The Token Victorian

TBC End Of Year

2010-11-21T20:57:00.005+11:00

Sorry Mum

2010-11-13T19:37:00.001+11:00

She wanted a signature, but wasnt wearing enough clothing....

Starting Out

2010-11-02T20:46:00.000+11:00

Chase Galbraith is the new man behind the lens in Torquay. He put this together for a school project... an amazing edit for a first up crack. Stay tuned for more Galmut videos to come.

starting out from Chase Gabraith on Vimeo.

FUEL TV - TOKEN VICTORIAN

2010-10-29T10:35:00.006+11:00

Matt Kleiner, the man behind THE WAY OF THE OCEAN put together this clip of me surfing Winki for FUEL TV. Check it out..

PERFECT Conditions.

2010-10-28T21:14:00.000+11:00

Winkipop...

Bells Bowl...

Shame the swell didn't come to the party.

Gamblingdreams.blogspot

2010-10-25T21:43:00.003+11:00

I don't know personally know who wrote this. But I do know one of her best friends. Check http://gamblingdreams.blogspot.com/2010/10/promise.html and read the post titled "My Minds Eye". It is EPIC. I honestly doubted a 17 year old chick from the Goldy could produce this sort of shit.

Boardriders Final

2010-10-23T11:17:00.000+11:00

Getting the shot for Jim Beam.

Mitch Baker confirmed he is now a TBC man and won. Todd Rosewall second, Johhny Hawken third and myself in fourth.

On an even more sombre note, that board died soon after the shot was taken.

Flogged

2010-10-19T19:29:00.000+11:00

Todd Rosewall and myself about to get our arses handed to us by a Bells Bowl clean up set. It is fair to say that we did some underwater adventuring moments after this shot was taken.

Board Violation

2010-10-16T19:17:00.000+11:00

My shaper Cory Russel hates the sprays I do on my boards. This one is no exception.

Jeff Rowley - CHARGE FOR CHARITY!

2010-10-14T15:20:00.003+11:00

Shit Pub

2010-10-13T19:13:00.001+11:00

The pub sucks. I have no recollection of taking this shot, and its the only photo I took this night... I think it sums up the experience perfectly. Word on the street is that the finger belongs to Leigh Masek.... Fun times though...

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 9

2010-10-10T21:33:00.000+11:00

*THE MISSING PIECE

Boredom at surfing events has been known to kill many a man. At this one pad JJB found some puzzles and we had a go at nailing one of them. We selected a 750 piece picture of Uluru. Initially spirits were high, several cups of tea were sunk and progress was made.

A coin was tossed and selection was made.

JJB's face tells the story. Excitement. Joy. Satisfaction.

The edges were tough but we soldiered on.

Tommy "Ipsy Wipsy" Allan took a brief look at it. He was overwhelmed when he realised that there were 740 pieces of puzzle more than he was used to.

We ended up giving up. It was fun while it lasted.

Actually, to be honest it was a shit idea to begin with.....

JJB Ripping Switch

2010-10-08T21:20:00.000+11:00

The Port Macquarie Aussie Titles competitors shit bag came with a little magazine full of details about the event. Josh Johnson Baxter noticed that he got the shot.... Incentives you ask? Unlikely because the magazine sucked. The main problem however though was that the shot of him had been reversed. Baxter is pretty talented, but he isn't that good.

Lighthouse Band Shot

2010-10-05T20:00:00.000+11:00

Getting all boy band up in Lighthouse Beach for the open Aussie titles.
From left to right. Keyboard - Luke Reading. Triangle - Sam Lendrum. Auto tune assisted vocals - Cahill Bell-Warren

Tailgated

2010-10-03T21:51:00.000+11:00

The highbeams from a truck destroyed my retinas.

Cowrie Road

2010-10-01T19:26:00.002+10:00

Free piss at the cycling world championships... Then Cowrie Road. Murph and Cahilll went mad.

Wn faisant des folies dans la route de cauri, le poussin français est une plate-forme pétrolière woohoo!

Cover & The Dead Dalai

2010-09-28T07:58:00.001+10:00

What a day in the life of the Token Victorian. Went to sleep at 4am, woke at 6am to do a run to the a visit a location we haven't surfed in a long time.

Wave two of the session landed the photo above, wave three the photo below. I managed to run straight into the man behind the lens, Ed Sloane, the impact forcing him to let go of his housing. No big deal, his wire reinforced leash will keep his precious camera close by. Ed's leash snapped and his $8000+ set up was nowhere to be seen. We scoured the lineup for over 30 seconds before the Big Grizzly, Zeb Walsh, jumped on it like a footballer. Crisis averted, however the session in front of the his fisheye lens was over.

Ed had driven down with the Dali Lama, aka Shyama Buttonshaw. The Dalai had consumed several alcoholic beverages the previous evening and was more than feeling the effects. Rendered unable to surf by his alcohol induced sickness, the Dali curled up in the shade and proceeded to spread his remaining stomach contents throughout the car park.

Watch the video below, it has some highlights from the drive home. It is proper hilarious.

The Day The Dalai Died from THE TOKEN VICTORIAN on Vimeo.

Thanks to

http://trosewall.blogspot.com

http://sloanephotos.blogspot.com

Coastalwatch Caption

2010-09-27T19:32:00.003+10:00

Don't believe everything you read on the internet, including this caption on coastalwatch.com. Yes Bells was very big on friday morning, it wasn't too wobbly as they described it, and I definitely wasn't towing with Ross Clarke Jones. It was just myself and Todd Rosewall trading waves, with nothing more than our arms to get us around the lineup.

The Token Victorian - VB

2010-09-25T21:16:00.000+10:00

Highest scoring wave of the day wins a slab of VB.

I didn't make a heat, but ended up with multiple slabs of the golden ale.

"I can't drink this shit, you are from Victoria, you have it".

There are times where it pays to be The Token Victorian.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 8

2010-09-23T21:05:00.000+10:00

*THE SUBARU HOTEL

I personally see this as a great moment in my life, however the general consensus is that this is an unfortunate thing. Waking up hungover, with a 16 hour drive ahead of me I made a decision to break up the trip with an overnight stay in the Subaru Hotel. Located wherever it is needed, the Subaru Hotel is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. This overnight stay happened around 400 k's from Melbourne. It was cold and I didn't have enough room to lay on my back because the old girl was loaded full of shit. There was ice on the windows when I woke up and it is fair to say I didn't actually sleep much at all. But hey, as the saying goes. Stop. Revive. Survive...

Brilliance In Words

2010-09-22T21:25:00.001+10:00

"The problem with familiarity is that it breeds invisibility "

Have a good think about it. Go deep and let it play with your mind.

