Cover & The Dead Dalai

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

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

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

*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

"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

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

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 7

*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

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.

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.

Georgia Fish - 17 - Mornington Penninsula, Victoria.

Check her tumblr here.

Andy Irons - I Surf Because

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

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

*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?

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

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

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.