West Ozz -

a friend Matt Smith and i had four days before meeting up with Ben Selway, a british photographer for wavelength magazine and a few other surfers from the uk. my friend matt had lived here a few years back and had a few contacts. we were lucky enough to get hooked up with a 4x4  and even a place to stay in Yallingup, 3 hours south of perth. we were staying with Claire Bevolaqua, who is a highly respected surfer she’s is currently on the wct. all was good and well until my friend matt realized that a cut on his leg went from bad to really bad. he had a piece of coral stuck in his leg which was festering for a few weeks. the fever hit him one morning  and we had to race to the hospital, they put him on the drip for 24 hours, it was a pretty serious situation. i was once again reminded that being healthy is the most important thing in my life. but a couple of days late i had a reoccurrence of staff infection, staff is a bacteria that sits dormant in every human being. Staff comes alive if a cut gets infected and or the immune system is really low. i had a really bad occurrence of staff the last time i came home from bali, in 2008. i had boils and sores evolve all over my legs, they would come and go with antibiotics, this lasted for a year. i really thought i had got ridden of this infection until now, a year later and here we go again. i couldn’t surf  for a week, i had 3 boils 1 on my shin one on my calf and a big one on my knee, absolutely hating life. my immune system was low as it gets. i felt like a leper that should be caged and not let out until better. i ate healthy and rested, before i knew it i was back n the water, i can only hope they don’t come back.

the surf was crowded, every peak and slab that we checked was full, with 4 of us it was hard to surf anywhere, it was hard to keep our heads high. a couple days later after allot of driving, checking and searching, we sussed the place out and found a few playful waves, that were uncrowded and fun at the least. we bagged some shots, (above)  and relaxed, with a bottle of wine grown and made  from one of the many vineyards down this stretch of coastline.  the whole trip in all was a great experience, it was great to finally get to see western Australia, it was just unfortunate that we couldn’t enjoy the big days, on the famous slabs that the coastline has to offer, due to crowds. I’m afraid that soon every spot in the world will be crowded. surfing is massive now and still growing, but there are still spots out there, untouched, and empty. its just a matter of getting of my ass, bursting the bubble of surfing well known, crowded spots and going exploring.       1 day !!!!!!!!