Twitpic Memories

2010-09-20T18:19:00.000+10:00

Todd Rosewall dropping a classic South Australian memory on twitter. Fun times.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 7

2010-09-17T20:42:00.000+10:00

*THE DEPARTING HOUSEMATES.

A bit of teamwork never goes astray, however when someone looses a contest and decides to get out of town early, a rubbish clean out is not on top of their mind. Hence I am drawn to this unfortunate moment in surfing. Check this rubbish pile I was left with at a recent event. What should take 5 minutes when everyone chips in, turns into a half hour solo mission. Thanks boys for hooking me with a clean kitchen...

Kustom Airstrike Winner

2010-09-16T20:47:00.001+10:00

Flynn Novak takes the 50k for a backflip he named the Flynnstone Flip. I personally think Chippa Wilson and his Bigspin was stiff, as Flynn's could be called an inverted air reverse...

Check this clip video from Kustom, it's the official winners clip with a sick song and mental editing.

Untitled from Kustom Airstrike on Vimeo.

A Day To Remember.

2010-09-16T20:24:00.004+10:00

Thursday the 16th of September... A day to remember.

After having a hell time out the infamous Bells Beach Bowl in the morning, Todd Rosewall and myself got together a crew of frothing groms and decided to swing them into the biggest conditions the Surfcoast has seen in a while. The team was myself, Todd Rosewall, Mitch Baker, Boris Cole, Hazza Mann and Shyama Buttonshaw. Harry "So tall if he fell over he would land in Lorne" Lee took shit shot on departure.

The Cape Sorell Buoy, located off Tasmania, recorded its biggest ever real wave reading at 11am on this fateful day, the one wave was over 18metres high.... The general rule is that it takes 6 hours for the swell hitting Cape Sorell to get to our hometown, so at 5pm we hit it.

2 Tow Teams at Winki. Absolutely no one at Bells.

Upon return to the Fisho's boatramp, the tow boys declared "No one was game enough to paddle..."

Oh how wrong they were.

We parked at Bells, got changed and piled into AJ Lynch's van cheat our way around to Southside for the only ocean access point available.

We had to do the full on paddle from Jarosite Reef around to Bells, much to the excitement of the 10000000 carpark surfers lining the cliffs.

We all got some huge ones and managed to make it in safely just before dark.

Holy shit, it is fair to say that we all love life right now.....

Friends Of TVIC - Georgia Fish.

2010-09-15T21:58:00.000+10:00

Georgia Fish - 17 - Mornington Penninsula, Victoria.

Check her tumblr here.

Andy Irons - I Surf Because

2010-09-10T22:07:00.005+10:00

I dont really want to fill this blog with other peoples videos and shit, but I had to post this on here. This is one of the best clips I have ever watched on youtube, hands down. Made me want to surf, it also made me want to get a 100 second backhand tube but that is another story...

Back To Back

2010-09-08T20:34:00.007+10:00

I managed to go back to back at the West Coast Open Titles. It was a bit of a hollow victory, with Phillip Island Boardriders winning the Teams Titles the day before. Im not saying the contest means nothing, because I really really wanted to win, and winning felt good. I had committed to working the event set up and was up early to check the conditions to let contest director Pete Murphy know my thoughts. At first light, Bells looked big and wobbly. I raced home and grabbed all sorts of boards ranging from a standard shortie to a 7'2. First heat I rode a 6'6 and managed to crease the shit out of it doing a reo in the Bowl. I surfed the rest of the day on a 6'3 and was more than pleased with its performance. I had to surf 4 heats including the final, more than once coming in from a heat only to re wax, change rashie color and paddle back out. Getting out was a full mission, I gave myself 15 minutes of solid paddling prior to each heat... I was rooted by the end of the day.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 6

2010-09-07T20:00:00.000+10:00

*THE CHINESE WAX JOB.

Before the surf we took pride and care when stacking boards. After a great day of surfing we couldn't give a shit about the pile of shooters. Not caring = no towel = chinese wax job = increased friction between water and board = reduced performance = angry surfers.

Quokka?

2010-09-05T18:42:00.001+10:00

What the hell is it? It is a Quokka.

What is a Quokka? Its a mix between a huge rat and a small kangaroo.

Where the flip do I find one? Rottnest Island.

What is it doing on a boardbag? We just scared it out of our cabin.

What was it doing there? Just chilling, it shat everywhere too.

Haha poo.

Dimity Aus Open Champ Video

2010-09-02T00:47:00.005+10:00

Dimity Stoyle's highlights from the final of the 2010 Australian Open Titles Women's division. Watch it in fullscreen and be sure to select HD...

Dimity Stoyle, 2010 Australian Open Women Champion from THE TOKEN VICTORIAN on Vimeo.

Chippa's Movie Preview

2010-09-01T18:02:00.003+10:00

This is the preview for Chippa Wilson's new profile video. It is going to be cover mounted on the November issue of Stab Magazine. Its filmed by one of my mates Riley Blakeway and it is going to be crazy. I cant wait.

Now, An Analog Moving Picture Project from Analog Clothing on Vimeo.

Dave and Laura Macaulay Video

2010-08-31T10:59:00.002+10:00

Got my film on during the Open Australian Titles...

Dave and Laura Macaulay, Australian Titles 2010 from THE TOKEN VICTORIAN on Vimeo.

Aussies Highlight Video Appearance Day 6

2010-08-30T13:43:00.004+10:00

Landed a few clips in this highlight video. It shows the ONLY two waves I caught in my quarter final loss. If you want to skip straight to me, I make an appearance at the 1.15 mark of the video.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 4 & 5

2010-08-28T19:14:00.000+10:00

*EXCESS LEGGIE STRING

Leggies are an integral part of surfing. People have made careers from designing them, and

there is more technology in them than most people would know. When put under pressure the leggie string can pull through the tail of the board, making a mess. It has happened to me in the past and I have seen it happen to others, which is why the railsaver was invented. The railsaver is wider and thicker than the humble leggie string, meaning it spreads pressure across the tail when put under pressure, resulting in a massive reduction in tail destruction.

The picture below is of a standard leggie, with the long black section on the left being the railsaver, and the bigger black ankle strap on the right. Click the image below to check the Creatures of Leisure leggie range.

This brings me to part 4 of Unfortunate Moments in Surfing, Excess Leggie String.

Pulling up to a freezing cold Victorian carpark, I looked through the window in the car next to mine and saw this surfing atrocity. Check how long the leggie string is. The board was newish and I will put money on that string pulling through the tail. It is an accident waiting to happen. A crying shame really.

*THE MISPLACED TAIL PAD

The poor bloke who owns this shooter had an absolute shocker when preparing it for war with the waves. We all know that the "sweet spot" on a surfboard is hard to find, and this lad has made things harder for himself to find it because he has lost 4 inches tail to place his back foot. I call this the Josh Johnson-Baxter...

