As Tavarua’s oracle, Jon Roseman, said, “Nothing like April in Tavarua”. When an open week with no bookings popped up the group activated – Shane Dorian, Ross Williams, Joel Tudor, Jeff Booth, Pat O’Connell, Timmy Curran, Keone Watson, Brad Gerlach and Donovan Frankenreiter. Not too shabby a crew. Plus, Lyon Hamilton (Laird’s younger brother and a great surfer) was working as a boatman on Tavarua and hung with us the whole trip. Aside from Gerr, most were still in their early 20s in the fledgling stage of their careers; Timmy being the grom of the crew and Joel being the sole longboarder.

The island was still trying to fill spots; 24 was a full camp for a week. We had nine surfers and a photog. Six average Joes wanted to book but were stalling, wondering if there would be any waves left for them given the calibre of the company. In the end they hit the trigger and by the end of the week they walked away stoked. The all-star crew proved to be extremely generous in spirit, giving the regular folk waves, offering them tips to help improve and giving plenty of encouragement.

By the time of our Saturday arrival, Surfline deflated expectations with a forecast of a long, flat week, but heck, a week in Fiji on Tavarua was still not a bad deal. A few days in the surf forecast was spot-on. But miraculously, we woke one morning to a firing, six-10-foot, Hawaiian style swell. By Thursday, conditions were perfect for Cloudbreak. Sheet blues skies and not a breath of wind; long period swell with plenty of waves for everyone. Stayed that way all day until early arvo. Great friends, who happened to be world-class surfers, sharing a magical day ...