Extension babayyyyyyyy!

Its confirmed, the 2009 Shark Island challenge waiting period which was scheduled to draw to a close on the 27th of July has been extended till the 9th of August in hopes of another swell to complete Round 2.

Im pretty stoked about this, my first round was a shocker and im pretty keen to get out there and prove to the rest of the guys why I am in the event.
Il be honest I had help securing a wildcard into the event, but the help I recieved was honest help too.
Mark Mccarthy played a big role, sending an email to the organisers backing me up, even touting me as 'the best rider coming out of South Africa at the moment' , while Im grateful for this huge compliment, I dont feel I am yet deserving of it. Thats not to say im not gonna try to live up to it.
My fins sponsor and co-sponsor of the event, Limited Edition fins also played a huge role in getting me into the event,cheers guys.

Basically, I wanna do well in the next round to achieve two things, firstly to prove to myself and too others that I deserve my international wildcard and secondly to thank the people who have helped me along the way.

There havent been any waves whatsoever here on the Northern beaches the past few days,which has been super frustrating but Jarret and myself have been keeping busy with walks into town,phoning around for work and surfing the terrible waves on offer, just because we wouldn't wanna be doing anything else!

This blog has been a bit boring of late and my apologies, as you can read not much has been going on.
What I can suggest is that you head on over to madman Cobus Bosmans Sheepalign ,its recently undergone so transformations and there is a hell of a lot to read and see on there.I think I have read it all around 4 times haha!

A small reminder.

Riding the bus today to Warringah mall at around 12:20 pm,completely zoned out and loving being cut off from the hustle and bustle of daily life around me,my attention was caught by a baby in his fathers arms.
After a quick glance around i soon realised that I wasnt the only one totally mesmerized by this miniature human learning seemingly simple things like sitting up straight,waving to strangers and folding and unfolding his hands.

Ten mins later and im still staring like a weirdo (albeit behind a pair of dark glasses) and I am completely awestruck by the complexcity of the task at hand for the childs father.He actually has to teach this small,illiterate creation how to live,how to go about things,how to go around things,HOW TO SURVIVE.i would be scared shitless.

It struck me how much my parents invested in me,when they were only a few years older than me,I entered their lives as a small illiterate creation and I literally became the task at hand for an entire chapter of their lives,while they first tended to my every need and then gradually began to expect things of me in return,wiping my own bum,tying my own shoes and in doing so,teaching me how to look after myself and how to survive and succeed as a human being.

Basically,I was reminded of how a) how amazing my parents are and b) to appreciate and look out for small things like the experience today that can actually teach you alot and bring you back down to earth from the crazy lives we sometimes lead.

So, THANK YOU mom and dad,and everyone else in between who taught me how to live and gave me the freedom to decide my own method of doing it.Im travelling and living my ultimate dream and im just really as happy as can be right now.

Keep your eyes open.

BEERSBARRELSBINSBOOSTS.

News about nothing.

1.Talks are underway for an extention of the 2009 SIC waiting period. This will be greatly beneficial to the poor sods such as myself who did not core in the first round.
2.We absolutely cleaned out the bins in Avalon last night, walking away with a glorious assortment of sweets.
3.Jarret Johnson has gone rogue and was last seen with a White Straw hat on heading in the direction of a piercing parlour.EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
4.we are poor, and in need of love and work,waves and airbowls,mona vale and free rides home.

Bye.

Bathroom talk.

annoymous text message recieved earlier.
Make of it what you want.

"haha dudeeeeeeee aus sounds ragged!Two years ago Margate.....A good week without the good ol'.Basically minding my on business and wham the door opens!Im like mother and there she is.Lucky I left the next day.haha enjoy.Keep it on the down.Peaceeee."

The sender wanted it kept low,i simply couldnt resist.Truth is I have had a simlar experience.But thats another story.
Rock on YEWWWWWWW.

Water sucks,sometimes.

This is a photo from a session at an absolute skate park of a wave that il call bravegrom's.Its located on the NSW South Coast and I shared these waves with Max Arent,Chris Wilson and Photog Andrew Smythe, while Chris James and Will hodget filmed from shore.

Just a couple of blokes enjoying pits and ramps just a short while away from the Nuggan Freakfest we experienced earlier this day.

Anyway,been toying with this image for awhile now.I love it,the spray sucks though,but the wave doesnt.

There is another Photo from this session that hopefully will surface in the next fine BB publication.But il never show you that hahahaha.

Contest on hold today,its too small,time is running out fast so organisers are looking to the end of the week to run the final round, where I can hopefully unleash my own attack on the beast.

Eye candy.

The images above are from a surf I shared with Adam Luehman, Jarret Johnson and Alex Turoy at low tide SI a few minutes before the event commenced on monday the 13th of Jan.

This wave left me feeling pretty confident, only to find myself not able to link a wave in my heat.
Here is a short breakdown of Shark Island to give you an idea of how hard it is to link up a good one.