Anglesea River Sunrise

2010-08-22T20:28:00.000+10:00

Watching the sun rise is one of the special things in life. I everyone should do it more often, I am guilty of sleeping in too much...

Taken while standing in the Anglesea servo.

Vote 1. JEFF ROWLEY For The EDDIE!

2010-08-19T16:09:00.005+10:00

Your vote can help Jeff Rowley to be invited to this year’s In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave surfing competition, held at Waimea Bay, Hawaii!

This means so much to him- this is what he is passionate about!

Jeffs Promise:
When he gets in the event he promises to keep a blog and send you email updates of his journey- from his training at home before the event all the way through the event. He will share his stories and experiences along the way with you!

Here's how:
1. Log onto www.polls.quiksilver.com (15 seconds)
2. Enter your basic details- name/birthday etc (30 seconds)
3. Tick 25 invitees and 25 alternates. If you don’t know the surfers please tick from top to bottom- it’s quick & easy. (2 minutes) TVIC also suggests Paul Patterson and Tony Ray.
4. “WRITE IN A RIDER”: at bottom:
First name: Jeff Last name: Rowley Then click “Add”. (10 seconds)
5. Click “Continue” button to finish. Total time 3 minutes!
*Please do it today- entries close August 31st.

A final message from Jeff...

"I WANT TO BE THERE, IN THIS EVENT TO INSPIRE OTHER PEOPLE TO LIVE THEIR DREAMS!!!"

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 3

2010-08-19T13:34:00.000+10:00

*THE EMPTY PIE WARMER

The humble Australian meat pie can contain beef, buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit and sheep. The Average Australian consumes 12 meat pies a year. My personal record is 9 in one day.

No other food makes me feel better after a surf and a meat pie. Nothing to extreme, it doesn't have to be gourmet or anything. A stock standard pie is perfect. This brings me to the third instalment of unfortunate moments in surfing... The empty pie warmer. Milk bars and general stores cannot prepare for the onslaught of a car load of hungry surfers, and thus they cannot be blamed when they run low on pies. A first in first served approach applies and there is nothing worse than being "that guy" who has to have a sausage roll, or even worse, some rank potato cakes because you were a bit slow getting out of the car.

I took this shot in Lavers Hill, fortunately after we had made our pie purchases. I feel for the next surfer who came in and found this horrifying sight, the empty pie warmer.

Who Is Rodd Rosewell?

2010-08-18T21:04:00.008+10:00

Cruising through the heat draw for the final Pro Junior event of 2010, I was alerted to a fresh name; Rodd Rosewell.. He must be someone, he has a round of 64 seed. I am confused.

Who the flip is Rodd Rosewell?

Sounds like some form of back room child porn fiend, or the type to commit a school yard massacre. Im pretty sure I recently read that Rodd Rosewell was actually born a girl and was given the name Mary...

I think the man in the white singlet for Heat #14 of the round of 64 at the Dripping Wet Pro Junior is actually TODD ROSEWALL.

Thank goodness for that, because there is no use for the kiddly fiddling mass murderer Rodd Rosewell on the Junior Series.

Here is a shot of the real Todd Rosewall, hiding behind the curtain at a secret Mundaka like left that everyone claims but no one actually knows about.

Big thanks to Codie Klein, the self proclaimed number one fan of the Token Victorian, for bringing this unfortunate miss identification to my attention...

WA Shark Attack

2010-08-17T18:03:00.002+10:00

Mental shit. Check the news story here at the Perth Now website.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 2

2010-08-17T13:19:00.000+10:00

*THE REEF KISS

Shyama Buttonshaw, aka. The Dalai Lama, is a vegetarian. He has never eaten meat. We give him shit about it all the time. I know that he loves his salad and he proved it by trying to eat some organic sea weed growing on the reef at a cheeky right we surfed last week.

The Dalai didnt worry about ice for his swollen lip, he just prowled the bushes for his next meat free feed. He looks happy doesn't he...

Hawaiian Video From Moborush

2010-08-16T10:26:00.000+10:00

I know I keep stealing posts from my fellow Vic Mafians at Moborush.com, but this one involves me being in a heap of pain so I thought they wouldn't mind. Check here for what they had to say about the clip.

The short story is that Adam Robertson was playing around with his new video camera and somehow nailed a clip of me being a dickhead on the walk to see American comedian Dane Cook live in Honolulu...

CBWatch out for the.... from Mobo Rush on Vimeo.

Disssention In The Azores!

2010-08-15T22:08:00.012+10:00

You may or may not have heard that the 6 Star rated Billabong Azores Islands Pro WQS event was cancelled because it was dead flat.

The official quote from the event website is "The Billabong Azores Islands Pro presented by Nissan an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) sanctioned event was forced to cancel due to a lack of contestable waves. Event officials and surfers were greeted at dawn by a flat ocean as the expected overnight swell increase failed to eventuate. Contest director Rodrigo Heredia made another call mid-morning however this proved fruitless leaving the remaining 96 surfers of round two unable to compete further in the 145,000$US event."

This has all sorts of repercussions for the competitors. The most obvious of these being the financial outlay to attend the event that never was. The biggest issue here is the crazy number of ratings points the surfers are there chasing are no longer available.... I sussed twitter to see how some of the competitors are feeling about the whole thing.

After being injured for the first half of 2010, Julian Wilson is one surfer desperately chasing the ratings points.

Josh Kerr approached the situation a little differently.

Mick Fanning fortunately did not go to this event, but was still interested by how it would effect is mates.

Vic Mafian Jack Perry summed it up well.

Dayyan Neve was clearly over it, but he was able to shed some light on how the ASP had decided to deal with the ratings points and event prizemoney.

Once again the boys at Moborush nailed it.

To see video highlights of the womens final won by Laura Enever click the image below.

Vote Surfers Into The Eddie

2010-08-15T20:53:00.003+10:00

This year you can have a say (I am not sure how much they will listen) on who surfs in the next Quiksilver In Memory Of Eddie Aikau.

My suggestion is to vote for Paul Paterson and Tony Ray, get these two Aussie mentals back into one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Click here to vote.

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 1

2010-08-15T13:42:00.010+10:00

*STICKER ISSUES

The first of what I dare say will be many posts relating to unfortunate moments in surfing. I was recently at Phillip Island doing more filming for the First Love movie, while waiting for Georgia Fish to finish an interview I had a bit of a look at her new Emery. Nice looking board, but what I saw on the nose shocked me. The most air bubbles in a sponsor sticker I have ever seen. I know its not the end of the world, I have copped heat from team moborush for even noticing these sorts of things, but I thought I would share it anyone who may be interested. It was hard to get a shot that truely captured what was going on but I think you will be able to see what I am talking about.

