by Franck Gazzola | Apr 11, 2012 | Daily Updates
I have to get a grip on my late night eating habits and stop eating so many chocolate eggs. It doesn’t make for a great start to the day. Maybe if I eat them all tonight and deal with one more ugly morning, I can get back on the program.
The surf is still up and so is the wind. The cool southerly has brought a little touch of winter but the water is still beautifully warm. It’s only the walk down that gets the goose bumps rising.
If you follow the WCT and have enjoyed watching the Aussie leg, then you know what a great final it was between Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater the other day. Besides the level of surfing and how close it was between the two, a lot of talk has been taking place about that crazy reverse air 360 Kelly pulled for a perfect 10. If you would like to hear what Josh Kerr thought about it and he is arguably the best air guy in the business, click HERE. It only proves Kelly is really a 40 year old alien from another world.
SILathletics is giving our Frothers the chance to win one of their doozey surf shirts. With all the qualities of a rashie and designer tee combined, simply tell us what colours they come in and you go in the running. More giveaways to come – so click HERE and stay tuned!
by Franck Gazzola | Apr 10, 2012 | Daily Updates
Being away from family at Easter has its pros and cons. Pro – we are away from home because we are in Bali. Con – we missed out on seeing our nieces and nephews smash chocolate eggs for breakfast and run an absolute muck at the family get together. By the way, has anyone in Bali seen the Bunny? He must have been cooped up in customs because I'm still waiting for my own chocolate hit.
While Bill was in the desert chasing big swell last week we were getting our own front in Bali. Friday saw 10 – 12ft sets sweep into Uluwatu with only a handful of guys game enough to take it on. One of these men was Central Coast local Jughead Allport, who made pulling into the sets look like a walk in the park.
As for me, I've been having a ball. I surfed Keramis the other day – just me, one American and 2 local groms. I couldn't believe my luck! I also had a crack around the Canggu area- while the waves weren't epic the banana smoothies certainly were. So far it's been a great trip, I feel like a grom again chasing waves about the island and showing my girl all of my favourite spots.
Check out the boardies from SILathletics Roland slung me a pair to try out on this trip to Bali and they are going great guns! If you can tell us what colours the MOD board shorts come in you're in the running to win a freebie from SILathletics.
I'll be back on Thursday with a fresh batch of images from Bali.
Cheers – Brad
by Franck Gazzola | Apr 5, 2012 | Daily Updates
It has been a little while since I have been on an assignment for a surf shoot, so when the chance came up to take a trip into the desert for a big Southern Ocean swell with big wave specialists Mark Mathews and Ryan Hipwood, I had to drop everything and pack a bag in a rush to make the last evening flight.
These days, it seems everyone complains about the internet and how there are no uncrowded waves anymore. Everyone is certainly onto it more but if you make the effort to go a little further, beyond where most would go, then you can score the waves of your life with absolutely no one else around.
I’m not going to say any more about this trip except that it is Australia, our home and that I’m convinced it is the best place on earth to go surfing. In fact, this trip is blowing my mind!
Billy
by Franck Gazzola | Apr 4, 2012 | Daily Updates
Good morning Frothers. Christie and I have bailed Bronte and touched down in Bali, and what a great first few days we've had. Coming back here has been a long time coming. Working on getting our Frothers Gallery off the ground has meant that we haven't had the chance to get away for a while.
So we kicked off our Balinese return by heading straight for Uluwatu, and the main peak was on fire. Memories of the good old days started to flood back as I hit the cave for the paddle out. More often than not this is when the butterflies would start to flitter, but today this was not the case – it was a nice 4 – 5 ft on the peak and a comfortable paddle. A perfect way to ease into the trip. After a quick nasi goreng, in Nyoman's Warung, I left Christie to work on her tan and I ventured back out for a swim at Racetracks. It was a bit of a test on my fitness but I survived (even though I missed the cave on the way in)!
It's looking good for the next week in Bali, with a solid SSW swell due to hit. We ran into Marty Paradisis last night and he is chasing some big ones further west while our very own Bill Morris has ventured to SA with Mark Mathews and Ryan Hipwood. The same swell is on the way down there and it's meant to hit 20ft.
With Billy down in South Oz and a good forecast for Bali we should have more updates to come this week.
Stay Tuned – Brad
by Franck Gazzola | Mar 30, 2012 | Daily Updates
I was happily surprised to see some waves rolling into the bay on my drive around this morning. It looks like we have some ENE direction in it, meaning those east facing stretches of sand have a few rideable ones. About 3 ft and consistant. Tama, Bronte and Maroubra would be the pick. Forget about Bondi unless your keen for a longboard session.
Thanks to Franck for this link to a funny video about life in Bondi….I was in stitches.
I'll be reporting next week from Bali. Adios amigo's! – Brad
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