Innehållsförteckning för #361 Travel från Surfing Life

Sunrises on the North Shore of Oahu seem to have a different pace than anywhere else in the world. The sun takes its time; it’s a “slow down, this ain’t the mainland” kind of vibe. On the final day of the 2021 WSL Challenger Series event at Haleiwa, the sun took some extra time to wake up, and when it brightened the sky enough for the contest to come to life, there was already wreckage on the beach, both physical and emotional. Competitive surfers who battled their way into the upper echelon of the Challenger Series met once more for the final fight. While some would say the ultimate quest in professional surfing is to win a world title, and it is, but if you’re looking for real raw emotion,…

ELEVATED: If you were just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada—at a secret military station in the desert—and were at the controls of US spy satellite RISAT 2BR1. And you happened to also be a surfer—imagine what you could find. Picture your satellite soaring over, say, Java, and you were curious about a surf spot you had seen in a magazine (or online) called Watukarung, a few kliks outside of some place called Pacitan. And what if you had used some simple research to get the global coordinates of the spot. Now, might you look over your shoulder to see if anyone inside the air-conditioned shipping container you were working in was watching you? And if not, might you surreptitiously divert your controls to check this surf spot out real quicklike?…

There are very few legends left from the original crew that discovered surfing in Bali. Sadly, last year Peter Neely also left these earthen shores. After receiving one of Peter’s emotive poems from his wife Lynne, we seized an opportunity to honour him and his contribution to surfing communities here and abroad. Peter first went to Bali in 1975 and over the years spent nearly 15 years of his life there, where he formed countless friendships. Peter, with an undeniable fondness, once said, “I was lucky enough to surf some beautiful uncrowded waves with all the original Bali surfing pioneers back in the 1970s, guys like the late Legends Ketut ‘Big Froggy’ Jati, Wayan Suwenda and Wayan ‘Billy’ Badra … I guess I’ve had a lifelong love affair with the…

A BOOKSHELF FULL OF SURF CLASSICS SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS TO GO IN THE DRAW, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS BE A SUBSCRIBER. IF YOU’RE NOT ONE, SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET THE MAG DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR. EVERY ISSUE. IT’S A NO-BRAINER. $69 1 YEAR 6 ISSUES FREE POSTAGE WHY SUBSCRIBE? • You never miss an issue• Your copy gets delivered to your door before it’s on the store shelves• You are automatically entered into every prize draw • It’s easier and cheaper• It makes a perfect gift• Each issue contains essential content created to inform and enhance your surfing life• Free postage in Australia TO SUBSCRIBE: www.surfinglife.com.au/subscribe DIGITAL EDITIONS | BACK ISSUES: www.surfinglife.com.au/shop TRAVEL | CULTURE | WAVES | TECHNIQUE | BOARDS | SURFERS…

Are there any new waves to discover in the world? I believe there are still new discoveries out there—different swells, different conditions. Far-flung islands have only been visited a few times, and no surfer has ever witnessed their full potential. I have had the good fortune of sitting in the Mentawais for the last two years. We have not chased waves as per the usual surf charter but sitting with the family. I have watched different breaks light up in various conditions and been surprised by what I have surfed. Waves I have ignored for 20 years are now on my list that I can take guests to when charters get back to normal … well, maybe! Concerning surf travel, are we in the best or worst time? This is…

What is your fondest surfing memory? If you’ve been fortunate enough to do a bit of travel in the “before times” pre-pandemic then chances are, among your surfing highlights is the classic, tropical, surfing boat trip through some exotic wave region in Indo or the Maldives or the South Pacific. The pure, unadulterated joy of “surf, eat, sleep, repeat” for 10 days or two weeks with a bunch of mates, free of distractions, with three square meals a day laid on, an industrial size fridge of cold beer, the odd fresh fish dinner, waited on by a gracious local crew, all while being transported from one idyllic surf spot to another, is the stuff of surfing fantasy. Yet in the 2000s, the boat trip became so ubiquitous, especially in the…

For some reason, the “van life vibe” is separated into two contentious tribes. When certain surfers stumble upon a large surfed-out van parked at their spot, their first inclination is to take out a bar of wax and draw a penis on the side of it. Many vans parked in the wrong place become well endowed with all kinds of paraffin graffiti and even threats like, “beat it van kook”. Most of the time, this behaviour isn’t warranted, as countless van enthusiasts are just minding their own business, having a nice time hanging out at the beach and surfing with one or two friends. Yes, there are those occasions when a van life crew overstays their welcome. Or a visitor to the site takes up the very best parking spot…

The power and beauty of surf travel is that it is an antidote to the rigours and the tedium that generally defines most of our lives. When we travel for surf, whether we score or get skunked, it stimulates satisfaction and growth. Is it rebellion, escapism, or a chance to feel? Whatever the reason, surf travel is a psychological, rather than, a physical tonic. Life-changing journeys become such powerful memories that it can feel like yesterday. This is one of them—life’s serendipitous spinoffs. The narrow freedom between the end of a schooling career and entering the workforce. In the grainy pre-dawn, my mate and I pack every centimetre of cabin and roof space in his ’69 Toyota Corona Sedan. Everything we need for life on the road for the next…

Great minds don’t just think alike; they birth ideas into reality. So is surfing a natural evolution of sea-lovin’ adventurers? Multiple discovery (or simultaneous invention) happens when different people make identical discoveries independently but more or less at the same time. If we leave “time” out of the equation, surfing is an eye-opening example of this. And we’re not rehashing the Hawaiian-Peruvian-first-surfers debate. Instead, Norfolk Islanders have an intriguing history—a sport “which they appear to have developed spontaneously—surfing. Captain Cook had reported that surfing was unknown even in Tahiti at that time”1. But before we introduce “sliding” along the waves at Pitcairn Island on something Captain Raine describes later in 1821 as “resembling a butcher’s tray but round at one end and square at the other”2, let’s familiarise ourselves with…

Travelling during a global pandemic isn’t easy and not always crammed with fun, Insta-worthy moments. Yet, for some strange reason, post-COVID benefits, like fewer crowds, make me feel less like a tourist hailing from the Hinchinbrook Shire in North Queensland. But that could be because I’m living in Norway and haven’t been down under since 2019. In Northern Norway, the Lofoten Islands are known for their Arctic surf conditions. This Norwegian archipelago is about 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle and 2,420 kilometres short of the North Pole. Surfers worldwide make their way here to catch spine-chilling slabs in our planet’s most intense conditions during the winter and autumn months. Why would wave hunters chase frigid waters with reputably unpredictable weather? Hope. A chance of surfing under the aurora…

The West Coast: On the Road to Cactus This is a fractious placewhere the land keeps its secretsin bleached-boned limestone,where a moody jade sea whispers in ancient languageon silent brooding desert nights. Tumbled-down sandstone testaments to foolish determinationcling on low lonely dunes;blood-rusted windmills speak to promises not fulfilled,sand swallows insouciant white rock wallsthat meander through never-tamed land. This is an ages-old querulous placewhere the lore speaks of the sand, the sky and sea,not a landscape stripped to its sun-coloured bonesshimmering and smouldering in a haze of indifferenceand usury. This is where unrelenting coast meets seething ocean,limestone cliffs shrug against a belligerent sea,where eye-burning white beaches stretch out like infinite ideas,hypnotic kelp-covered reefs sway to cyclic maritime rhythmand danger loiters in deep black water, in the primal brain. The human scale…

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