I'm not writing Georgia off here, she is a legend, it just happened to be her name attached to the board. If you want to know more about her click here.

Teahupoo Fantasy Team

2010-08-15T10:43:00.000+10:00

Just locked in my Fantasy Surfer team for the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo. Im feeling pretty good about my selections too. Let me know your thoughts.

Buoyweather Wig Out

2010-08-14T12:15:00.000+10:00

Buoyweather is one of the most trustworthy swell forecasting websites going around. With areputation for accuracy, this image shows that even the best can have an off day. The top level of the graph shows the wind direction and speed, the bottom the swell direction, size and period. The first few days in the image are standard for our area in swell size, period and direction, have a look at Friday through Sunday.....

Pop Magazine Eddie Article

2010-08-13T20:42:00.003+10:00

Topic: The 2009 Quiksilver in Memory Of Eddie Aikau.

Author: The Token Victorian.

Photos: Clare Plueckhahn.

Published In the Shaun White Edition of Pop.

Click the images of each page to view the story at a size large enough to read...

The Otway Sasquatch FOUND!

2010-08-12T12:05:00.000+10:00

The Otway region has a reputation for keeping mythical creatures secret. Many people have allegedly seen the Otway Panther, but we have conclusive evidence that the Otway Sasquatch exists. Also known as the Ginger Swinger, the big red sack Swiv has been making a few runs down south with the boys. Todd Rosewall nailed this shot before the big fella could sneak off to his natural habitat; inside the barrel. Here is concrete evidence of his existence!

The Amity Affliction

2010-08-11T09:19:00.003+10:00

Just got my hands on the new Amity Affliction album, "Youngbloods".

Consider my mind blown. Check them out here.

Simply Simpo

2010-08-10T10:35:00.002+10:00

Dont want to look like I am jumping on his bandwagon, but check out Simply Simpo. Brett Simpson just won his second consecutive US OPEN, which had $100,ooo USD prizemoney each time. His site has some sick videos and kind of breaks down his 2009 into parts. There is some really insightful words in interviews and some great surfing clips. Check it out.

Boaties Love #3

2010-08-09T15:45:00.003+10:00

The last edition of my 2007 Margaret River Memories. These shots are from Hugh Davis. For more gold from Hugh check his "Weekend Warrior" website.

Steps?

Locked in.

Boaties Love #2

2010-08-06T20:12:00.002+10:00

Here is the only two waves I had captured from our memorable week towing this semi secret slab in Margaret River. Apologies for the video quality, it was filmed off a tv on my phone. I found these clips on my old computer...

2007 Memories, Margaret River from THE TOKEN VICTORIAN on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for photos from the session....

Boaties Love #1

2010-08-05T21:18:00.009+10:00

I found theses photos when looking through my old computer. Around 3 years ago Dave Delroy-Carr and myself had a mental run of waves in Margaret River. We towed this joint for 6 days straight by ourselves. On the last day of the swell we had two waves filmed each, stay tuned for footage. It looks perfect, but once you got out there and up close to it you could see that it was far from easy. You had to fade around some steps and then pull up into the unpredictable hollow section. Think the Box without an option to paddle into it. On the day of these photos, I hit the bottom really badly and thought I had broken my leg. Nothing was broken, but I had trouble walking for a few days. The joint was mental, however after some of the cans we had out there a fat leg was a small price to pay....

Shoulder hopping on a smaller one.

My legs are tweaked and bent anyway, this is the swelling hours after impact.

Stay tuned to the TOKEN VICTORIAN over the next few days for some HD water photos and land footage from this semi secret slab...

Westerly Burgers

2010-08-05T19:02:00.003+10:00

Surfcoast lineup shots from 05.08.10.

Ended up having the worst surf of my life at Juc.

Fat Winki.

Even fatter Bells.

Perfect Empty Waves

2010-08-04T17:21:00.001+10:00

A secret Surfcoast right hander, reeling perfectly with no one around to molest it.

Secret Surfcoast Perfection from THE TOKEN VICTORIAN on Vimeo.

Whips. Why not?

2010-08-01T13:45:00.002+10:00

Southies Whips from Cahill on Vimeo.

A sly video thrown together after we stole Jamie Powell's GO PRO camera during a recent whip session on a secluded beach.

Hit the button to the left of the word vimeo on the player as this clip looks better in full screen...

What were you doing?

2010-07-30T22:10:00.008+10:00

What were you doing on this dark and gloomy day in July?

There were some HELL ones at the Rock...

JJB and I held up a rainbow.

Todd Rosewall set the precedent and found some water funnels.

Josh Johnson-Baxter got in on the act and found a warped cavern.

Even I found myself a lost in a time tunnel.

I am not sure what you were doing but our day was pretty good...

Boardcam Preview...

2010-07-27T18:28:00.001+10:00

Couple of cheeky waves at Winki filmed by Glen Hurst...

38 Degrees South 3 - World Domination Trailer

2010-07-27T18:25:00.002+10:00

JJB Bali 2009

2010-07-27T18:24:00.000+10:00

josh johnson-baxter from josh johnson-baxter on Vimeo.

Missing Out

2010-05-09T21:08:00.003+10:00

Weeks ago I agreed to judge the Victorian Longboard Titles over the weekend of 8th and 9th of May. What a mistake. While I was forced to watch old boys pretend to nose ride in fat rights at Pt. Impossible, all of my mates scored pumping waves all over the coast. My phone was ringing flat out, everyone thinking it was hilarious to tell me what I was missing out on.

This place usually a full burger, but the conditions on the coast were that good it was almost resembling a quality lineup. All weekend I was horrified to think about how the real reefs were looking.

Back in Business

2010-05-09T21:05:00.001+10:00

The TOKEN VICTORIAN did not die, I just took a few months off posting updates. I am back and will be bigger and better than ever. Stay tuned.

Dance Off Your Face

2009-12-22T18:43:00.000+11:00

Dance off. Alisha vs Screech. from Cahill on Vimeo.

Between Two Coors

2009-11-27T08:47:00.002+11:00

Check this interview I did with team MOBORUSH on another slow Hawaiian evening. Nic wrote the questions and Adam couldn't see them until he asked me. If you get over it skip to end to see an amazing bonus section.

Todays guest: Cahill Bell-Warren

US vs THEM

2009-11-19T17:30:00.002+11:00

Vote for LAURA, OWEN or GARRET in the Surfing Magazine US vs THEM poll.

Surfing Magazine have tried an interesting concept, putting three of the top juniors from both the USA and Australia on a boat, film it and bring it to their readers to decide which country is in control of junior surfing.

The surfers they selected are...

Australia: Owen Wright, Garret Parkes and Laura Enever.

America: Nat Young, Kolohe Andino and Alana Blanchard.

