Scribbles on the Web

Munich To Panama

2011-08-09T12:11:00.001+09:00

Panama’s signature, world class, surf break is Santa Catalina, but up until a year ago you couldn’t even buy a block of wax in town. There was no surf shop. Now, Catalina has a surf shop and it’s run by 2 German girls, Elli & Patricia.

Their story is so cool, I had to write about it. They are from the same town in Germany, Munich, but they met in Panama were they were learning to surf and living in paradise. When it came time to go home they didn’t want the dream to end, so they started a surf shop.

That was a big move for 2 girls who knew nothing about the surf industry, had no connections or know-how on running a shop, couldn’t speak Spanish and were only learning to surf, but they did it and did it in style. Now they have half a day to surf, everyday, only open when they like, are their own bosses and are living the surfers dream.

Vegetarianism

2011-05-26T07:59:00.008+09:00

Nothing adds credibility to a writers voice like quoting a more famous and credible source. I think I found a good one for this topic.

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” Albert Einstein.

I like how he used the term evolution to a vegetarian diet. Albert was quite succinct in his argument, I took a few more words in saying vegetarian motherhood and raising vege kids is absolutely healthy and a huge step towards saving the planet, from us.

Read on…

Is a Vegetarian Diet Suitable During Pregnancy?

Raising Vegetarian Children

Alaias

2011-05-19T03:14:00.007+09:00

I love surfing Alaias. Tom Wegener who is largely responsible for the rebirth of the alaia is a full advocate of the DIY approach to alaia surfing. The way he tells it, you can start with a long wide plank of wood and shape a 7ft alaia, then go for a ride.

Image

From my experience you fall off loads on the first attempt, but you also get that feeling; fluid and super fast, melding with the wave yet skating across the surface. Surfing an alaia is all about feeling the wave and dancing with it.

Now back to the DIY part. After a surf or two take the 7ft alaia back to the work shed and re-shape it. Make it a 6 footer with a swallow tail or deepen the center concave or re-shape the rails all you need is sandpaper, a hand plane and a saw. Each surf alter a different aspect of the board and then ride it to feel how that affects performance. It really is a great way to learn about hydrodynamics and surfboard design. When you have sanded and chopped that alaia till it is too small to ride (you can belly board a 4ft alaia), give it to a kid and spread the stoke.

A wrote an article on alaias for The Surfboard Man.

Alaias - A Modern Resurgence of Ancient Surfboards

Playa Gigante, Nicaragua

2011-05-02T21:09:00.007+09:00

Right now I am living in Playa Gigante, It is a very villagey kind of beach town, in Nicaragua. Their are about 50 families that live in Gigante, but in reality it is only 4 big extended families, in 50 different houses.

We are running a surf shop in a building owned by Orlando. We share a bathroom with the next door neighbours, who are Orlandos relations (we still have not worked out how) and they share a kitchen with the restaurant across the street, but not how you would think. The restaurant has no kitchen, Carlos, Orlando's son, still gets his mum to cook for him, and all his customers, but in her own kitchen. This sort of neighbourly relations is normal in Gigante.

I have added Gigante to the HostelTrail map.

Earth Day is April 22

2011-04-22T13:54:00.006+09:00

Earth Day is a global campaign to raise environmental awareness and inspire the masses (that's you) into taking green infused action (not just talking about it). It's a good idea.

Here is what I wrote about Earth Day for Green Parenthood; Earth Day Is Tomorrow,

and here is what the Earth Day Network has to say about it.

A Billion is real big number and depending on what part of the world you are from it will have 9 or 12 zeros. The English speaking portion of the world means a thousand million (9 zeros) when they say a billion. The rest of the world defines a billion as million million (12 zeros). Weird huh?

Anyway the Earth Day Network has set humanity a goal of making A Billion Acts of Green before 4th June 2012. An act of green is anything that is good for the earth or that tells others to be good to the earth, ie. an act of environmental service or advocacy.

This link is to my article on A Billion Acts of Green and this is the real A Billion Acts of Green website, were you should go to record your good green deeds.

