12 Apostles, South Coast

West Oz

Echidna

Margs

Curl Curl

Margs Pumping!

Curiosity of Cyclone Bianca

Ready to hunt fishies

Dinner

Nic… about to make me late for my bus!

Not a bad place to climb around.  James with his life in my hands.

Swedish Meatball Eyeball

Swedes+Beer+Plastic cow=This

The one that make have killed Mr. Irwin… not sure.

Gnarabup Sunset

Posted on Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 7:26 am | Posted in OZ, Surfing

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose… and get deported.

Most times things go as planned. Smooth, short layovers. Planes and busses are on time. A new security line opens up and you get to bypass 40 people fumbling to get the change out of their pockets. Plenty of time for an over priced beer as you gaze out the window and see your boards being delicately loaded on the plane. Sexy girl with great convo sitting next to you. Traveling is awesome!

But sometimes the evil travel monster bites off your wang, chews it up and spews it all over the rest of your day… or two… or three… or in my case 3 years.

Here’s the last 48 hours…

Leave Nic and Jim’s place in Margaret River. On way to bus stop, Nic and I decide to go for one last quick beer. Little Creatures Ale Yum! Bus ticket says 4:50pm departure. One quick beer turns into two quick beers. Get to bus stop at 4:48pm. No bus. Call bus Co… Bus left at 4:30pm. WTF?? But my ticket says…??? Have to drive to Bussleton bus stop to try and catch bus. Turn 40 minute drive into 25 minute drive. Interception!

4 hr bus ride to Perth airport. 3 hours early for redeye at midnight:30. Check in, find out flight has magically changed to 11pm. Good thing I was early. WTF??? Kill time with beer. Watch news of Christchurch getting rocked and worry about friends. Sad. Plane on time. One-two winks of sleep on plane. Wonder why they dont just make the seats fixed in the laid back position, which is about a 1 inch difference from the upright position. Idiots. Somebody close to me, maybe even right next to me, is farting the whole way and for once its not me. Gross. Babies… Crying. Arrive in Melbourne at 5am. Drag boards to international terminal. Go through customs and immigration… All clear. Life is good… I’ll be in Fiji by 3pm drinking an ice-cold Fiji Gold under a palm tree on the beach… Bitch! Haha not so fast son. Where’s da plane, da plane? Missing. 8:40am flight turns into 11am turns into 12:30 turns into 3pm turns into 6pm turns into 8pm flight. Each delay everybody gets free meal and drink vouchers… Including alcohol. Not bad. Smash beers. Wander the airport. Flirt with cute girls with dumb looking boyfriends. Jam guitar. Sleep on floor. “Can I have your attention… We need 13 volunteers to give up their seats… Full ticket refund… We’ll get you on a flight tonight to Fiji but have to fly you out of Brisbane.” Lucky number 13. Fuck. OK. Count me in. Just get me the hell out of this airport. 12 hours in terminal=Feverish. The 13 reFijis are escorted out of international terminal to domestic terminal. Go through customs and immigration again…. Same airport. Lots of arguing between airline guys and customs guys. Cutting it close to get on flight to Brisbane. Everybody gets passports back but me. Shit. They’re all waiting on me. And my boards are not in the reFiji luggage pile. WTF?? Immigration head lady pulls me aside and let’s me have it. I’m an illegal alien and have been for about 60 days. WTF?? Plane is gonna leave without us. Get banned from entering Australia for 3 years. I will be Escorted to the international terminal when I land in Brisbane and kicked the fuck out… Ooopsy daisy. Should’ve looked into my visa situation from last year. My boards show up. Scramble to check-in all 13 reFijis and blaze thru security. I’m the last person on the plane. They’ve been waiting. Scowls from everybody as I pass. Think I heard one hiss. Meal/drink vouchers get me a few more beers on plane. Unreal sunset out window. Get a wink. Brisbane landing. Get shuffled out to private shuttle to international terminal. Immigration officer and airline rep in tow. $50 bucks for boards. Not bad. Lots of meal/beer vouchers. Two nights, two redeyes… It must be Christmas. I stink. I’m tired. I’m buzzed. Wave goodbye to Customs as I go through, immigration sits me down for another spanking. Supposedly I can appeal the 3 year ban and try to apply for another visa. Sweet. Pad Thai, more beers, fun chat with cute English birds, tight polkadot tights driving me crazy on one of’em. Plane delayed an hour. Haha! Going delirious. Board plane… Oh god here we go, sexy Asian Canadian sitting next to me… I just want to sleep. She just wants to drink and talk. Smash more beers… Have a good laugh. Pass out while she’s still talking. Land in Fiji! Find out flight home has been magically moved up 1 day. WTF?? All good. Big Fishermans Breakfast at Cardos on the harbor. Wash off stank. Sleep like baby. Surf pumping Restaurants and Swimming Pools tomorrow. All worth it.

