By now you will have seen some of the action that went down during a four day Fijian swell bender at the end of September. An XL swell marched into Cloudbreak and drew a heavy crowd, including the likes of Billy Kemper, Kai Lenny, Lucas Chumbo and Harry Bryant. Amongst the pack of big wave beacons were also a few Fiji newcomers, including WA’s Ned Hart and Sydney’s Lex O’Connor.

While the swell did not reach the heights of the Thundercloud swell which called off the Volcom Fiji Pro in 2012, there were still plenty of wash throughs and beat downs to keep those in the channel entertained. At either end of the swell there were a number of slightly smaller days which also presented opportunity for closeout looking cones that turn into the wave of your life.

Tim Bonython was on hand to capture all the action across the four days. Here’s what he had to say:

“The first time I went to Fiji on swell chase was in 1987 when I was looking for the Billabong surf team on Tavarua Island. Back then there was no internet, no mobile phones so I just winged it thinking they were on the island. They weren’t.

“God knows how many times I have been to Fiji as I went mostly to film for Quiksilver & Globe pro surfing events staged there back from 1999.

“But this edit is not about the history of Tavarua & its world class wave Cloudbreak. Yes, this a swell chase where I see the kind of storm that sends a big enough swell to this part of the world.

“The storm generated through the roaring 40’s, underneath Tasmania with seas biggest around 35 to 40 foot mark.

“Straight up pinball alley thru the Tasman Sea straight into the island of Fiji.

“The only issue in the forecast was the winds once we got there. Simply stating that the winds were going to be strong south easterly. Which is not ideal.

“So I pulled the trigger and decided to gamble on it especially once I heard there were a number of rock star surfers were going to be in attendance like the Hawaiians Kala Grace, Kai Lenny and Brazilians Lucas Chumbo & Pedro Calado.

“Plus I connected with up & coming Aussie surfers Lex O’Connell, Fletcher Kelleher & Luke O’Connell. Not forgetting the local Fijian surfers like Che Slatter, Teo Degei & James Kusitino.”

Hit the link above to watch.