Surfing in Baru Country
Dodging crocodiles, stingers and sharks to ride the waves of your life in Northern Australia
Written by Anthony Ireson. Photos by Tim Blake.
…We motored slowly across the lineup, hollow lefts broke off the reef and spun 300 metres across the channel into deep water. We put the drone up to get some footage and to check for any nasties lurking in the water. No crocs in the lineup from what we could see. We originally had a theory that crocs disliked turbulent water and therefore wouldn’t be seen anywhere around waves. But this theory was shattered one day when Tim put up the drone over a frequented spot only to find a three-metre croc passing straight across the reef…
Thariq of the Mentawai
In surfing terms, Joaquin At-Thariq Riveros Rizki was the kid born with Disneyland over the back-fence and a free-pass to every ride.
Written by Luke Kennedy
“I rode my first barrel when I was eight or nine. I started pulling in, and just felt it had to be an everyday thing.”
Buddha’s Path
Tai ‘Buddha’ Graham’s winding road to success and surfing freedom.
Written by Tom De Souza
“After having a couple kids, I started going on surf trips, which gave me a lot of thinking time. And I realised it was sitting right there in front of me all this time. It’s surf. I’m a surfer. I can do surf better than any of the Beach Clubs or Hotel guys in Bali. I started to really accept and celebrate the fact that I was a surfer, first and foremost, and that was always going to dictate what I do.”
Standing on the shoulders of giants: Part III
Surfing goes pro, ‘Puberty Blues’ and punk rock rippers.
Written by Monty Webber
… By the mid-80s, the punk rock mentality that had infused fashion and popular culture also infiltrated surfing. Punks wearing all black also wore Dr. Marten work boots and dyed their hair a rainbow of fluorescent colours. Some surfers copied them. The punks pinned badges to their lapels, declaring: No Future, I’m a mess and Anarchy. Surfers scrawled surf-punk phrases on their tee-shirts: Hellman, Minutes to Midnight! and Surf til death! Surfers drunkenly shaved one another’s heads, sculpting botched, bloody Mohawks. Surfwear labels climbed aboard the hell bound train with advertisements featuring Mohican team riders wearing blood-spattered T-shirts while holding graffitied surfboards…
‘Samudra’ – Indonesian surfers telling their own stories
A new documentary by Indonesian director, Gibran Putra Wirjawan, explores the role of surfing in the world’s largest archipelago.
Written by Luke Kennedy
“I think people underestimate how much Australia has helped Indonesia. But at the same time, I think there’s so much to say about how much happiness that Indonesia has provided to a lot of the Australians that come here as well. And it’s like there’s this synergy between the two. Gibs chuckles as he mentions the linguistic quirk which serves as a constant reminder of the links between Australia and Bali. “If you listen to most of the Indonesians in Bali, if they speak English, it’s with an Australian accent.”
One of Perry’s Kids
…As a shaper, writer, surfer and forecasting pioneer, Mike Perry had a major impact on surf culture.
Written by Peter Maguire
…Long before I met Mike Perry, I had heard of him. If nothing else, the surfing world is ruled by philosopher and phenomenologist Alfred Schutz’s concept of umwelt, “A world of relationships that are based not on concrete knowledge but on reputation…” Growing up in Malibu, Santa Monica Canyon, and Pacific Palisades during the 1970s, my surf idols – ay Riddle, Davey Hilton, and George Trafton – were rockstars to me, and our region’s surfer shapers – Robbie Dick, Dean Edwards, and Mike Perry – were their lead guitarists…
‘Ceibo’: Ecuador in Focus
In this new film project Pacha Light and Lucy Small explore the wonders of the Galapagos, the soaring Andes, and the mystique of the Amazon.
Written by Lucy Small. Photography by Maddie Meddings.
…It was incredible to see just how beautiful these islands are. With sealions lazing on park benches and iguanas watching from the rocks as we trooped by, life felt slow and relaxing as the blue, blue pacific lapped the harbour. We surfed some beautiful left-handers down the way and snorkelled and dived with Galapagos and white-tipped sharks at a rock that rears up out of the middle of the sea…
Grab Rails, Snakes & musicals
Jaleesa Vincent shows us how to be more than just surfers.
Written by Luke Kennedy
“When I quit doing competitions, I feel like that was a big milestone, I guess because then I just started surfing completely for fun, and not trying to surf like everyone else. And then I put more time into like art… I just completely became myself, that self that I needed to be… Art and music is just as important to me as surfing, and so I need to do all of that to feel whole.” Jaleesa Vincent
The Indo Motorcycle Diaries: Epilogue – Issue 601
When the journeyman reaches a fork in the road.
Written by Tom de Souza
Every surfer must make the choice at some point. That decision between comfortable middle-class responsibility or the razor’s edge path of a life dedicated to surfing. And, yeah, you kinda do have to choose, because there are few who possess the surfing talent and luck and business acumen to wrangle them both…
Pictorial: A love letter to the cutback
Knifing a rail will always be at the core of good surfing.
Written by Luke Kennedy
Close Encounters: Peter Drouyn
When all the world is a stage and you have several roles to play.
Written by Phil Jarratt
…Watching Evo’s film a few rows back from the screen that night in ’74, I was struck by the old school theatrics he brought to his shortboarding, particularly in the Uluwatu sequence, a factor which had kept him competitive the last couple of years at Bells and the Queensland titles, as the first gen Coolie kids transitioned from the junior ranks. Later, over many drinks, the star’s theatrics began to dominate the conversation – he had just graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts after all – but he was entertaining rather than obnoxious. I liked him…