Posted on Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 12:08 am | Posted in Everything Else, Fiji, OZ

Posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 5:20 am | Posted in New Art, OZ

Spending 4 days on a train chugging across the Outback from Melbourne to Perth, on the longest straightest portion of railroad on earth sounded like fun, fun like sailing back to New Zealand from Tonga.  I’m sure I would have met some random desert folk and seen some cool shit but the damn thing was all sold out… the cheap seats at least. And I didnt think the next-up private cabin option was worth the $1024. So I took a 4 hour flight to Perth… which ended up being a drain…  Drink til 3:00am… drive to airport at 4:30am…wait in wrong line for 30 minutes… sweat all alcohol out from sun beaming through window… wait in another line for 30 minutes… surfboards too long… by about 2 inches.. get denied.. no refund… no credit… raise hell… get nowhere.. buy another flight with Quantas.. nice people… free surfboards.  Jet Star Airlines can kiss my white ass!!!

Thank you to the Newports and the lovely Miss Jemma for housing me for a few weeks in Melboune. As well as Eddie and crew for the meeeean shrimp on the barbi and poker night… and for the 4:30am airport run… you’re an absolute hero!

A few days in Perth wis zee German girl and then we hopped on a bus to Margaret River and I’ve been parked up here ever since, housesitting for some friends.  It’s a little tiny town where you can just hideaway and surf good waves all day long if the wind doesnt get to it.  Seems like there’s always some size somewhere around here.  We had a nice swell these last few days.(See pictures above)  On days like this you just have to pick a spot and surf or you’ll end up driving around all day wanting to see what another spot is doing.. and another… and another, there’s a million, at least.  I ended up surfing the right in the first few pics.  Got my ass handed to me a few times, it was a tricky wave and crowded as hell, some filthy barrels though… and finally got to give my 6’6″ a go!  Smoooooth like butta! 

And playing guitar is becoming an absolute obsession. I just can’t get enough.  Been on a dirty-drinking-song kick as of late.  Inspiration curtisy of John Valby. Look him up.  He’s pretty rude.  I like it.  Trying to be a well rounded player here… gotta have a few raunchy songs under the belt, they all have their time and place… like at weddings or childrens birthdays or what have you. Geeze.. gonna have a few weddings to go to this summer… I’m either getting old or my buddies have all gone at got themselves whipped!  Waahhpssshhhhh! You know who you are gentlemen!  I’ll be sorry to see you go.

Over and out.

Posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 8:56 am | Posted in OZ, Surfing

Already 2011??  WTF?  Time is getting rather slippery these days isn’t it?  Yikes!  Well, the end of the world as we know it is supposed to happen sometime next year so I encourage everyone to quit their jobs, sell their house/children, book a flight to the place you’ve always wanted to go… and go!

The city of Sydney put on a pretty damn good display of fire power last night.  Burnt the bridge literally.  If you ever find yourself in Oz for the new year make sure to find a nice spot on the harbor and prepare to be Oooed and Aaaahhhed.  A few stiff Vodka drinks will help too.  Always does.

Happy Two Thousand E11even everybody!!  I’m off to do some very serious and important research in the art of hammock snoozing…

Posted on Saturday, January 1st, 2011 at 1:02 am | Posted in Everything Else, OZ

Weird how, at the drop of a dime, life can change in an instant. I’m back home on good ol’ US soil now, just like that. Got off the plane from Australia a few hours ago (and couldn’t wait to inhale a giant plate of good Mexican food served by actual Mexicans) What a treat!

