of fun and a lot warmer than back home.

Untitled from stugibson on Vimeo.

The last 5 days have been pretty hectic. Saturday we hit the eye of the storm and paddled huge surf down south (as you can see in my last post), then on sunday we had the funnest mellow session at one of Hobarts better point breaks (the clip of Dustin Hollick), where we had waves with multiple barrell sections. The weather ranged from 2-8 degrees with snow and hail storms and fierce 40-60 knot winds.
The swell then made its way up the east coast of Oz and Fiji was the place to be. The old bank funds weren’t treating me too good, so with reports of pumping surf in NSW, i decided to head to the Central Coast Monday morning. “Bones” picked me up from the airport, then we hightailed it to “Jugs” house and straight to the surf. The next coupla days was fun 4-6ft pits on both beachies and reefs.
Il be putting up a short edit and some shots from the NSW trip in a coupla days so stay tuned…….

There’s certain places you travel in this amazing world that give you sense of living that you will only experience a few times in your life.
Growing up as part of a generation where technology controls our lives, we find it hard to escape it. The “desert” in north west oz is a place where you heal. Your problems in your life are put to the side. The technology you rely on is abscent and forgotten. Instead of nights sitting in front of the tv, there replaced with nights sitting around a campfire, under the stars. Sharing yarns with good friends and dreaming about how good the surf might be the next morning.

This journey west came about after a storm brewed up in the Indian Ocean. It was sending swell to West Oz and Indo. The last time i was up the desert, was 4 years ago. I knew what the place had to offer and straight away my heart was drawing me to it. But ive never been to Nias and for a natural footer, it was destined to be a spot i wanted to score pumping before i die. My friends Lucas “BOO” Street and Mike Brennan were on the same program. They both had never been to either spots and were frothing at the bit to go for a mission. The call was made to stay on oz territory and the plan was put into action.

Four hrs flying and 10 hrs driving later, we pulled up at Scotty Bauers headquarters. We were to grab a few hours sleep before continuing our journey to where the desert meets ocean. Scotty has lived here his whole life and knows the ins and outs of every part of this coast and the tricks of the trade needed to survive up here in this harsh but beautiful place.

Once we had abandoned the sealed road for the dirt track, things start to get interesting. The track slowly trurns into a mud run and we start to doubt whether the little Hyundai we hired is up for the job. Scotty manoeuvres his 4wd in and out of waist deep pools of water, while we struggle to keep up behind him. Then we come face to face with “the big one”. We had heard about this part of the road. Apparently it had swallowed half dozen cars in the last 48hrs. Most of them being 4wd’s. And just to freak us out even more, there was a 4wd stuck smack in the middle, with the water up to its windows, fully abandoned. The trick was to stick to the left though, the right side was a big hole, thats what got people. We successfully edged our way through and finally made it to the carpark and our first view of the jewel.

The swell was predicted to hit this morning, but by the looks of the ocean, it hadn’t even started. As the day rolled on and the sun started beaming, still no sign of the new swell. Crew were rolling in and the carpark was slowly getting congested. The calls were being made, “hoax swell”, “swells late”, “peaked overnight” etc. We still had faith so decided to kill a bit of time and set up camp. On our return, finally signs of a pulse. That was enough to get suited up and out there. Although the water is quite warm, people tend to wear full length steamers, as the bottom is sharp and littered with sea urchins.

We were lucky enough to run into the local lads, who offered to let us crash on there camp site while we were up here. There set up was amazing, the site was on the edge of the lagoon, away from the other campers. They had a couple of jet skis pulled up on the beach and a caravan that could sleep six.If the surf was shit, everyone would go fishing or diving and in the arvo’s we would have big cook ups and sink some cans of the local brew. Once the sun would go down the starlight show would begin. As there is no houses or light posts around for hundreds of kilometres, the stars would shine brighter than ever. The lads pointed out a few constellations, like the emu and the scorpion….

