Farroaming!

v view from my new home! 1st place toga wear This week has been really fun as more and more students pour into the Bisbane area. We went to two toga parties this week. One had about 200-300 people and Rebecca and I won best dressed with our tiger print sheet togas. They gave us a $100 gift card to the local BWS (beer, wine, spirits). Their BWS stores even have a drive through if you’re in a rush! 100 bucks doesn’t get you very far at the BWS store as a small bottle of say Smirnoff is $45. The next toga party was school sponsored and sold out with around 1500 toga attendees. They handed out free Swedish Fish and donuts to all.  It was a great way to end the winter break! such a happy camper!  I’m not homeless!!! I bailed on the previous place that I was talking about near campus and made a big move down to Surfer’s Paradise on Gold Beach! I moved in with two Brazilian surfer bros and another classmate from USC, Christina. We’re living in a resort type high rise on t...

Downtown Surfer's Paradise Dingos! Crazy crazy week! I’ve been living at a hostel downtown Brisbane. It’s huge with its own pub called the “Down Under”. Every night they throw a themed party with free drinks to people staying at the hostel. I’ve been so busy, the housing hunt has been slow but things are looking up! I’m supposed to sign tomorrow for a place close to campus. I skated from campus the house the other day to check it out and to my surprise the place has a pool and a big veranda with 4 couches and a semi-permanent beer-pong table! The room also has its own bathroom and the other 3 roomies are Aussies who are also going to the uni. Good Vibrations Three days ago we went to the Brisbane zoo to kick it with kangs and koalas. The zoos here are way different than back home. There was a huge open field with about 50 kangaroos and the only rule was “don’t touch the joeys” (joey=baby kang still in the mothers pouch). After hanging out in the kang sanctuary we went t...

Busy week! We surfed Quincy’s secret spot for the last three days non-stop. It was the best surfing sessions I’ve ever had. I finally feel more comfortable going backside. My flight to LA was really early in the AM so Quincy and I decided to go out the bar “Life’s a Beach” for one last hurrah. When I arrived in LA, Ben picked me up with a loaded car ready for Mammoth.   We wasted no time and headed straight for the mountains. Secret Spot What a crazy weekend! We had a full house (literally) because it was a race weekend.   Abe flew out to ride and film with us. For three days we had perfect non-cloudy skies which made for some killer filming. Keep your eyes open for Abe’s new February park edit. To help mend our sore bodies we went to the hot springs to relax. The road the hot springs was snowed in so we had to hike to them. Most of us wore sandals so the walk HOT SPRINGS!  was pretty painful. Paul tried to take a shortcut and ended up trudging through icy mud...

Chris being beastly in the pool! Super Bowl Kiting! On Sunday we got really lucky because all of the forecasts called for zero wind. Lucky for us the Kona winds blew in which means the wind is coming from the opposite direction. With Kona winds, kiting is a whole new ballgame because you are going into the waves at a different direction. Quincy and I launched our kites right from his front yard and had the place to ourselves. We kited for almost 3 hours and completely missed the Super bowl. Chris left Maui yesterday for Australia - GOODLUCK lil bro! Today I finally got to surf Quincy's secret spot. I've heard a bunch of hype about his spot but all of the previous swells didn't have the right swell direction. We went there early in the morning and scored big! It's a sweet left point break that heaves onto a pretty shallow reef shelf. The best part of it, is that it was just me, Quincy, and his buddy. Never have I been at a wave so good with just my friends. It ...

Lānaʻi - A small island located a few miles west of Maui. It has one small town with a population of 3000 people. The Crew Yesterday we woke up early and packed the car with camping gear and camera equipment. The only way to get to Lanai is by ferry. It takes about 45 minutes to cross the channel and dock. Originally we were going to camp where the ferry drops you off at Manele Bay. We were undecided about renting a 4X4 Jeep and when we did decide the night before they were sold out. The Endless Playground When we landed in Manele we called the Jeep rental company to check if there were any cancellations and just our luck they had a brand new Jeep Commander cancellation! We argued for awhile who was going to put the rental agreement on their credit card. In the end I gave in and signed my life away on the contract. The roads in Lanai are not paved, muddy, bumpy, and are very rugged. The Jeep was lifted and had mud tires which made it the perfect rallying machine! We didn't ...

Kiting in Paradise! Turtle Town Two days ago was a sad day for the wolf pack. Shane had to pack up his things and head back to LA and reality. But before he left he wanted to create one more car key disaster which almost delayed his departure. Shane was one of the most determined kiters I've ever taught. By his last day he was staying up wind and riding with confidence! Two days ago was one of the best days of kiting I've ever had. Smash and bang epic wind and waves and you're bound to have the time of your life. I had some great rides and even better crashes. Yesterday the wind petered out so I went surfing solo at Ho'okipa. After I took Christopher to the famous Paia Fish Market for ahi cajun burgers. Last night we actually rallied and went out with the Argentinians to a local pub called "Life's a Beach". Our buddy Allen who we just met plays the drums and one of the bands needed a last minute drummer and he went up on stage and absolutely...

Radio Song of the Day! - I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry The radio has been absolutely pitiful to a point where it's funny. It has been a few days since I've last checked in - los siento! The surf has been up everyday which has been killer. Shane and I have both taken turns dominating and getting dominated at Ho'okipa every morning. Yesterday Ho'okipa had the nicest conditions I've seen in awhile. Zero wind, sunny, and big! The wind shut off yesterday and today which is OK because I'm getting my kite lines fixed and readjusted after having that bad kite-mare a couple days ago. Over the last two days, Chris and Shane have both managed to lose their sandals so they've been going bare-foot ever since. We're still looking for the sandal thieves! We've been hanging out with the Argentinians almost every night and our "hot tub spanglish" is getting pretty good. Last night we went to Paia with the Argentinians to check out the party scene. We showe...