This particular day,the swell was of a straight east direction,which is basically straight onto the reef,because SI is a very uniformed(depth and general shape) reef most waves end up closing out,needing a bit more south to actually run down the reef and focus all its energy into the 'surge'.
Anyway, I picked up two waves that were probably the best of the heat,smallish on the peak with a good wall and bigger toward the surge,but unfortunately the first one bounced me and I lost a fin.The 2nd one, I totally misread and ended up being to greedy,wanting a barrel with an exit move.I ended up not getting either.I could of had full body air had i listened to my first instinct and smacked it at White Rock.

Lesson learnt,I grew as a rider from the experience and im looking forward to the next round where im looking to unleash my aerial assault wave depending.

Shark Island is ON.

Competitors are meeting at SI tommorow morning at 8am for a 9am start in the 2009 SIC brought to you by Nomad.

I am in the 3rd heat,coming up against Chris James,Dave Ballard, Brendon Ryan Mike Murphy.

The heats are all stacked and I think its really gonna be the next level,in the words of an SI local ' its gonna be f'ing heavy man' ,with waves in the 6-8ft range predicted,with an almost full east direction,which means alot of closeouts.Eish.

The live feed can be found on the Limited Edition website,which you can access from Riptide's web or Sixty40.

Black Rock shock.

23:17 Leave Griz's House for the bus stop.Fully keen.
23:48 get on a bus that does not even take me to central station,sydney.
00:10 arrive at some historical building in Sydney and proceed to the 'bus stop'.After missing a few busses due to my unsuperior waving skills, I skeem screw that and catch a cab at $8.85 for like a 2 min drive to the station.
00:12 Arrive at central station to find I have missed the last train south by 2 mins, accept defeat and take my place on the floor with the Hobo's.
00:33 get restless and take a walk around,discover some more platforms and a shaky beacon of hope in the form of a train to waterfall,which is in the general direction of black rock.
00:50 board the train not knowing where its going, i am all just about the vibe now.
01:06 lying on a sticky seat in a backcarriage,excited to see where the night takes me.
01:31 get woken by a train warden 'where ya going mate?' , 'down south' I reply. 'aww,you missed the last train then, you have about a 2 hour wait.'

Signal Mood Change.

01:36 seriously considering hitching to Kiama, should of stayed in Narra. WHAT AN IDIOT.
04:12 seeking refuge in the ladies toilet(only one here it seems)
from the cold here at waterfall station. I have been here since 1 thirty and gotten maybe 20 mins of sleep.I am so cold and waves are so far outside my though patterns right now!
04:28 Started hiking,it is so cold I actually cant describe it.Praying so hard that a non Psycho picks me up.Although at this rate im not picky.
05:32 Arrive at Kiama after my first warm experience of the night spent in a car from waterfall.

Ok this is where the Diary ends,but to give you some idea of what followed.

Walk 20 mins to Pik and Simon's Kiama Residence,wait one hour for them to get ready.Hike to Kiama station,wait one hour for the train,ride trasin for 20 mins to bomaderry,walk to princes highway from station(20 mins),hitch a ride to Jervis Bay turn off,jitch another ride to the main roundabout in Jervis bay(10 min Drive),Walk from main roundabout for roughly 1 1/2 hours,get picked up by a BB mom who informs us black rock is bad,2o min car ride to actual break.

The time is now 12:30

As promised.

A taster shot from Nuggan on tuesday courtesy of Andrew Smythe, you can check his blog for some other cool stuff the cam Wizz.

Alrighty.update time babayy

First up,no photos just yet,but give me a few days.Might be able to post something real sick up here soon.

Back to the times.
Got picked up monday morning at sydney airport by none other than the man big Grizlarrrrrrrrrrr.Once in the car I realised I left my wallet in W.A. so it goes without saying that I should add Chris James to my 'sponsors' list.Thanks Brother.

Arrive at the Narrapad and plans are already underway for a coastal sojourn.The crew...Myself,Chris,Max Arent and Chris 'sweet dick willy' wilson.We were joined by Monkmonastery mastermind Will Hodget and Photog Andrew Smythe.

We surfed Nuggan and the wave really is something else,it wasnt all time,but it was sick none-the-less with every bigwig and their hairspray out there getting some.I had a few boosts, although I fell victim to the one trick pony with all the Air Fwd bowls going around.Maybe some framies to follow soon.
Had some good times down the coast,but the cherry on the top was defintly the Pole cam Fish eye shoot we did at a heavenly righthander just down the drag,followed by a MASSIVE mcd's chill.Saffa times revisted.

Thursday night is THE NIGHT at Mona Vale,a pub just north of Narrabeen and the boys were on it in full force and the times were sweet as!

Its saturday night and im in cronulla, as im writing Siomn Heale and Jarret Johnson are mentally preparing(yeah right they're watching megan fox on T.V.) for the SI trials which are going down tommorow morning starting 8am sydney times,which is midnight for all you saffa brother who ARE gonna be tuning into the live webcast to show the support.
Il keep you in the loop.

Thanks for all the love.