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.

Dave and Laura Macaulay Video

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

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

*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

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!

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

*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?

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

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

Unfortunate Moments In Surfing Part 2

*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...