Cloud Nine

2010-03-05T21:11:00.000-08:00

Quiksilver Pro 2010

2010-02-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

Today the quiky pro kicked off!! Whats seriously awesome about this fact, is that my apartment is across the street from Snapper Rocks! Got up this morning met up with some of the mates and took a walk over, caught Mick Fannings, Joel Parkinson, and Andy Irons heat along with some of the other top guys, didn't catch Kelly Slaters heat but he tore it up scoring a 17 something out of a possible 20... He's on fire right now and I'm pumped for the rest of the competition... it rained most of today and the waves were decent but tomorrow it's looking like they are going to hold the roxy pro and resume with the men on monday.. which is when our class through the University will be given a behind the scenes tour of the event... so stoked for that! tonight we are trying to get some people together to go out but plans are still in the works, we'll see if tonight brings as much adventure as toga night did.. haha

Toga's never end well...

2010-02-25T23:29:00.001-08:00

THURSDAY NIGHT WITH THE BOYS

Hayden (Aussie) spent most of the day talking up this party at Southern Cross Tavern that the uni was putting together… being that the bar is right across the street from the new campus and just a ten-minute drive from my apartment it sounds like it could be a good idea… We started out with some rugby on the beach, a bunch of the French guys , Mitch (Fra), Eddy (Fra), Hayden and Myself… After we finished up with that we headed back to my place where we cleaned up and started planning out what our night was going to turn into… Hayden got a hold of the girls numbers from our uni classes and they were going to the uni party at the bar which I might add was a toga party… I didn’t think the party was gonna be that good cause this university is pretty weak when it comes to putting together a good time for the students so I was giving Hayden a hard time about the whole toga thing haha… Espen (Danish) offered to drive so that was all sweet, we figured out a way to go to this party without spending any money which was a main concern.. We had to hunt down Eddy and fill him in on what the mission for the night was gonna be, usually he wouldn’t be into going out because of the whole costing money thing, but we had worked that problem out so there was hope! After finding him we all got back to mine and started pre-gaming with the random bottles in our bar drawer… Which consisted of two bottles of brandy, about 3 shots of the Captain, two bottles of wine at there half way marks, and some Smirnoff crap that Hayden enjoyed… After we all get good and loose we start getting our acts together for this adventure, by this point the whole toga thing had turned into me making a head piece out of a palm leaf and full on white bed sheets supplied by Espen… Hayden and I were dressed for success Ed and Espen however didn’t rock out the bed sheets… We make it up to the bar and I don’t see any togas so I start to have second thoughts haha I feel like a tool at this point… we walk over to the bar and its just this big opening no real door and the place is empty…. The girls from our classes told us they had already gotten there and that it was “good”… After walking around the corner into the back of the bar we found the uni party which consisted of about 10 kids in togas, two kids playing wii tennis on the back of the dance floor, a really lame DJ, and then some people dressed regular…. THIS PARTY IS BEAT………… I walk in and then walk out and can’t stop laughing, the girls from our classes found hayden and then found ed, espen, and I at the bar trying to find at least something rewarding at this party ha… the girls fess up to having straight lying about the quality of this party because they didn’t think we’d show up if they had told us the truth which is most likely what would have actually happened… After surveying the scene I announce to the group that we need a new venue! I offer up to the girls to come back to my apartment with me and guys and the girls are into it… Espen drives eddy and I. Hayden said he’d drive the girls over in Sandra’s (Swedish) car… After we eddy espen and I make it back to my place about 15 minutes go by and we start to wonder what was taking Hayden and the girls so long. On that my phone rings and it’s Holly “Hey Matt, its Holly, Hayden just got arrested and takin away…..…” Worst news ever! My whole little happy place just vanished turns out the cops had pulled Hayden over just around the corner from my place and they breathe tested him and it was a no go, here are some chunky metal bracelets for yah bro scenario… I found the girls sitting on a bench right around the block and got them back to the apartment so we could go over what had happened. Needless to say the vibe was pretty beat for partying at this point cause we were all pretty worried about Hayden and felt like we had done him wrong some how… Espen had bought two cases of beer off of the bar tender before leaving so I passed a few of them out to try and bring some life back to the group.. we had the music going and we were all pretty drunk already so it didn’t take to long before we started partying again, I couldn’t help but laugh about the fact that Hayden was wearing a toga and had been arrested dressed like fool… After about an hour Stef (aussie) wasn’t looking so good and started to get sick, she made it to the toilet and spent the majority of the night laying on the floor in the bathroom between spewing spells… Between making sure she was alright and stressing on haydens situation it was all pretty wild, I was really pretty drunk and was leaning over in the kitchen picking something up when I looked up and was looking at Hayden WHAT HOW WHO WHERE WHAT HAPPENED MAN!!!?!?! Turned out after the cops finished up with all the processing and everything they set a court date for him and brought him home.. he told the cop he just wanted to go to be with his mates and the cop dropped him off around the corner from my place…. It was heavy he was pretty stressed about the whole thing, really pretty bummed… We got him a drink and cheered him up with a good time… Stef was pretty sick for most of the night and eventually fell asleep on the floor in the bathroom cause she was worried she would get sick again.. so as long as we were all still hanging out in the living room I figured we could let her be and just check on her with some water here and there… after the night started to wind down the other girls decided to call a cab for a lift home and said they could pick hayden and stef up in the morning… I woke stef up and set her up in my room with some water and a bucket just in case haha and we threw the mattress from the back of espens van on the floor for hayden…. For a night that didn’t look to be to exciting it turned into quite the adventure!!