Green Parenthood

2011-04-21T10:09:00.005+09:00

Greenparenthood.com is not a website about mothering plants or raising little green men. It is about being a parent and going about it in a way that nourishes your child and the planet.

I am not a parent but if I was it’s the sort of website I would visit. I now write for GreenParenthood.com so by the time I do get around to having kids I should be well informed.

Links to articles:

The importance of Omega-3 For Children

Shoes

2011-04-21T05:08:00.011+09:00

I have spent the past year searching for the greenest travel shoe possible. I arrived in Peru with a pair of hiking boots and very old Chuck Taylor One-Stars. Neither of which were particular eco-friendly choices in footwear. They were just the shoes I had in my cupboard, thus using them avoided unnecessary consumerism (Not buying is better than buying, even if you are purchasing the latest “eco” model outdoor shoes).

This search for clean, green, earth friendly footwear that is easy to pack and looks OK with most of my clothes has lead me to sell the hiking boots that were too heavy, socially awkward and only actually necessary about 2% of the time; spend too many idle hours drooling over the latest model of Patagonia footwear, only to realise it is entirely pointless buying an eco-friendly product shipped internationally; embarrass my girlfriend and amuse the local people by being shoe-less for weeks, and finally I came around to admiring the poorest guy in the markets sandals.

Why the shoes of the dirty guy with matted hair and smelly clothes? Well, they are locally made out of recycled car tyres, hand stitched roughly but still no glue is used to hold them together and they will last longer than a really long time. You can’t fault the dirty guy on his environmentally conscience choice of foot protection, nor me since I bought these in Colombia.

Eventually I couldn’t help myself, and in Costa Rica, I took a hacksaw to a tyre and bought some leather straps to come up with these.

Now I wear them everywhere, or go bare-feet.

Outside The Hostel Door

2011-04-09T21:31:00.004+09:00

A sea of voices fill the air, chatter and clatter, fruit and dreams. Hay piña, Hay piña, Hay piña y sal, nasal and piercing.

Bananas piled high sandbag their sellers in, creating, an oasis of yellow and brown blotchiness; separation from the mess and chaos on the street.

Pink lace-frilled apron, faded and dulled by yesterday’s dirt, hold coins exchanged for oranges, onions and limes. Maybe pink-lace frilled apron does not have any lime trees. Maybe all she has is 3 children and worries. She need not worry, humans are resourceful, kids especially. The fruit that appears in their pockets at the end of each day playing helps them grow and lets her earn some dough.

A grey neatly trimmed moustache sits atop firmly pressed, down-turned lips, like a gecko on a basalt grey crack in the wall. A gecko, shaded by a New York baseball cap and framed by bare sinewy, brown arms, far stronger than mine.

This is life. This is Nicaragua, outside the hostel door.

Chocolate

2011-04-02T00:01:00.013+09:00

A very brief history of chocolate.

The Mayans were the first people in history to figure out the complicated, 5-step process involved in transforming cacao seeds into chocolate. They realised if you remove the seeds from the fruit, ferment, sun dry, roast , winnow, grind and then mix them in hot water you have a delicious, energising drink – the world’s first hot chocolate. The Mayans liked their hot chocolate bitter, with maybe a little cinnamon, but no sweetener.

When the Aztecs came down from the north and took over the Mayan lands they discovered the Mayan’s beloved hot coco. The Aztecs soon demanded their newly conquered subjects pay taxes in the form of cacao beans. Rather like children "I beat you up once, if you don't give me your lollies I will beat you again." Back in the Aztec capital cacao was an expensive imported product and was only consumed by royalty, and the priesthood. The Aztecs preferred their chocolate as a cold, unsweetened drink, sometimes with a dash of chili.

Enter the Spaniards and their quest to bring new lands into the embrace of the church. The conquistadors held the Aztec royalty hostage and demanded all their wealth and treasure, or else a beheading was in order. They were presented with (among other items) sacks of dried cacao beans. The Aztecs were beheaded and the cacao shipped back to Spain. It was the Spanish who were not so fond of the bitter taste and mixed the ground cacao with sugar cane juice, giving birth to chocolate as we know it today.