Craikey took the cake for unluckiest surfer. He finally paddled out in the arvo and sat patiently out the back waiting for his wave. As the biggest wave of the day loomed onto the reef, Ry swung around and proceeded to paddle under the ledge. Once to his feet, the wave began to bottom out pushing him head first into the reef. He came up, copped the next 3 waves on the head and ended up 300m down the line. Ended up tweaking his knee pretty bad and sat the next few days on the bench. The next day Mikey did the same on another bomb.

Dino was the backside master out there, pushing through chandeliers into heaving slabs and coming out with the spit. Boo got an amazing no hands backside pit, but Kerbs and local lad Nath stole the show on the preferred side, weaving through the bombs that came through.

On the way to the airport we jsut so happened to run out of fuel 200kms from the nearest servo at 2 in the morning. Hazards went on and as cars approached we would take turns hitching. An hour later, finally a fella pulled over and offered us a lift to the servo to fill up a jerry. Lucky that, as we only just had enough time to make our flight.

Overall the trip had everything. Pumping waves, great crew, sketchy moments and amazingly good times. Cheers for Boo and Mike for being epic travel crew. Also Scotty Bauer and Dino Adrain for there hospitalty.

Big Thanks to all these lads for good times
kerby brown
ry craike
jarrah
jamen
camel
robbie
nath
randell

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MIKEY’S TAKE

Intro

The world of free surfing has shown that our secret playgrounds are doorways of knowledge that lead us to becoming greater surfers. Learning and sharing how to get there, where to paddle out, what wave is best, the inches between the right take off and a costly mistake are all parts of surfing and what we want to be aware of. All this knowledge of being a surfer is priceless and can only be gained through time. It is the reason why we look up to those before us who inspire and create perfect lines on waves and they are truly the best surfers in the world; like ANDY.

Being connected to the land and the ocean is sometimes forgotten about as being a big part of the surfer lifestyle but in fact it’s the most unique part of what surfing is all about. Since the days when kings first encountered the ocean’s energy, to today as we search for the perfect wave. Surfing the perfect wave is like a dream and like the spiritual dream world is to the aboriginals- getting barrelled is like to surfing.

The image of perfection has been moulded into our mind’s, which leads us to yearn for it. Those of you who want it bad enough will wonder outside the box, off the beaten track and for us lucky enough, we will find these experiences in moments living as surfers. After all, those lost days travelling for less than average surf are made up for when finally rewarded.

The Trip

Our trip began with myself, Marti Paradisis and Lukas Street driving through the desert hours on hours, filling up tank after tank committed to getting closer to our destination. Marti is ‘KING CHICKEN’ driving the whole way and resisting anything otherwise. Through the night we luckily caught up with Scotty Bauer who we followed along dirt track crossings and treacherous pathways on our way inward. Ahead lay a sunken 4-wheel drive submerged to its windscreen in muddy water with a small tinny attached. The tinny appeared to be afloat as we spun past trying to mimic the exact tire tracks of Scotty. With a crazy evil laugh he punched through puddle after puddle, which somehow we managed to follow.

As the sun gradually arose on our arrival, so did the swell. It still wasn’t yet clear what we were in for over the next few days but regardless it was already feeling special. We were lucky enough to setup camp with local threaders Kerby Brown, Ry, Dino Adrian, Jam’o …. , Nath Brejnack along with Goldy resident Jarrah Tutton and visiting image creators & Mikey. It was the best campsite I had ever seen and located right along a beautiful beach and lagoon. Dino’s grey 70’s style caravan was sprayed with a large black peace symbol that set the scene. With shelter, dining table, bbq and fireplace we felt as though we were living it up old school with a cool hippy vibe. As the evening was upon us the swell looked like it was stacking up to the horizon. Blue arora’s bounced between the lines and into out a space as the night sky came alive. Although there was not much to see in the desert, talk of UFO’s, aliens, and murders kept us on the look out, under the brightest stars everybody told a few yarns before passing out awaiting the next day of waves.

