We’ve switched island chains and headed north to Pulau Simeulue, about 150 kilometres off the coast of northern Sumatra. I’ve never been this far north in Indonesia before. Rare for me! Simeulue feels like stepping back in time. Simple village life, a predominantly Muslim island, thick jungle and a handful of little gem waves without […]

After decades of documenting the Mentawai Islands, I still find it refreshing coming back here with a camera. Even when the trades are howling, these islands are ridiculously photogenic. Blue water, hollow peaks, colourful skies and nine days living on a boat, exposed to every little change in wind and swell. There’s always something to […]

We’re getting late in the surf season up here in the Mentawais, which means one thing: trades. The predominant SE to SSE wind can blow all day, every day. They call this time of year “Goofy Season”, as the breaks protected from the trades tend to be lefts, while many of the rights are onshore. […]

Sorry about the radio silence. Indonesia is such a wild place. Flew in a couple of days ago, straight past Semeru, a 3,657-metre active volcano that was erupting as we went by. Welcome to Indo. Then the long haul out to the Mentawai Islands, about 150km off Sumatra. Twelve hours of slapping across the ocean […]

The swell has calmed down from yesterday, but there’s still plenty of size around. It’s a south swell at 184 degrees with an 11-second interval, and Bondi is still seeing waves well over head high, with the bigger ones around head-and-a-half. Unfortunately, a lot of them are just shutting down across the bay. Conditions are […]

The wind was absolutely howling last night, and with it came a whole lot of swell. Bondi has jumped considerably overnight. There are solid six-footers marching into the bay this morning, with plenty of water moving around. Early was the window. It was semi-clean before the southerly really got into it, and there were some […]

If you were down there for the early, you scored a pretty good little wave this morning. Bondi was 2–3 foot, offshore and clean early, with multiple banks working and plenty of options. There was a decent crowd on it, but enough waves getting around to keep everyone busy. Then the southerly arrived. We’ve now […]

I’ve had a business in Bondi Beach for 27 years, and in that time I’ve seen some pretty strange retail concepts come and go. There’s been Doglato, gelato for dogs. A Zeitgeist milk bar, a milk bar without milk. Kanye West’s Pablo pop-up, which opened and I’m still not entirely sure what was going on […]

Another beautiful Monday morning in Bondi. It was around 13 degrees at sunrise, warming up to about 20 today. We might see a little shower around 5 or 6pm, but for now it’s pretty damn nice. Winds are light from the west this morning, before swinging southeast and then straight south later today, so get […]

Winter has delivered. Over the past few weeks I’ve been chasing some incredible swells, searching for those brief moments when everything comes together, the light, the wind, the spray and the sheer power of the ocean. It’s called the White Claw Big Wave Series. A collection of photographs celebrating the wild side of Australia’s coastline […]

Welcome to this 25-degree Thursday. Everyone was up early this morning, enjoying the warmth. The first properly warm morning we’ve had since last summer. Wasn’t it nice? Hope you got down for a swim or a little surf. There was a wave on, but nothing spectacular. Around 1-2 foot and a lot of people didn’t […]

If you were up early this morning, you would’ve been treated to a pretty spectacular sunrise. It didn’t hang around for long, lighting up like a little curtain above Ben Buckler before everything slipped back to grey and overcast. Loads of people were out and about early, and for good reason. The weather is looking […]

Oh man, I hope you’re reading this daily post on your phone, down at the beach — post surf or swim, coffee in hand, seizing this beautiful day. If not, you should be. How good is it? The first true cracker in donkeys — and perfectly timed for the first day of spring. Clear skies, […]