I learnt all this on a visit to ChocoMuseo, in Granada. Here in Nicaragua they like their hot chocolate as a mix of roast maize, roast cacao and sugar, called Pinolillo.

I would love to write an in-depth article on chocolate if any editor is interested.

Nicaragua

2011-03-28T11:48:00.008+09:00

We crossed from Costa Rica into Nicaragua and I have to say I am stoked about the move. It's true!, the wind really does blow off-shore every day in Nicaragua.

First stop San Juan del Sur. It's a little touristy, but chilled enough that I don't mind. One bad point is there is no surf within walking distance from town. One good point is the the sunsets; spellbinding displays of natures ability to paint with more colour than a human can name.

To read my HostelTrail entry about Nicaragua see below .

http://www.hosteltrail.com/ca/nicaragua/sanjuandelsur/

http://www.hosteltrail.com/hostelesperanza/

BocasTravel.com

2011-02-24T06:32:00.006+09:00

Bocas del Toro is Panama's Caribbean surfing paradise. We thought we would maybe spend a week or two there but ended up staying over a month. On one island they spoke English but with a Jamacian accent from a particular neighbourhood (ghetto) in Kingston. It was easier to understand their Spanish.

We contributed a couple of articles to a local travel website called BocasTravel.com. To read them follow links below

http://bocastravel.com/bicycle-riding-in-bocas

http://bocastravel.com/visiting-up-in-the-hill-on-bastimentos-island

HOSTELTRAIL.COM

2010-12-13T07:50:00.007+09:00

HostelTrail.com is an online travel guide used by independent travellers in Latin America. It covers accommodation and tour operators at the rice and beans end of the budget spectrum.

The website was set up to provide a platform for the promotion of small, independent, and locally operated businesses, in Central and South America. However, it’s not exclusive and will include any business offering services in the price range of its users i.e. backpacker.

There are plenty of hostel websites around, Hostel Trail differentiates itself by having all its content written by real travelers who have stayed in the hostel or taken the tour, that’s our job. I am now a contributing writer to the guide and Alicia works with me taking photos so beautiful you probably won’t believe they are the cheap places.

As we make our way north from Panama to Mexico we will be adding hostels and the odd tour company to Hosteltrail.com. Here are a few links to our work:

http://www.hosteltrail.com/hibiscusgarden/

http://www.hosteltrail.com/oasissurfcamp/

http://www.hosteltrail.com/boardershaven/

Otra Cosa

2010-12-10T13:30:00.002+09:00

Otra Cosa, is Spanish, it translates literally as another thing. It is the name of the volunteer agency I volunteered through in Peru. Their name Otra Cosa refers to another way of doing things, another way of living, another way of interacting with your fellow humans and of viewing the world. For me it meant another compost pile.

Follow this link to read my entry on the Volunteer Blog

http://otracosanetwork.blogspot.com/2010/12/slo-la-educacin-salvara-al-peru-how_09.html.

HEMP SURFBOARDS IN JAPAN - An article in the Annual Design Issue of Surfing World Magazine

2010-06-23T10:20:00.013+09:00

This was one of my favorite articles to write. I love surfing, I love green technology and in my opinion Surfing World is one of Australia's finest surf mags.

The article is about Ono Takahashi. Ono, is a man pursuing his own vision of how surfing should be. For him, this means using his favorite plant to produce home grown surfboards. The boards he makes have close to 80% plant material, hemp fins, hemp cloth and hemp in the blank.

Industrial hemp is "the goods" as far as environmentally friendly materials go. It's a rapidly replenishable resource that can be produced easily without pesticides or harmful chemicals. A genuinely green alternative to the environmentally damaging petrochemicals in the standard surfboard.

Stay tuned, there will be more articles on green surfboards.

The article is titled The Board Farmer, page 54 in Issue 303. This is a link to the Current Issue of Surfing World. I'll post a copy of the article once its no longer the current issue.

