Some kids go to school, work hard, study weekends, get top marks, attend university, graduate with honours, choose a career that will ultimately benefit humankind, loose all contact with the outside world, spend almost their entire life searching for a cure for cancer, find it, be celebrated throughout the world, eventually be forgotten, live what’s left of their lives alone in an empty bedsit.

Then there are the other kids: might manage a couple of classes between surfs, kick off a career on the Pro Junior surf series, win a couple events, more friends than flees on a Balinese dog, move onto the WQS, find a sponsor, travel the world on the company dime, appear in a popular women’s magazine, get thrown some product, fall off the tour, loose their sponsorship, discover their manager has cleaned out their bank account, can’t find work, abuse substances, get kicked out of their flat, move into a box under a railway bridge, spend the rest of their lives drinking mineral turps and orange juice and listening to voices. Mambo team surfer, Luke Cheadle has just arrived at the “product” stage

Luke (left), half of Team Mambo during a photo shoot for July Cleo

Advice to kids who have just been picked up by a sponsor: If your sponsor produces a range of underwear, make sure that’s the brand you’re wearing when someone takes your photograph

Luke, not having to apply his own make up

Arrived in Santiago after three weeks on the road, getting some good results on the WQS. To them that surf, Chile is known as the ‘Land of the Lefts’, and I was keen to get me some.

Hooked up with Heath ‘Hunter’ Joske and Nick ‘China Doll’ Riley, then picked up a 4×4 truck and headed into the Santiago CBD to pick up another friend, Benny ‘The Rapist’ Serrano. Benny has been living in Chile for the past year and was going to be our guide during our “epic” adventure. Spent the next three hours driving down one blocked off road after another (the result of the recent earth quake) before arriving at our first destination, Punta de Lobos.

Benny had organized accommodation at the local surf camp. The place had amazing, luxury cabins. After booking in, we found our way to the bar and ordered a meal. We’re waiting for dinner to arrive when Benny receives a text from a girl he’s met. “Gotta go”. He grabs the keys to our pick-up and is out the door. There is some debate about his ability to drive a 4 x 4 until dinner arrived and hunger overcame any worries we had about the safety of our truck, which was insured, so even less concern.

Two bites into dinner and the lights go off. “That’ll be Benny, taken out a power pole” Joske joked. Laughs all round. Candles issued and eating continued. Five minutes later Benny staggers into the bar.

“You’re not going to believe what just happened”. He was driving down a dirt road, turned the wheel to go around a corner, and “nothing happened!?” Nothing that is until a spit second later when the truck slammed head-on into a power pole, snapped the pole in half, wrote off the truck and trashed several boards, including a couple of mine. He then got out of the truck - stepping carefully over the live wires surrounding it and walked back to the camp. So ended day number one.

(more…)

The last contest on the WQS was in Brazil, at Itauna, just north of Rio de Janeiro. I’d never been there so I was excited, not knowing what I was in for. I was traveling with a mate from Manly, Nick Riley, for the final two ‘6 stars’. It was his first time to Brazil and he was a little nervous after hearing a lot of ruff stories about the crime that happens in the favillas (slums, to you mono-lingo’s). And having no good stories of my own meant that I didn’t have anything that could coax him outdoors.

Itauna is on about the same latitude as our Gold Coast so it’s very warm. It sits on a peninsula pointing due south and cops every bit of south swell heading up the coast. The week we were there didn’t drop under 4 ft, maxing 8 ft at one stage. The set-up is a little like our beloved North Narra which had Hedgey in a bit of a spin. There’s a huge rock outcrop at the north end and the lefts run down the beach like a semi-perfect, left point break. On the other side of the rocks is a super heavy, below-sea-level right hand “keg”. The locals call it, ‘The Back Door’ and it’s as heavy as any 4ft slab I’ve ever surfed.

We had an awesome time in Itauna even though neither of us nailed a solid result. And Nick didn’t get robbed or murdered which he’s pretty frothing about. haha

The Masaii Hotel. Nick didn’t get murdered here. And, we had a clear view of the event

While The Waldorf might have a Picasso hanging in the foyer, The Masaii had this. So cool, and Nick couldn’t stop rubbing it

The contest area at Itauna. The event was sponsored by a well known, local soft drink company

The line-up … could have been worse

If he doesn’t bail within the next 20 metres, this guy is going to be taking scars from a drag over a large barnacle encrusted rock that soon won’t be hidden by wash, into the next life

Life near the fast lane

Anyway, who needs Curly?

Dayyoof x