Surf Session 2-23-10 Australia

2010-02-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

Classic Fingal Left…

We got out of uni classes around 12 and it was sooo wildly hot and sunny not a cloud in the sky water was beautiful, this new kid in the course from southern aus asked if I was going for a surf, and I already had eddy (french guy) and chris (aussie mate) coming over and I have this danish guy “Espen” living with me right now lol so I told him to come chill with us and we'd go… So we get to mine and hung out for awhile till everyone came around.. We were sorta talking about going for a surf but then we ended up just sitting around playing music, talking about hitting this spot that's across the river channel that would be empty and pretty solid if the crowded breaks were going off... I hate this paddle because its about 50 yards across and the river is usually pulling you out to sea or pushing you back in, so you drift quite a ways… Lots of paddling and this water is said to be filed with sharks, potentially bull sharks swimming in the channel picking up scraps from the fishing boats and hanging around in those darker deeper waters, anyways I love the spot but hate the paddle and had only done it once before, but the only alternative is to drive around to the only bridge that gets you onto this island and the bridge is 45 minutes south.... so I decide ok if we don’t go now I'm gonna talk myself out of doing it so lets go, Ed runs off to go get his board… He returned with his board and Andrea (French guy from St. Martin) and Mika (Tahitian), Hayden the new aussie mate, Chris (aussie) and Espen (Danish) and I grab our stuff lotion up and we all set off up the hill to D-bah its crowed and small so we look across to the spot on the other side of the channel and its empty and looks to be alright, there's 7 of us so I say let's cross, get it over with! (My logic is the last time I did this paddle there were 4 of us, this time there's 7, the odds of not becoming an interest to a shark have just gotten better!! haha so we jump in and paddle over, the river wasn’t sweeping much at all so the paddle was straight away not to bad, we walk down to the beach and there's this section that is sorta all over in front of us and there are a few guys out, Hayden (aus), Mika (tahitian), Andrea (French Caribbean), and Espen (Danish) start to make there way in right there, Chris (aus) and I want to go down to the left we had surfed the last time we were there that was just on the other side of the big sand pump pier.. Ed (french) walked with us a bit but also paddled in at the first section, Chris and I kept walking and made our way to the other side of the pier, there was only one guy out and it looked like a really nice left was coming through in each set, so we jump in, sure enough the wave was jacking up right off the pier supports and built pretty fast into this tall wall of a left that fired you down the line..The guy that was already out surfed another two sets then paddled in, Chris and I had it all to ourselves and were loving every second of it, shouting and calling each other into waves, smiles on every wipeout and every great ride... we were getting so many great waves that the warm water was barely helping cool us down from the hot sun and all the paddling and surfing!! SOO EPIC... I'm goofy so I love surfing lefts, and every wave over here is a right and my backhand isn't so stellar, so to have a solid left just pumping through with it all to ourselves I was stoked! Not to mention the Quiksilver pro starts here in a few days and Snapper Rocks and D-Bah have been insanely crowded these past few weeks so we haven’t had a good surf for a while now… After about an hour Hayden (aus) found his way over to our break and told us how the other section was pretty beat and how much better our left was... Chris and I laughed about it and were even more pumped on the wave we had found Hayden is actually a real solid surfer and was having a ton of fun on this wave chucking a few airs and really nice snaps, Chris was also putting his flow into the mix playing with some big carves and a few air attempts... Soon after Hayden made it over Eddy and Espen were spotted paddling over to us.. Chris shouts out " Oh man, there invading where's the border patrol!!" then quickly paddles off into a wave... Eddy and Espen are welcomed into the lineup with calls into the next set... Hooting and hollering for each other the whole session! Spent 4 hours out in the surf because the waves held through and just kept sending set after set... When we finally couldn't paddle into waves anymore from pure exhaustion we each caught one last wave in I was on cloud nine at this point because not only was it a great surf session but my last wave was the best one of the whole session, it really peaked up into this head high wall and shot me down the glassy face, got a few turns out of it and rode the rest of the way in on my stomach and took a breather on the beach... We still had to paddle back across the channel... Great surf with the mates minus the serious sunburn on all our backs, but no casualties!