Their audience is strongly American based and we need to do what we can to support our Australian representatives.

Follow the link below and vote for Australia.

http://blogs.surfingmagazine.com/video/us-vs-them-voting-begins/

Surfline Clip

2009-11-17T14:08:00.003+11:00

Dropped a wave in a FOX clip on surfline.com. Check it out it has a heap of waves from Jarrad Sullivan and Eric Geiselman. The waves have been shithouse but we have managed to get some keepers.

http://www.surfline.com/video/featured-clips/north-shore-a-week-in-november_38826

Moborush Quiver

2009-11-16T16:56:00.003+11:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything, since the Philippines I went to the Goldcoast for a few (wave starved) days. I am now in Hawaii and instead of going to the effort of producing something post worthy, I am stealing content from www.MOBORUSH.com. Check it out if you want to see my Hawaiian quiver, honestly it is missing a 6'1 and a 7'2 but it does the job.

Evening Smiles

2009-10-29T19:10:00.004+11:00

Another evening in the Philippines. Noah, Ibis, Adam.

Noah Lane, man behind the San Miguel Light.

Ibis, showing his best side.

Ty and myself, enjoying another night at 101 for dinner.

A few of the locals wanted us to sign their shirts, then along came a girl who wasn't wearing a whole lot so we ended up singing her skin. Funny shit.

Local Kids

2009-10-27T15:21:00.004+11:00

I was walking to dinner with the Watson brothers and we got swarmed by 1000 local kids...

Waveless In Paradise.

2009-10-25T12:58:00.003+11:00

Walking out the front gate of our hotel.

On the boardwalk the local groms tell me its pumping. Everyday is pumping in their eyes.

At the end of the tower I am greeted with a dismal sight. Another waveless day in paradise.

The view looking across the lagoon back to land. Much more attractive than the lineup.

Next stop, Bones' Sports Pub. Its a sweet little bar on the beach.

Choosing which seat to sit in could save your life, around the tables are Palm Trees laden with coconuts that could drop at anytime and end your life prematurely.

Bones and his assistant Smiley keep guests hydrated.

Happy hour has 50 cent beers, Philippine Dreaming.

Philippine Motorbike Fun

2009-10-24T21:00:00.005+11:00

First we had to get some Petrol...

When Ibis worked out the manual gears we hit mach 10,

and the cops were stoked to see us ride by.

We found a crazy abandoned church,

and met some super cool local kids.

Noah made a new best friend,

and we saw some animal cruelty,

Then we headed home to tell the world our story....

Philippine Dreaming

2009-10-23T14:51:00.001+11:00

Long Haul Laughs

2009-10-20T01:04:00.000+11:00

Who said long haul flights weren’t interesting? My flight from Melbourne to Singapore was a somewhat entertaining.

Sitting to my right was an Indian man, who was more than capitalising on the free alcohol. When one attendant refused to serve him, he would attract the attention of another and when all avenues were exhausted, I would order a beverage for him. He must have had a bladder of steel and managed to last around four hours before his first piss. It was only when he lifted himself to his feet that I got a true indication of his drunken state. He swayed as though the aircraft was going through intense turbulence and had some serious trouble dealing with the latch on the lavatory door. He tried to strike up conversation with me on more than one occasion, however his thick Indian accent and Johnnie Walker induced slur rendered my brain totally unable to comprehend him. I did manage to work out he was going to India for a year, I reckon I would be pretty legless if I found myself facing the same predicament.

Seated in the row in front of me was a middle aged Asian woman, who looked as though she was battling the same “turbulence” as my Indian friend. She repeatedly ran to the toilet, her hands covering her bloated cheeks and mouth. Each time she returned to her seat even more colour had drained out of her already pale face.

Then there was my experience. Not wanting to let my Indian friend drink by himself, I enjoyed a few plastic cups of Beam and coke. I had a solid giggle watching the Hangover, a movie I was yet to watch in its entirety. It was Dakota Fanning’s performance in the movie “Man On Fire” that really got me going. It was old school Dakota, her deep blue eyes drawing me deep into the film. Basically the movie was about her being kidnapped in Mexico City, despite the best efforts of Samuel L Jackson to saver her. He ends up trading her life for his in a climax that drew tears to my eyes. I didn’t even have time to dry my cheeks before we landed in Singapore. Making that flight one of the fastest 7 hour journeys I have experienced.

As I write this I am somewhere between Singapore and Manilla, every key stroke meaning one less moment I will be on the plane.

New Weaponary

2009-10-18T22:51:00.005+11:00

Picked up some new rafts from CORY today. Amongst the pile in the image below is a 6'1, 6'2, 6'3 and a 6'6. I have an 8'6, 7'6, 6'9 and another 6'6 and 6'1 on the way. Looking forward to doing a quiver shot when all those boards arrive in my possession.

Below is a some art my good friend Myles did on the 6'2. He is the man behind the sweet brand mylestone, check him out more at www.mylestoneapparel.com

64 Sparklers

2009-10-14T23:36:00.004+11:00

TBC Website

2009-10-12T22:02:00.005+11:00

I have been captured in a few images that have been run on the Torquay Boardriders Club website. You can keep up to date with contest results and scheduled event dates at www.torquayboardriders.com.

adambennetts.tv

2009-10-11T20:44:00.002+11:00

Check this site out, one of my good buddies Adam Bennetts is a pro surfer / filmer / DJ and all round good bloke. He has an interesting story to tell and you can download some of his epic music altering work at www.adambennetts.tv

Perth Bells Clip

2009-10-10T08:10:00.001+11:00

Check this clip of Perth Standlick from the Billabong Pro Junior at Bells a few weeks ago. Clip by empireave.com

Perth Standlick // Bells Beach Billabong Pro Junior 2009 Winner from EmpireAve on Vimeo.

Moborush

2009-10-08T21:10:00.003+11:00

It happened a while back, but I got a run on MOBORUSH.com. Check the site out for an interesting look into the lives of Adam Robertson and Nic Muscroft.

First Love

2009-10-05T20:58:00.007+11:00

First Love Sponsor Preview from First Love on Vimeo.

First Love is a feature length surf movie that takes an in depth look into the lives of three passionate young girls from Phillip Island en route to making a career out of surfing.
The film documents the everyday lives of Nikki van Dijk, India Payne and Jess Laing, the trials and tribulations of training, competitions and injury. The camera follows them to Hawaii for their first crack at the heavy North Shore waves, where we gain and insight into the world and lifestyle of Hawaiian female surfers.
It highlights the recent rise in standard of womens surfing and touches on the attitude surrounding female surfers at a grass roots level, in an inspiring (and not overbearing) way.
The cinematography will highlight the raw beauty of the Victorian coastline, with a specific focus on Phillip Island. This footage will create a great juxtaposition against the scenery captured in Hawaii, comparing two completely different climates and cultures which are so central to surfing.
Most importantly this film will emphasise surfings positive effect on ones life, as well as the universal feeling that surfing leaves with all those who fall in love with it.
With magic footage and stellar photography this movie will surprise, entertain and inspire a generation of female surfers.