The Black Sheep Inn

2010-04-29T10:37:00.000+09:00

Alicia and I lived 3200 meters above sea level, in the Ecuadorian Andes, at the Black Sheep Inn. We were volunteers/caretakers of an eco-resort.

Our days were filled with gardening, feeding the animals and stoking the fire to heat the sauna.

The Black Sheep Inn is an eco-lodge, a ‘real one’. They are serious about operating in a conscientious way that minimizes their environmental impact and positively benefits the local community. Most of the buildings are made from adobe bricks – dug from the site, all the toilets are composting, the restaurant serves vegetarian food, they collect and re-use water onsite, recycle and re-use as much as possible to the point where they produce less than 25 grams of waste per guest per day, very commendable.

My favourite feature was the composting toilets. They are showpieces of low cost, environmentally friendly technology, that turn a waste product into a resource.

They don’t smell and have all been designed with magnificent views to ponder while you plop. Invariably, the toilet ends up being a topic of dinner conversation, and it’s all positive comment.

30 Days in Chugchilán

2010-04-06T08:23:00.008+09:00

Chugchilán is a typical village in the Ecuadorian Andes, a lot goes on, but nothing happens*. All the men wear gumboots and all the women wear colourful shawls. There are plenty of cute, grubby faced kids and almost as many animals in town, as people. There is a town square, lined by a church, and a volleyball court. Sunday is market day. The rest of the week the atmospheric comings and goings of clouds comprise the majority of local traffic.

Thirty days in Chugchilán is a collaborative project between Alicia and me, Photographer and Writer. For the next month I plan to take a daily walk into town, with a few scraps of paper, and a pencil. I’ll sit down and record what happens. Alicia will record visual impressions of Chugchilán, in her own photographic way.

I will publish our daily efforts on a separate page of this blog. Alicia will be posting an additional photographic journal on her blog. I invite you to follow us, as we become acquainted with a small dot on the map in Latin America.
* yes that is a line from a Ben Lee song

Peru

2010-01-20T10:34:00.001+09:00

Alicia and I lived in Huanchaco and volunteered through the Otra Cosa Network.

Huanchaco is in the north coast of Peru. It’s a small fishing village, come tourist town, wedged between the desert and the ocean. It is hot, dry and dusty. It’s also a great place to live, and surf.

The Otra Cosa Network is a low cost volunteer placement agency. They link willing foreigners with locally run organisations. We found Otra Cosa to be the real deal. They are not one of those excessively high priced programs using volunteer fees to fund their existence and giving a 2 week, token, feel good experience. They are a grass roots organisation that genuinely aims to benefit Peru and assist those willing to help - the volunteers.

Volunteering is not about changing the world. It’s about making personal connections with people and realising how these change both your lives. I would recommend it to everyone.

I contributed some writing to the Otra Cosa Newsletter. I liked writing it so much I decided to post it here for you all to read, enjoy.

Sόlo la Educaciόn Salvará al Perú

By James Galletly

Dedicated to Hutton Eadie, who fractured his heel pretending to jump of the CEP school roof.

CEP stands for Corporacion de Educaciόn Popular. The CEP school was set up by Father Victor Hugo Tumba Ortiz or Padre Tumbes. It is a private school, run on charitable donations, offering free education to children whose families cannot afford the small costs of a normal school. Padre Tumbes set up the school as a real world application of his thesis that Sόlo la educaciόn salvará al perú or only education can save Peru.

I volunteered with the CEP school, first as part of the construction team and then the summer school program. Construction was a great introduction to Peruvian work culture. I was a member of the United Nations of Otra Cosa. There was John from Ireland; Morgan, Hutten and Shae from the United States; Allan from Peru and myself representing Australia. Our task was to dig a hole. Not just any hole - el muy grande, muy profundo, hueco. The hole was 2 meters by 2 meters and 2.8 meters deep.

