May Time Fly

Time flies when you're having fun but it also seems to fly when there is no fun to be had.

Some would think that this was going to be the year that I stopped my adventurous acts and settled at home to further my studies. My commitment was high, yet my effort was low and the simple life seemed to creep back in. I lasted 3 days at uni. Stepping away from the travelling life, I thought starting a Bachelor of Arts (Languages) degree would in way be my fix as I'd still be able to keep up my languages. However the inability to cope with the wasted time on shitty public transport got the better of me. With a timetable that would take up 24 hours and a commute of 20 hours per week, I couldn't justify the need for a lousy certificate that after 3 years would say I can speak French and Japanese... So here I am looking at uni by correspondence.

I also am recovering from hip surgery. In early January I was surfing out the wedge, Whale Beach, and pretty much ate it. I was held under and thrown around to the max. The moment I felt it I knew I had done something to my hip. 3 months later I underwent an arthroscope that went in and stitched up the torn labrum and shaved 10mm off my femoral head.... nasty. 6 weeks later I'm counting down the next 6 weeks till I can start to surf again. 6 weeks of no fun down, 6 to go!

Hospital time

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” -Albert Einstein

1 Giant Mind

1 GIANT MIND from Jonni Pollard on Vimeo.

1giantmind.org

Appreciation

Vedic Meditation

Trailer from Gary Gorrow on Vimeo.

garygorrow.com

Surf Sister Article

www.surfsister.com.au 

to read more

www.surfsister.com.au 

Family

When it comes to the festive season we all believe that ideally we should celebrated it with our families. I believe family is not only the little sister you are so protective over, nor the older brother who drives you mad, it is those who surround you. Whether it be geographically or cognitively. Moral support and presence is what brings that happy smile. They are the people who love the real you!

I miss those who are my family in Hossegor and I am grateful to have come home to the loving community in which I grew up in.

To see the smile on my grandmother's face when I first arrived home was indescribable. The first embrace accompanied by tears with my mum at the airport and the dorky hello, big hug and being lifted by my 'not so little' brother made me realise this was no longer a skype date relationship. I was home and summer number 5 was about to begin. One of the best things about travelling is coming home to such a spectacular part of the world. Who would think that I'd ever want to leave. Coming home makes you appreciate where we live, the beauty of the land meeting the sea, the loving neighbourhood and its everlasting joyful spirit that fills the salty breeze.

Happy to be home :)

Harris, Mumma, Nanny & I

Charlie, Bex, Sophie & I

Pumps, Charlie, Brendos, Bex & MC

Myri, Bex, Charlie & I

Amelie

Annabelle!

Crille! 

Fragments Of The Mind

Modernise, globalise, adopt, hinder, multiculturalise, resist change! Diminish individuality, promote conformity, international relations, combine classes, seperate the rich from the poor, liberate the nation, equality between races, loose the spice each country is proud to produce.

Is the idea of globalisation diminishing individual cultures? What are the effects of technological growth on the differences, relationships and cultural beliefs of each country? Is finding yourself on a map a way of becoming lost in the number of masses?

Why do we need to conform to the idea of ensuring our individuality? If God is the ultimate leader and we are taught not to follow, is life as hypercritical as it exposes to be?

Silence is ...

"Silence vibrating is Creation. Silence flowing is Love. Silence shared is Friendship. Silence seen is Infinity. Silence heard is Adoration. Silence expressed is Beauty. Silence maintained is Strength. Silence omitted is Suffering. Silence allowed is Rest. Silence recorded is Scripture. Silence preserved is Our Tradition. Silence given is Initiating. Silence received is Joy. Silence perceived is Knowledge. Silence stabilized is Fulfillment. Silence alone is."
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Words of Sweden by Nicholas Pumphrey & Sam Page

Hot chicks. Supermodels. Blonde. Tall. ABBA. Swedish meatballs. Singing. Slick hair dos. Expensive booze. Buttoned up suits. Coffee shops. Prolonged café visits. People watching.

Sum Payji

Thompa & Pumps

Hanging With Locals

It is always nice to be shown around a foreign place by a local. Their knowledge of where to go, where to avoid, how, at what time etc are all valuable elements in travel. Being taken to someones home town where they haven't visited is even more exciting. Walking down the streets of Armaçao de Pêra we were stopped by almost every old man and lady as they recognised the boy they once watched playing in the street. We devoured the best fish, socialised at the local bar and we even scored waves! Being on the the south coast of Portugal, close to the Mediterranean Sea this part of the Atlantic coast receives little swell. Fun waves all day.