Dolphins at D-bah

2010-02-12T03:34:00.000-08:00

don't have time to post a whole blog, we went surfing yesterday at duranbah beach just over the hill from my apartment and Mitch (A french friend) filmed and caught some dolphins out the back enjoy!

Adventures of feb 10th

2010-02-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 2pm today... My sleep schedule has been pretty astray since I stayed up with Edouard (frenchie) the other night to watch the rugby... gotta work on that. anyways today, what was left of it anyways, I spent working on a canvas I started painting.. nothing crazy just trying to find a flow.. Been trying to get creative lately to keep my imagination on edge. Werner (my African) got back from work and we went for a surf. the waves were pretty crap today, but it was really clean and there were a few 3 foot and occasional 4 footers out there. caught a few good long waves super clean, had to call a long boarder off one of my waves... Kook.. but had a good surf anyways, while sitting in the lineup off of Greenmount (between Snapper rocks and Kirra) there was a pod of about 7 dolphins 10 feet away from me having some fun in the waves and jumping on eachother... another great day here on the Gold Coast!

Sat feb 6th.. weathers beat

2010-02-06T05:55:00.000-08:00

Waves have been spotty the past two days, we have tried every tide scenario and found some waves here and there but nothing steady... The weather has been sunny but then randomly real stormy rain clouds come sweeping through for a quick fit of rain then its just sorta muggy for another 20 minutes and clears up, but its hot and the water is beautiful right now so it's all still great! Today Chris (Aussie mate) Edouard (Frenchie) and I packed into Chris's sedan with our boards and headed south to avoid the crowd at snapper, we try Kings Cliff , front beach & back beach, both were closing out, so we move on to Casaurina, also bad choppy broken waves, so then we head to Cabarita and check the frontside and backside and after watching the sets come through about 10 times (which probably spanned out to a solid 45 mins) we decided we weren't having it, it was to hectic out strong current big sweeping outside sets, was not pretty... so we left to return back to coolangatta but stopped at Fingal on the way, and decided that it was to sharky in that spot, so we got back to coolie ran into Base to say hey to Werner (South African flatmate) and check out some boards then looked across the street at Kirra and laid out our new mission.. Paddled in at Rainbow Bay and let the waves take us up the coast to Kirra, got a couple alright waves then a really solid pitting right from Greenmount to Kirra.. got a few more, got out and found Chris on the beach, Ed we had lost in the drift.. ha , Chris and I walked across the street to recap our session with Werner and I ended up walking out with a free DHD (Darren handley, World champs shaper) T-shirt! thanks to the my South African! Another Solid day in the land down under!

Back in Aus. Stories of the surf since I've been back

2010-02-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

Surf session Feb 1st : The word was that Kirra point was going off, It was stormy out all day, Werner got off of work at 5 so we walked across the street when he got off and we were standing at Kirra there was a really strong current and crowded with big sporadic waves breaking all over, Werner and I had to paddle out from like 100 yards up the beach from the break and fight the current to get out as we drifted , he didn’t make it out so well… then I sat in the break for a while paddling the whole while and finally got a nice fast right hander, head high , I fly down the line getting a solid 30 second ride, it was a great wave! Then when I got out and got over to Werner and Ronel they were all pumped on the wave I caught so I was amped up, since Mick Fanning was out there were all kinds of people with cameras on the jetty yea yesterday I got two waves the whole day out of two sessions but they were great lol

Feb 2nd: Today I got crushed really bad like real bad and then got a great wave and then got some more smaller guys, let me tell u the one I got crushed by, held me under for what had to be around 20 seconds… I decided to paddle from rainbow bay to snapper rocks cuz the waves were bigger and more consistent, I got there and the wave is one of those types that break off of these big rocks so half the wave crashes and explodes off this rock wall and then the other half is this great fast dropping pitting wave that settles into a real cruisey thick right, you have to sit right off of the rock wall so the waves are bouncing you around and moving you in and out then these big waves jack up and you paddle like hell to catch up to it.. So there were like 10 of us out there and these guys were all pretty good, I felt kinda out classed and then a few boogie boarders were out too, so we were waiting and trying to catch these waves and stay in this one spot and away from the rocks and then outside this big ass monster of a two story wave jacks up and curls over all of us and I hear a "OH-OOW SHIT" then we all dive off our boards and swim down BOOOM?!@# Held under and rocked towards the ground deep by this explosion of water and after about 20 seconds of swimming through this jet wash, hydraulic chaos of water I got to the foamy surface and had to wait for my board to come up. haha it was intense we came up and everyone got to their boards then we paddled further out of the break and were laughing and struggling to clear the water from our eyes and make sure another wave wasn’t gonna crush us , the laughing at each others faces recovering from this rogue wave lasted for another 5 minutes, after that I was determined to get at least one of these warlocks, next set came through and I got this great head high pumping and spitting right hander all the way back to rainbow bay..

NEWEST T-SHIRT DESIGN

2010-01-21T18:29:00.001-08:00

This is our first t-shirt design.