Progress was slow, as with most things in Peru, but this didn’t bother anyone because as we dug deeper the digging became harder. Once the hole was over our heads we used a ladder to climb in and out, and a bucket to haul out the loose sand and rocks. From the beginning, we were unsure what the hole was for and why it needed to be so big. We tried just digging a narrower hole and convincing Miguel, the foreman, that 1.8m was bastante profundo. But he re-marked out the original size and said we could widen it tomorrow and keep digging down.

Conversations were held through, across, and in spite, of the language barrier about the hole’s purpose. Miguel was saying something about generating free electricity or making a circuit breaker to save the school computers or maybe something entirely different that we just failed to understand. In lieu of a verified purpose to our mission we kept digging and speculated that maybe we were looking for the lost treasure of Chan Chan (Chan Chan is an ancient city, ruins of which are still standing near Huanchaco).

At round 2.4 meters it started to get really hot down the hole, and dangerous. There was a real possibility of head injury due to falling rocks, or wall collapse. It was agreed upon by all UN members, expect Peru, that for a hole this size we needed confined spaces tickets, hard hats, a harness, safety ropes and wall re-enforcing or at least a decent ladder. Peru relented and gave us Inca Cola and an early finish that day.

Eventually we made it to 2.8 meters and moved on to other jobs leaving el Cañόn de CEP uncovered. We left a hole 2 meters by 2 meters and 2.8 meters deep open and uncovered in a school playground! Luckily the only thing to fall in was a soccer ball. Two months later when I finished my volunteer stint, el Cañόn was still open, and unused.

Part 2: El Abono

Padre Tumbes believes only education can save Peru. I have a different view I believe only compost can save Peru.

Morgan and I started a composting project at the CEP school. We built two compost bins, out of recycled adobe bricks (it looks like a mini Chan Chan). Then we filled one bin with food scraps and garden waste and taught the kids all about the wonders of composting. This was our contribution to a greater Peru.

One of Padre’s visions for CEP is to be self sufficient. That is, to have a thriving vegetable garden within the school grounds that provides fresh, healthy, nutritious produce for use in the school lunches. This is an extremely practical idea and one that deserves merit as well as further volunteer attention (hint), but as you all know, the soil in Huanchaco and Trujillo is little more than sand and pebbles. This is terrible soil for growing plants. It holds very little moisture, or nutrients, both of which are essential for plant growth. That’s were compost comes in.

Compost is a free, natural source of additional soil nutrients and general all round garden improver. With compost the garden soil will be nutrient rich and grow lush, healthy vegetables. Using these nutritious vegetables in school lunches will lead to healthier children better able to concentrate and absorb knowledge. This will ultimately lead to a better educated Peru.

Without compost the garden will falta, lunches will be sparse, kids will be hungry, the famished students won’t learn, Father Tumbe’s thesis will be disproved and ultimately Peru will suffer. So for the benefit of Peru, Compost! Compost! Compost! For only education can save Peru, and only compost can save education.

Please save your food scraps, bag up garden waste around Huanchaco and give them to a CEP school volunteer. If you are a CEP volunteer, don’t be embarrassed, haul the bags of composting material on the bus and tend the pile with love, take the time to visit the compost pile, add the scraps from the school kitchen and keep the pile moist. Better yet, help the kids do all this.

The Cold Water Issue

2009-12-22T04:59:00.004+09:00

Lately I have been wondering, “Was it wise retiring my old wetsuit?” (see my first blog entry). It served me well and now, I have abandoned it to a cupboard in Queensland, while I am off surfing Peru.
Maybe my wetty is quietly chuckling in that warm cupboard, thinking “well Jim may be the one with something above the neckline but he sure didn’t realise what the Humboldt Current meant”.
The Humboldt Current begins downs in the Antarctic and then sweeps icy cold water up the western side of the Pacific Ocean. It dominates the coast of Chile and Peru with cold water conditions that would make a polar bear smile and wimpy travelling surfer wonder “was it wise retiring my old wetsuit?”
The truth is that before I came to Peru, I did read something about a current called Humboldt but spent most of my research time dreaming of endlessly peeling left hand point breaks. I didn’t actually cognitise that this current would mean water so cold that after 30 minutes surfing I would get out shivering uncontrollably and cursing my numb, fumbling limbs for failing me on every wave.
I love where we now live. Huanchaco is a small, dusty, surf town, on the edge of the desert with a series of left-hand breaks and not many surfers. But god it’s cold water. On the up side short surfs give me more time to learn Español.