Bin Night

2009-09-29T21:18:00.005+10:00

The worst thing about living in the scrub is bin nights. My driveway is over 250m and there is nothing worse than having to take the bins out on every second Tuesday night. I always forget to do it during daylight hours, leaving me to do the run at the mercy of the local werewolves and axe murders. Fortunately I have some mates at mine for the Billabong Pro Junior, meaning that there are extra hands to help. I drove while Perth held on to both the recycle and general waste bins with the boot open. He was struggling to keep them upright, I suppose that me lining up the pot holes did not help, I was loosing it laughing.

In The Studio

2009-09-25T19:28:00.005+10:00

Recording voice overs for the "Next Wave" TV show. Check out the show on Channel 10 on Sundays at 1pm.

Manly Pro Junior

2009-09-25T19:13:00.003+10:00

Click the photo to see how shit the surf actually was.

Teams Titles 2009

2009-09-12T15:01:00.004+10:00

In what could genuinely be the greatest comeback in Teams Titles history, the Torquay Boardriders Club took the Victorian Teams Titles Title out in small fun waves at Jan Juc.

Going into the tag team heats, Torquay trailed Phillip Island, meaning we had to win both of the tag heats to take victory. A stacked Phillip Island team comfortably took victory in the first tag, with Torquay taking second, Penninsuala third and 13th Beach in fourth.

Morale in the TBC camp was down and arrangements were being made for what appeared to be an impending bus trip to Phillip Island in 2010. With nothing to loose, TBC took to the final tag heat with confidence. Harry Mann led the troops, nailing a risky reverse on the inside section on his first wave and executing a series of cracks on his second. One surfer in and we were in the lead. Torquay stalwart Tim Hawken hit the water second, no stranger to teams events Tim took no time to lock down two solid scores. I tagged with Tim and motored out to the lineup. Sitting with Phillip Island's second surfer, Eli Curry, I took my time to select my opening ride. After what seemed to me to be eternity I stroked into my first wave, throwing down a series of turns to the beach. I looked to the Torquay camp positioned on the beach and received the signal to claim the wave, the double whammy score. Up went my two arms, followed by a tension releasing fist pump as the boys on the hill went mad, it was a 7.43 which would add 14.86 to the team total. My second score was a around a 6 and I tagged TBC president Dave "Disco" Matthews on the shore. Upon returning to the cliff top, where the club was positioned, I was informed of the heat situation. We were way out in front, with Penninsula, 13th that Phillip Island battling it out for second.

Club legend Stewy Hawken had done the maths:

If we were to win the second tag and the Island finish second, PI would win the teams titles.

If we won and PI finished third, it would come down to a surf off.

And finally if we were to win and PI finish 4th, we would take the victory.

The tension in the TBC tent atop the Jan Juc cliffs was registering at an all time high, it wasn't a case of us wanting PI to fall, more a situation where we needed 13th and Penninsula to lift their performance level. Our final surfer was current U/13 Womens ratings leader Zoe Clarke. Zoe nailed two great waves and made her way to the beach with time to spare.

All we could do is wait.

Beers were cracked, ready for the presentation.

As Surfing Victoria Operations manager Pete Murphy read the results, we could sense victory.

"Taking out the Victorian Teams Title for 2009, Torquay Boardriders Club"

Check the photos below for what happened soon after....

Intense Wave - Jordin Watson

2009-09-01T19:29:00.001+10:00

If you are on the internet, you will most likely know that the Fantastic Noodles Intense Wave Invitational went down on Thursday last week. It was the first junior tow contest ever, and the single greatest winners prize money ever.

I went down to Kiwi Sam Hawke who took the lead from me in the last few minutes of the heat with the first 10 point ride of the event.

The day had an incredible number of highlights that I will write about over the coming days. The first of these was 17 year old Jordin Watson's performance. The apprentice plumber had never tow surfed a wave over 3ft and was in the event as a replacement for QS campaigner Owen Wright. Jordi drew local Josiah Schmucker in the third heat of the day and definitely had his work cut out. It would have been easy for Jordi to shoulder hop a few and let Josiah do his thing at his local, but Jozal went beserk, pulling into closeouts and riding some of the biggest waves of the day.

Have a look at these shots I borrowed from on swellnet.com.au.

There is also an interview with young Jeezy at

http://www.swellnet.com.au/sessions.php?session=Jordi_Watson_Big_Impact_010909.php

Someone really needs to sponsor the kid soon, he is a talent worth supporting.

Fantastic Wait

2009-08-25T19:26:00.000+10:00

After a long month of tripping over my boards on the floor of my bedroom, the Fantastic Noodles Intense Wave Invitational is finally going to be run. Ben Matson from Swellnet.com.au has been closely watching the conditions for the South Australian coastline and decided that this coming Thursday is THE day. You can watch it live at http://www.intensewave.com.au/. Stay tuned to the Token Victorian for more updates on the event.

Its Elementary My Dear...

2009-08-22T19:08:00.003+10:00

All the hours slaving over the keyboard for the Token Victorian blog have payed off. The legendary lads at Tracks Magazine have published a piece I wrote on the Red Bull Junior Surfmasters at Werri Beach. You can see it in the October 2009 Issue. A massive thanks has to go to Luke Kennedy for giving me the opportunity.

The Chocolate Factory

2009-08-13T23:03:00.002+10:00

After a dinner with some of my good mates at the Beach Hotel in Jan Juc, I decided to have a crack at the Chocolate Factory machine. Simply, the Chocolate Factory is a skill tester style machine, where you direct a metal claw over a pile of chocolates with the intention of picking some confectionary up. When you get enough items built up on the collector, some will drop down into tray at the base of the machine where you can claim your prize.

Tonight I was in some serious form, netting my own personal record number of chocolates. I even managed to nab a stuffed yellow frog, who was definately the odd amphibian out.

Check these shots to see our winnings after inserting $4 into the machine.

Even More Waves In Victoria.

2009-08-09T21:19:00.001+10:00

More footage from Glen Hurst at Pool Room Productions.

Its been a good week here in Victoria.

Winki from coastalwatch on Vimeo.

Waves In Victoria?

2009-08-09T21:08:00.004+10:00

Video proof of the conditions we have had over the last couple of weeks. Video by Glen Hurst at Pool Room Productions.

Victoria from coastalwatch on Vimeo.

The Lure Of The Closeout

2009-08-09T15:24:00.011+10:00

Bells Bowl. Friday 31st July. Images from Pool Room Productions.