Grandma’s in the hospital and I decided to cut my OZ trip short by a month and grab a last minute flight from Brisbane to come spend some time with her while I still could. Glad I did. And apparently she’s doing better than she was a few days ago. Woo hoo!

I’ll be here for a month before heading out to Indo for a while. Hopefully the waves will continue to pump while I’m home… I’ve been jealous of all the epic swells the West coast has been getting this winter… but not too jealous, I spent the last 2 weeks in Byron Bay and that magical place had me by the balls, literally… it was hard to leave… the hot sun, the beautiful beaches, the fun waves, bath tub temp water, ice cold adult beverages and hoards of gorgeous, young, friendly, international women. Man Heaven? I’ll be back to OZ soon enough… there’s still so much to see!

But it is good to be home after 13 months on the road. Time to recharge the batteries, spend time with fam and friends, take a break from the booze, surf pumping Rincon and paint my ass off! Can’t wait to set up the studio and go nuts! And my diet will pretty much consist of a constant rotation of In-N-Out Burger, Mexican food and cheap sushi… and of course Pizza Oasis when I go visit the crew in Portland… absolutely drooling for it!

Thanks to all the people in OZ who made my trip great!

Posted on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 6:50 am | Posted in Everything Else, OZ

Australia, February 2010

Life on the road
Hopping like a toad
Jumping across entire seas
Finding waves that only tease

Sunrise on a new East coast
New smells, new tastes, fresh buttered toast
Opposite sex crawling all around
Mouth is drooling like a hound

Warm water candyland
The sun, the heat, body’s tanned
Buckled board over the falls
Old trunks that rash the balls

Blue Bottles sting like hell
Onshores blowing them into the swell
Red wine all day into the night
These foreign girls are looking mighty tight

Inspired ideas fill my brain
Can’t wait to grab the brush and drain
The smell of paint and sweet sawdust
Vices and my life’s true lust

A few more Lilly pads to skip
Before the ending of this trip
Mind and body free to roam
To stoke my soul and ride the foam

Posted on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 8:12 am | Posted in Everything Else, OZ

Gday mates! After just a day in Sydney, I’m convinced that this has got to be one of the most beautiful cites in the world… giant white Cockatoo’s flying around, harbor coves, botanical gardens, parks, amazing buildings, and gorgeous women on every corner. And right now the weather is as good as it gets I think; sunny, hot, humid, leave the doors wide open all night and sleep with nothing but a sheet. Currently staying with a culturally eclectic mix of nice lady friends (2 Brazilians, 1 Argentinian, 1 Kiwi and 1 Brit) in a high rise condo overlooking downtown, Hyde Park, the Opera House and the harbor, what a view!!! (And of course, a hot tub and pool on the top of the place!) I must have been a good boy last year.

No plans, just gonna slowly make my way up the East coast until I find a place that has quality surf and a good vibe. Most signs have been pointing me to the Byron Bay area so we’ll have to see what it’s all about. Deciding not to buy a car this time… just a board bag and a backpack. Should make for good times!

Posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 9:53 pm | Posted in OZ

A U S T R A L I A: It’s a big place…very big! Rumored to have the longest dead-straight road on the planet, the biggest rock, beer guzzling natives, and of course… top-notch surf and beautiful women with sexy-as-hell accents lounging in the hot sand in little else but scraps of nylon and string. And I hear those “Sheila’s” aren’t shy either, they’ll bite your head off and kick you in the beans…. I can’t deny it… I like’m mean!

My New Zealand time is winding down. It’s almost been a year of Beach Bumming and now it’s about time to get down and dirty again, to get into a studio and make stuff, to sniff paint and sawdust, to slam out some big design projects, to be productive, to settle into a spot for a while(with good waves of course), to network, and to grow(my dwindling bank account!)… it’s all part of the cycle I guess. Work – play – work – play…

If you know anybody in Oz who:

1) Surfs
2) Paints
3) Is a fit female age 18-36(Hey, you can learn some things from the older ones!)
4) Likes to pamper guests
5) Owns a gallery
6) Needs graphics designed
7) Owns a brewery/bar
Has a hot tub
9) Is a Paraglide instructor

…then shoot me an email, I’d appreciate the connection… it’s all about who you know right?

Kangaroos and Koala Bears here I come!

Posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 3:46 am | Posted in OZ