BROWN'S FIELD - AN ORGANIC OASIS

2009-11-28T08:39:00.013+09:00

Brown's Field was one of our favorite places to visit when we lived in Ichinomia. It's such an idyllic place. I'd go as far as to recommend anyone travelling to Japan, skip Tokyo! And head straight to Brown's Field from Narita. Then if you don't have the impulse to sit right down and stay (which you may well do) take a day trip to Tokyo and the rest of Japan.

This article appeared in the November issue of the Tokyo Weekender. Click here to read the article.

A PAGE IN TRACKS MAGAZINE

2009-09-17T09:54:00.018+09:00

We have a full page in "the surfer's bible".

The observations in this piece where made at the beginning of our time living and surfing in Ichinomiya, Chiba Ken, Nippon. A copy of the article text is below if you feel like a read.

Surf culture in Japan is unique. Essentially it’s surfing, and like anywhere in the world they get up early and ride waves. It’s similar to Australia, but it’s not the same, Japan definitely has its’ own take on surfing.

I live in a small coastal town, about two hours from Tokyo. For many Tokyo surfers it’s their best option for a wave. It can get pretty crowded on Sundays but the crowd makes for an entertaining day, as long as I don’t join them in the sardine packed line-up.

When I walk along the beach I can tell where everyone paddled out by the lines of neatly paired thongs. Japanese people love footwear. They have inside shoes, outside shoes, toilet room shoes and rarely go bare foot. They wear thongs right to the beaches edge. Its classic – there are always rows of thongs on the beach patiently awaiting the return of their surfing masters.

Thongs are just the beginning of a vanload of equipment. The Japanese surf kit is extensive. Here, the basics extend well beyond a board and wax.

When they pay $2000 for a board (and they do) they’re not going to put it in the dirt and gravel. Everyone carries their own, portable, board racks. These are knee high, padded, A-frame stands and the car parks are full of them. The board is carefully laid wax down on the rack, given a thorough fresh water rinse, then towel dried. Some people even take the fins out every surf, before carefully sliding the board back into its cover and up on the cars internal board racks.

Then it’s on to the shower. There’s no need to go anywhere though, the Japanese surf mobile has a fresh water shower in the boot. All that needs to be done is turn on the little electric pump and rinse down with the hand held surfing shower. If for some reason they forgot the shower, no problem, surf shops and even some 7 Elevens will have an outside shower for surfers to use.

The next phase of the post surf ritual is taking off the wetty. For this the Japanese carry a few really practical things - coat hangers, a nice big tub and a beach towel poncho. They stand in the tub and take their wetsuit off, then hang it up on the car. Many surf vans come factory standard, with a hook or bar in the tailgate for hanging up wetsuits. This is typical of the Japanese methodical approach to surfing.

The beach towel poncho is also typically Japanese, you wouldn’t get away with it anywhere else in the world. It looks like a big, soft, floppy, towelling sack, with a hood and arms. This is thrown over the top of their wetsuit and then they change underneath without getting cold or exposing any pasty, white bits. Sounds functional and you might be forgiven for considering getting one, but they are all made in bright colours like pink or even multi-coloured poker dots (I’m not kidding). Somehow, even the relatively trendy looking guys get around in these without a hint of shame.

Japanese surfers are pretty dedicated. The city surfer, down for the day, is on a surf, eat, surf, sleep and surf again mission. And they sleep all over the place. I’ve come across dudes asleep in the car park on banana lounges, camping chairs or even in a starfish pose on the sand. Often, I see a car parked, with the engine running, air-con or heater on and two guys fast asleep inside. It’s not eco-friendly but you have to respect their dedication.