After being home - Hossegor, France - for just one day we then flew to Sweden. Another true home of my beautiful friend. Walking around town was done in a day and just slotting into normal daily life was easy. Meeting his closest friends and family was a lot more enjoyable than sitting on a roof top bus touring the city to make sure every tourist site was ticked off. He took us to the bars he and his friends like, sat in prime people watching cafés and attempted to listen to their Swedish catch up conversations - fail!

The feeling you get when you are greeted by a person who has known the friend showing you around their home town since they were toddlers is of a special kind. They are so excited to see their unexpected friend and their happiness is infectious. Their big smile and genuine hand shake is welcoming.

I am a tourist in my own city, I would get lost too easily! I could give a tour of the Northern Beaches but anything inland or on the city side of the Harbour Bridge - tragic! I love showing friends around my home away from home. Hossegor, Bayonne, Biarritz - I will never get sick of sharing these beautiful places!

Armaçao de Pêra

Armaçao de Pêra

Armaçao de Pêra

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Don't Bother!

Is it LOVE that tortures the MIND?
Or is it the MIND that tortures itself when it is deprived of LOVE?

Are we blind in saying that the heart needs LOVE to live?
While all we see in the elation of LOVE is a disfigured reality!

Fernando Pessoa

Concentrate!

Running through my mind.
A continuous jingle.
An unwanted repeat.
The limited lyrics that circle.
STOP.
This is what hinders minds to be aware of each individual’s presence.
Why do we enjoy a catchy tune?
And once it has ‘caught’ you, how do you escape it’s forever repeating insignificant words?
In daily life we have the desire to expand our knowledge however in one way or another it is unfortunately dumbed.
The industry of what is called music includes many talented artists yet the diversity allows repetitive crap to be constantly played on the radio.
I am not saying that I do not enjoy singing along to their catchy tunes.
Nor do I not enjoy dancing to the same songs every time I go out.
It’s the times when you have been captured into the realm of poor lyrics and repetition that the mind is incapable of returning to it’s unique thought process.
Music takes us to a world of rhythm, insignificant to our surrounding, we have the choice to fill our ears with tunes that do not, if chosen, coordinate what the eyes see.

Brazilians Can't Barrel Ride

De Souza, Pupo, Alves, Medina, Andre and Muniz all successfully posted high scores in the Ripcurl Pro Peniche. Supertubes was pumping and the barrelling waves were only a few meters from the shore line. The crowd practically had their toes touching the water's edge and as each set sucked up and spat the jerseyed competitor out the salty blow swiped out faces with amazement. Each succession of every barrel threw the crowd's arms up with applause. People had travelled from far to watch the final day and see Kelly Slater be beaten by the Brazilian, Adriano de Souza. Such incredible entertainment. Perfect waves with the best in the world showing us how it's done. The strong Brazilian contingency on the tour consists of 6 surfers, most proving to excel in ariel manoeuvres. Coming from a country where waves are weak and competition is high, their aggressive approach and lack of bottom turns is evident. These guys however have proved themselves in the more surfable waves completing turns top to bottom and dominating their heats in the Ripcurl Pro. Coming from Hawaii, John John Florence has Pipe in his backyard, we could see how at home he felt in the similar conditions here in Peniche.
Where you grow up shapes the way you surf.

A Treat for Spanish Roadies

Travelling late at night, through the deserted roads that cross Spain flashing lights flicker along the highway. A method of attracting and luring fatigued truckies into what lies within. 'Club Jamaica' remains in our minds the rest were thankfully forgotten. It is said that in Spain for a new town to develop there needs to be a church, a whore house and a bar. We passed many stray 'Clubs' so they could possibly be hoping to start new towns or have their independent business excel in the scarceness.
Onwards we go, Portugal in the distance.

The Sound of Change

Completion of one chapter encourages the commencement of another. I am grateful for the support O'neill Europe has given me over the past 2 years and now I am happy to be returning to a more fashion minded surf label. RHYTHM.

Road trip on! lets get Rhythmized!!

Headed down to Peniche for the Ripcurl Pro and the Rhythm event 'By the Sea'

EFF YOU SEE KAY

certain people make you say fuck
it's contagious
it casually rolls off your tongue before you can consciously stop fucking staying it

fuck!

'Why is it that images and words so often contradict one another?' Cloudy Rhodes
http://cloudyrhodes.tumblr.com/

Catawampus

Off centre, askew, awry

University?