Teale Vanner

2009-07-30T10:45:00.001+10:00

Going into event number seven of 2009, Teale Vanner had not made a single heat. Not one solitary heat. The natural footer from Kangaroo Island now calls Tugun home, and he is renowned as having one of most aesthetically pleasing styles on the Junior Series. Everyone who knows Teale will tell you he is an outright legend, a quiet guy with a big heart.

Everyone loves him and his surfing, but somehow he manages to be beaten round one at every event.

Going into the Fantastic Noodles Pro Junior in his home state evcryone was expecting Teale to do well. Round one, he controversially paddles out on a 5’2 fish and falls chasing a small score to progress in the final minute.

No surfboard punching, no blow up at the judges, no carpark carrying on. You will never see Teale behave badly at a loss. He just puts his head down and quietly goes about supporting his friends.

Then the circus packs up and moves to Bali for the Billabong Pro Junior at Keramas. The waves are amazing. For the first time this year, a Pro Junior event is not a wave catching contest. This event is based on pure surfing and Teale shines. Round one, he progresses in second place and from then on he only grows with confidence. He never looks like losing, dropping high eights and nines on his road to the final day.

The final day dawns and there is only a skeleton crowd at the beach. Still feeling the pinch from a big night at the Bounty, I only had 45 minutes sleep before going to Keramas with my good friend and Bali housemate Mitch Crews. Again the waves were pumping and Teale put on a display that not only sobered me up, but made me smile my way through a grade five hangover. My personal highlight from the day was Teale’s ten point ride in his first heat of the day. He stroked into a perfect set wave and looked to be too deep. Somehow he came out cleanly and sent the boys into a frenzy. From then we got rowdy in our support, whistling and cheering with every moment on Teale’s waves. His semi final was incredibly tough, coming up against South African standout, Dale Staples. We all knew Teale was emotionally and physically exhausted and we cringed when he fell on his first few waves. Then with a sudden burst he dropped a high eight and an nine and sealed himself a place in his first ever Pro Junior final.

The final was a one sided affair, with NSW nugget Dean Bowen leaving Teale in a combination situation. With no disrespect intended towards Dean’s win, the final day was all about Teale. We had seen him a shattered man after every event this year, and I feel privileged to have been a witness to his long awaited rise to success.

Thankyou Teale for making us all feel good inside.

Peak Rejuvenation

2009-07-26T19:57:00.004+10:00

The offensively attractive men at Peak Wetsuits have stepped into the ring with their original website layout and come out unanimous victors. They have made some serious changes. I can't be flagged explaining them all, you will just have to explore it for yourselves. Here is my profile page. More team videos and rider blogs are going to be added soon.

www.peak.com.au

Justin Induced Seizure

2009-07-21T19:57:00.001+10:00

A family holiday down the coast nearly ended in tragedy as a direct result of Justin Timberlake’s song “Rock Your Body”. In preparation for an early morning surf check, I armed myself with my new discman loaded with Justin Timberlake’s chart topping album, Justified. Justin’s sweet voice and epic beats took control of my body, sending me into a dancing frenzy. At that very moment, nothing else mattered.

My sensual moment was destroyed by a screaming car horn. I awoke from my Justin induced seizure and realised I was standing in the middle of the Great Ocean Road, with cars coming at me from both directions. Instinctively I ran for the safety of the beach carpark and somehow I made it in one piece.

Justin Timberlake nearly killed me. It would have been more than acceptable for me to end our relationship at that very moment, but the next song that came on was “Like I Love You”. I soon fell back into the arms of Justin, this time in the safe environment of the beach at Kennet River.

Everyone loves Justin, so I thought it would be epic to drop one of his video clips here for your viewing pleasure…

Fantastic South Aus

2009-07-20T23:15:00.001+10:00

Day one of the event saw what looked to be cracking waves, and the event was put on hold. It was 3 to 4 ft, with random peaks breaking the length of Waitpinga beach. We were stunned. We returned at 10.30am anticipating the start of round one and were met with strange news. Today was a lay day. Confused and with nothing else to do, the majority of the competitors jumped in the rip to the west of the car park, then it was clear why we had scrapped competition for the day. What looked like enticing peaks from the shore, turned into unpredictable closeouts upon closer inspection. No matter where you positioned yourself, the better waves proved elusive. When you finally found yourself in the slot for a runner there would be five other juniors on your inside. The reality of the junior series is that we are a travelling instant crowd. If you were able to find yourself on what resembled a wave, it would take a ridiculous amount of time and effort to return to the lineup. The conditions were tough and everyone agreed that it was an acceptable call to scrap competition for the day.

Competition commenced on day two, with chest high sets breaking in a far more organised fashion than the previous day. The majority of scoring rides were on the left directly in front of the competition set up, but occasionally a natural footer would sneak down the bank to the east and find a cheeky score on the right.

I took out my first heat, with Sam Wrench sneaking second from Tyson Kosuzak in the dying minutes. My housemates, brothers Jordy and Ty Watson both progressed with solid heat wins. Unfortunately my bunk buddy, Dean Bowen, was a shock early elimination from the event. With Dean needing an emotional lift, we purchased a heap of ammunition of the Phoonk Gun* (a homemade rocket launcher) and under the cover of darkness we found a secluded area and unleased oranges into the atmosphere in deodorant fuelled mayhem.

Day three saw a further reduction in both the swell size and conditions. Hassling was at an all time high, with barely breaking waist high lefts and rights breaking off a tiny takeoff area. Davey Cathels went down in his second interference induced loss in as many events, venting his frustration with the judges on his way to the car park. I won both my round of 32 and 16 heats, setting up a career best result. Owen Wright was the usual standout despite the fact he was clearly surfing at 10%. Both of the Watson boys lost their round of 16 heats in the afternoon and once again the Phoonk Gun was turned to for emotional support. Lemons were our projectile of choice this afternoon and no animals were harmed in our hour of adolescent rebellion.

The conditions improved for the final day of surfing, but it was still pretty average. To the delight of the groupies on the beach, Noah Lane surfed the first heat of the day in boardshorts. His quarter final opponent, Owen, had withdrawn from the event to chase the $100,000USD winners prize at the US Open, leaving Noah the perfect opportunity to carry out his losing bet with Davey on the state of origin results. I went down to David Vlug in our wave starved quarter-final. Needing a high 6 point ride, I waited with priority and nailed a 7.5 only to turn around and see Vlug throwing vertical combinations on the heat winning 8 point score.

Rather than returning to our Joy Court residence, I joined SA legend Todd Goudie on the commentary for the remainder of the day. Noah beat Chris “Wendy” Friend in semi final one and Vlug out surfed Billy Kean in the second. The girls were semis were a faced paced affair, with Kirby Wright going down to a rampaging Laura Enever and Tyler Wright leaving Ellie Jean Coffey chasing a combination of scores.