You can tell a lot about the average wave size here by the way waves are measured. It’s done by body parts - knee high, waist high and so on. Add to this that the average Japanese surfer is shorter than the average Australian and you’ll get an idea of the general swell size. Most days I can get a surf report by simply pointing to a body part. But if it’s a typhoon, it can get big. Then there are only two size categories - overhead and double overhead.

Although the surf’s busy, I can still get waves. For some uniquely Japanese reasons surfing amongst the crowd is not a stressful thing (Sundays excluded).

If there is one thing Aussies could learn from Japan I’d like it to be this. There is a general respect, almost priority, given to harmony in line-up and other surfers. It manifests in little courtesies, like, if there is a chance you are in someone’s way, they will cut their wave short to avoid you and check to make sure you’re okay. If you follow this same custom they will give you a small head bow to say thank you. Also, if you paddle for a wave and someone has just seen you make a few they won’t hassle you. Instead they just go over the back and line up for the next one. On the one occasion I have been dropped in on the guy made a point of paddling up to me and apologising. Small things like this give the line-up a hassle free vibe. It’s a good feeling to be a thousand miles form home and know I can paddle out and easily get a wave.

JETSTAR MAGAZINE: A YEN FOR SURFING

2009-09-17T09:50:00.005+09:00

The September in-flight magazine for Jetstar has an article on surfing Niijima Island, by us. It's an amazing island to visit, great waves and a island time all of its own, a unique corner of Japan.

HANAMI ESSAY IN THE AUSTRALIAN

2009-09-17T09:39:00.010+09:00

I was inspired to write this essay after experiencing a cherry blossom season in Tokyo.

To read it, follow the link to The Australian website.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25993988-5013925,00.html

OUTDOOR JAPAN ARTICLE

2009-09-17T07:37:00.011+09:00

This article was published in the July/August 2009 issue of Outdoor Japan. As you can see one of Alicia's images of me, looking rather tired and travel weary, made the cover.

The article can be read online by following the link below.

http://www.outdoorjapan.com/contents/current_issue/1246369918/1251126117?language=english

ARTICLE IN THE AUSTRALIAN

2009-09-07T09:32:00.004+09:00

This Friday's (11th September) copy of the 'The Australian' will have an article by me and photos by Alicia in the travel section. The article was inspired by our first week in Japan and the fervour with which the Japanese love to party while the cherry blossoms bloom.

Welcome Note

2009-08-21T13:19:00.004+09:00

Thanks for taking the time to click your way here.

Hopefully the posts will mount up and you'll be back.

So far Alicia and I have one article published in Outdoor Japan. The article is not available on-line yet, I think this occurs after a new issue comes out. I'll let you know when you can access an on-line copy of the magazine. We also have work coming out in up-coming issues of Tracks magazine, The Surfers Path, Jetstar magazine and The Australian (travel section). I'll add links on this blog once they are out in print.

For now please have a read below.

BLACK LINES: THE STORIES WRITTEN ACROSS MY WETSUIT

2009-08-04T08:56:00.008+09:00

My wetsuit has a story to tell. Written in the fading and creased neoprene is a record of a surfing life. Every repair job has a story that's tied to a time and place. It evokes a love in me far more than something that allows me to shiver should. I’ve left it behind, ripped it, peed a thousand pees and blessed its black sole for all the warmth I’ve felt wrapped in its thin layer of comfort.

When I first packed a van and went in search of waves I headed south, through NSW and onto the stormy southern ocean. My god it was cold, I could never understand how the people down there started surfing. How after the first time, they decided bobbing around like an ice cube was a worthy pastime. I failed to see how they were stoked to surf anything less than perfection and especially how they got up to brave the early morning session. Then we visited the surfing mega mall of Torquay and its factory outlet warehouses. I walked out of there with one zipperless rip-curl wetsuit that made me sweat when I tried it on. It was then that I understood how you surfed cold waves.

I naively sold that wetsuit one month later. I was sure that I’d return to Torquay and pick up an even newer piece of cold water surfing technology. I never did return. I ended up flying from Brisbane to Perth to resume my van life and the girl I imagined driving a VW back to Victoria with stayed in Queensland.