The next day we awoke early to brew the coffee, suit up and make the very solid paddle out. The waves were mean, square and heavy. Breaking in shallow water so making it out the back and avoiding a set was nerve racking. The tight take off positioned everybody close and everyone took turns to dig into the sets and set a line threading down into the inside bowl. Some un-believable barrels were ridden with some really critical take off’s were taken. Ry on his first wave went down on a bomb unfortunately, hurting his knee as it jacked right up. I felt guilty as I called him into it, but Kerby ensured me he was making him go anyway. Those guys are fuckin funny, real cool and surf amazing. The sections of the wave just threw out wide the whole way down the line, with steps coming up the face of the wave. A reminder of the waves consequence was reported after news of a booger being scalped by the sharp reef and having to be rushed to hospital put things into perspective. Everyone shared the swell and picked up some amazing rides to remember and all day the waves were pumping, as it got glassier toward dusk.

It was like a dream, quick enough to blur but powerful enough to imprint on my brain forever. I started remembering how epic it was to be in a new place and learn everything about it, watch the local’s rule it knowing everything absolutely possible about the joint including where to go for the best Ice cream. We met up with more epic locals like Camel, who told us more funny unrepeatable stories followed by more surf. Just as it became all too evident to me this was what it was all about, meeting the people who inspire and sharing a really strong connection that exists with such a place. Evil, powerful, perfect for sure, but something else about the place, I don’t know if the colours of the red desert and blue water have anything to do with it or the fact that everything was so desolate yet alive. But, the fact was it was good to get a new perspective on life. After reading Flanagan’s book ‘Here on Earth’ and thinking about the world spinning at something like 1000+ kph, to get barrelled moving that fast against what is occurring must mean it is something like a warped vortex which is why I think it must feel so good.

Simon Treweek has been working on an interesting concept by doing a project which includes filming and putting together mini episodes of surfing all the coasts of Tasmania. Here’s the first couple… I’l update as future episodes are released. Enjoy……..

All photos Andrew Chisholm

Shippies is a pretty consistant wave really. Sometimes when conditions look great it can be a complete hoax and other times it produces the goods when least expected. The 28th and 29th May was one of those days. Yes the swell was predicted to be pretty large, but the winds were looking horrible. My friend “John BONES Dwyer” came down for the swell so it was a pleasant surprise to be greeted with 10-12ft tubs unloading at the base of the big cliff. The usual suspects were amongst the barrell dwellers, James and Ty Hollmer-Cross, Danny Griffiths, Mikey Brennan, Jimi Mckean and Rudi Schwartz.. The “POM” came down to give it another try and actually got some nuggets, well earned considering he had to sit on the rocks and watch on the “day of days” a coupla weeks ago. Storm Surfers were in town doin there thing with there 3d cameras and Ross and Tom in the line up. Everyone got well pitted all day. A few crew hung around down south for the Sunday session which was another amazing day. A little smaller but just as clean and half the crowd. Those are the days that stand out. Just a nice crew with consistant waves and sunny skies. I told Bones he just experienced a rare occasion, most people who have there first sessions out at shippies are lucky to get it on, let alone two days in a row. He was the happiest man alive..
At the end of the day i grabbed my GO PRO out and whipped into a few… Theres also a coupla of clips from a trip i did down deep south with Sandy Ryan and Adam Morris, we scored 6-8ft left hand slabbers and had an amazing session. Check in soon for the shots and the stern Clip….. YEEEEEAAAAAW

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The last two days have been so fun… Shippies was throwing out the goods again with 10-15ft waves yesterday and 8-12ft pits today… Heres a shot from the inside.. I will do a more detailed report with footage and photos the next coupla days……..

Andrew “CRISPY” Christie is Volcom’s in house photographer. His set-up consists of a greedy bar so he can capture it all in motion as well.. I recently went on an Ours mish and Crispy came along to capture some action…..

See more of Crispy’s work at www.chroniclesofchristie.com/