Rather than holding an expression session, the “Fantastic Noodles Next Wave Celebrity Drop In Challenge” was staged to pass time. Before The Game’s Lehmo nearly drowned in the shorebreak in a relatively uninteresting affair.

The womens final was a cracker, with Tyler Wright and Laura Enever exchanging blows on the walling rights. With five minutes remaining Tyler looked the goods, but two late excellent scores, Laura took the win in a thriller.

The mens final was a relatively one sided affair. Vlug never found rhythm and was forced to sit and watch Noah throw down consecutive nine point rides. Having finished second to Owen at the previous event in Western Australia, it was good to see Noah take out his first win on the Junior Series.

The presentations went down in standard fashion, before everyone bailed to make their flight to the next event to be held at Keramas, in bomb riddled Bali.

I am writing this sitting in a cramped seat next to an overweight Englishman, 35649 feet from the ground, somewhere over the centre of the Northern Territory.

*The Phoonk Gun may or may not exist. We may or may not have fired it. This story may or may not be fictional and we may or may not have done burnouts in the hire car on the way to our secret location. I do not condone the use of illegal projectile firing devices.

Phoonk Gun

2009-07-19T18:51:00.002+10:00

Is there a better way to pass time in South Australia than by firing oranges from a homemade rocket launcher?

Sportsbet.com.au

2009-07-09T10:20:00.003+10:00

While I do not encourage gambling, I have to say that sportbet.com.au has brought he a lot of joy. I started an account over a year ago while I was in Margaret River because I was bored. I intended to only bet on surfing, but soon after I signed up they canned that avenue because they had to have been loosing a shitload of coin. When I began, I dropped $30 in my account and was only making small $1 or $2 bets just to add some excitement to whatever sport I was watching. As time progressed, I gained a better understanding of how it all worked. Then I found the Multibet button.

The idea behind Multibets is that you are betting on multiple events to occur. For example, Geelong and Carlton to win. If one team wins, you get nothing, but if both teams win you win at an inflated level of odds.

My brother Dyson follows sport a lot more than me, so I allowed him to make a few bets. Before we knew it my initial $30 had swollen to over $1000, mainly through big multibets comprising of 10 or more events.

Since then it has dropped back to the $600 range and Dyson has pulled out of the race (I changed my password).

I am not endorsing gambling, but I will say that if my account ever reaches $0, that $30 I started with has brought me an incredible amount of entertainment.

I have been watching Netball, NRL and more AFL than ever before. Sportsbet has given me a reason to get excited on the couch, anything that gives you a reason to be couchbound more often is a good thing. So I say thankyou to Sportsbet.com.au

There Is No Place Like Home

2009-07-06T19:08:00.011+10:00

Despite being tired from the midnight flight home from Western Australia, I really wanted to go surfing. Being away from home, one of the biggest things I miss is surfing my local breaks with my good friends. I called my good buddy Jay Abbott for a surf report, only to be disappointed. It had been flat for a few weeks, and nothing had changed. Looking for something to do, we jumped in the Subaru of Doom and drove 30 minutes east to Barwon Heads to see my shaper Cory Russell.

We cut the board talk session short and headed home in hope of sneaking a little surf in before dark. Driving back home we were confronted with a massive cloud front. Sensing an increase in the swell I turned economy mode off, dropped back a gear and sped into the darkness.

It was still pretty much flat. There was the occasional small set wobbling through the lineup and that was enough to get us suited up and out there. Jay and I were joined by Tommy Allan as we unnecessarily paddled around the button on our way to the Winkipop lineup. Our good friend and Peak Wetsuits designer Jai "Homma" Martin beat us to the take off area at uppers.

The waves definitely weren't pumping, but we didn't care. I was relishing being back in familiar waters with some of my best friends. Surfing took a back seat as we used the take off area to discuss more gossip than an issue of Womans Day magazine. We all caught a few fun little runners before darkness closed in and each of us were more than pleased with how we had spent our last hour. You can be anywhere in the world, but nothing truly beats being home.

My next adventure starts this friday, where I head to Sydney for the Werri Beach leg of the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters. From there I am off to Adelaide for the Fantastic Noodles Pro Junior and then over to Bali for the Billabong Pro Junior at Keramas.

Stay tuned updates of my upcoming travels!

The Woman On The Bus

2009-06-29T19:38:00.001+10:00

I don’t really want to be here. I’m not a huge fan of the atmosphere on public buses. People are constantly trying to sneak glances at those around him, passing judgments and fitting their fellow travellers into basic stereotypes. On a bus, everyone feels and acts like they are better than each other, more important, more popular, more successful.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you “do”. You could be a brain surgeon, you could be unemployed and homeless, but at this very moment in time, sitting in the same uncomfortable seats on the same bus, everyone is on a level playing field.

I boarded this reality check on wheels at Margaret River, my final destination being Perth. Usually this would be a three-hour journey, but in the spirit of public transport the bus takes the longest possible route, stopping everywhere possible, resulting in a five-hour travel time. I am not complaining. I paid my $35.70 completely aware of what I was getting myself into.

This brings me tell you about “the woman on the bus”. For the purpose of this discussion, I will call her Mary. According to the graffiti riddled sign, the seating capacity of the vehicle is 57 people. We had made our way through Cowaramup, Yallingup and Dunsborough, picking up a few people along the way, bringing the total number of passengers to 15 including myself. That means there are 32 spare seats, including at least 8 window seats on either side of the bus. We pull up at Busselton and Mary boards the bus. Mary had prepaid her ticket online and had been allocated a seat number, the same way you would with an airline ticket.

I love to observe the movements and actions of people, and I was especially focussed on Mary because she was wearing dark sunglasses despite the fact it was a dull and rainy day. The next thing that drew my attention was her perfume. It must have been industrial strength. I could smell her coming up the aisle from the back of the bus. She was wearing a purple top accentuated by shiny silver stitching and her large leopard skin handbag was overflowing with a wide assortment of unusual objects. Mary certainly looked to be in a hurry. Her eyes were darting rapidly between her bus ticket and the seat numbers. She was on a mission and I was getting more entertainment than I had anticipated. Mid way up the bus Mary found her destination, it was window seat 39 and there was a young girl asleep in it. All around Mary was empty window seats, but she had to wake up this innocent young girl because she was sleeping in her seat.

I could not believe my eyes. The bus was virtually empty, yet Mary was so important, so caught up in her own world to make a change to mission and sit in one of the 32 empty seats around her.

The reality here is, we are all riding the same bus. We may get on and off at different stops, but when we step into the confines of public transport, lets try to be civil.

No one wants to be on a bus. Why make the experience more unpleasant than it already is?