It hurt to have to buy a budget 3/4 steamer, with no stretchy bits and a cold-water vent in the back called a zip. I could only make a grimacing smile as the cold water trickled down my back and I looked over at my mate, serine in my old (his new) rip-curl wetsuit. If I didn’t have to live with him in a van I would have definitely demanded he return the wetty I so graciously (mistakenly) sold to him at no profit. Eight years later I love that same budget 3/4 and would not trade it for all the waves in indo.

Yesterday when I attempted to force my leg down the stiff, salt-crusted pipe of my old faithful the stitching behind the knee gave way. This rip didn't make me think about retiring my favourite surfing companion. I just thought I would have to find a needle and thread or maybe move to warmer waters.

I look down at the knee and see a one inch scar stitched across the kneepad. That reminds me of being in Fiji and living in a dive resort. I thought I was brave enough to surf unknown reef breaks alone. I wasn't, and subsequently spent most of my time under the water. Diving on the reef rather than floating above it like a shark biscuit. I stitched up that knee hole because I was embarrassed how old my wetsuit looked compared to all the new gear the 2-week vacationers had in their PADI inspired outfits. The rip in the knee originally came from my own surfboard fin, 6 months earlier, in New Zealand.

New Zealand is cold. You can use worlds like frigid or icy to describe the water and it wouldn't be out of line but I like the simple steeliness of saying it’s just plain cold. I remember one day. A beautiful summer's day, surfing the long lefts of Ahipara and this guy paddles past me in board shorts while I'm wearing my full-length steamer. He comments "it's cold ah?" I didn't detect the irony in his comment until I was admiring the light blues of the sunlit ocean and noticed all the locals around me in board shorts "Smart arse Kiwi's". For a kid from Queensland it was still too cold.

Once I left it behind, hanging over a fence. I was gutted, you can't surf New Zealand without a wetsuit and I couldn't afford a new one. It was over an hour drive away and I didn't want to risk wasting the fuel money to drive back and find it gone. I ended up calling the only business listed in the phone book for that little seaside town. In the true spirit of small town kindness they were happy to walk down and check the fence for my lifeless surfing shadow.

The holes in the bum remind me of sliding down barnacle covered rocks in Western Australia. Not worrying about ripping my cheap wetsuit and more worried about finding abalone to eat for dinner.

The million spider creases across the back and chest remind me that I stopped surfing for a few years. Sold my boards, and forgot my wetsuit lying in the bottom of a cupboard at Mum’s. I don't know what I was thinking back then, but like a best friend my wetty didn't care. It just waited patiently till a picked it up again and we resumed our salty, intertwined lives.

The white hand stitching across the Velcro at the neck reminds me how I've been through 3 sets of Velcro tabs. Each one replaced after numerous surfs cursing the rush of cold water that comes with the first icy duck dive. I replaced one set of Velcro when I pulled out the old steamer to mend all the holes and burst seams for spring surfing in Victoria. Winter was so bloody cold but out of reverence for my trusty wetsuit, I wouldn't replace it. At the time carving frozen water and staying dry seemed far more intelligent than meditating on cold water intrusions into my neoprene skin. The last Velcro wore out in Japan at which point I decided to toughen up and start wearing board shorts. Two weeks later a fresh southerly swell and subsequent cold currents had me back shivering in my suit wishing I’d repaired that Velcro.

The fact the old suit made it to Japan is attest to my tight-arseness and its longevity. In Japan the seams finally started to give way. The armpit split, I sewed it up. The leg split, I sewed it up. I'm getting pretty good at wetsuit stitch. I still laugh when I look down at the crouch and see that repair job. It reminds me of Alicia laughing that she can see my doodle and feeling a bit self-conscious on the beach hoping no one looks at my holy crouch. Japanese are far too polite to say anything but you can tell when they’re embarrassed.

I am beginning to feel like I have had enough of cold-water surfing. Next time I go home I am leaving my much loved wetsuit there, while I go off to explore warm bath tub temperature waters. I won't forget it though; it will be keep it as a memento and a catalogue of 8 years of my surfing life.