ME & STEPH

It's not often you get to schmooze with a four-time world champion surfer but I was lucky enough to snag a moment with the ever smiling Stephanie Gilmore at Dee Why the other day. She was competing in the Beachley Classic and pulling off some amazing moves including vertical foam riding and snaps off the lip. It's those legs that do it, and the smile!

But it wasn't enough t get her over the line at this particular event, loosing out to Hawaiian teen Carissa Moore in the semi finals, a powerhouse surfer who went on to walk away 40K richer. But with three events left on the tour, there's still hope for the lady in pink! All power to her.

IMPERMANENCE

Surfers know about impermanence - one day you have perfect waves the next, nada. This concept is at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism; don't get too attached to anything because it wont last. It's a basic law of nature.
For the past week, three monks have been painstakingly creating a Sand Mandala in the Avalon Recreation Centre. It was an incredibly intricate design containing the essence of a powerful female energy for healing and prolonging life. And yesterday, in a beautiful dissolution ceremony, they and their head monk swept it all away.

After six days of meticulous effort, the distinctive dyed crushed marble became a swirl of grey in a matter of minutes. We were all given a little spoonful to take home with us as a reminder of the impermanence of things and that happiness is not to be found outside ourselves but within. Then the remaining granules were collected in a vase and taken over to the beach were they were poured into the ocean.
Nothing lasts forever. In the end we are all dust. So get out there and catch a few and spread the love while you can.

NIPPLES A-GO-GO

With the advent of the Youtube channel Nellevision1 you can now view the infamous inaugural work by The Stoked 'Hell (nipple rash)'. Made in response to Tracy Moffatt's classic video 'Heaven', this 2009 perv- fest trains the gaze on women and girls performing the time honored ritual of getting in and out of wetsuits in carparks. And with the word "nipple" in its title it's getting lots of hits although you'll be hard pressed to see one in the video because lady surfers are somewhat more discrete than their male counterparts.

SEA HAGS AHOY!

When you go on a surfing safari it's never a given that you'll get waves. When the Sea Hags went south this year we had just two measly surfs in one foot waves. Last year, however, the conditions were swellegant with lovely sparkly corduroy lines. Have a squizz at this little flick by The Stoked to see how lovely it was:

LEAVE A MESSAGE

There's an excellent looking new girls surf doco about to come out. The only problem is that surfer guys are already showing what dickheads they can be by leaving ridiculous comments about it. Check it out and  help address the problem by leaving your own comment.

http://surf.transworld.net/1000128655/photos/nike-60-all-girls-film-this-aint-no-chick-flick/?comment=true#idc-cover

ONE DAY LEFT TO VOTE!

With one day left to vote in the Environmental Crusader Competition I've decided to pull out the big guns and go public via the Mud Guard (http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/news/local/news/general/running-stream-activist-leads-climate-change-rally/2128284.aspx?storypage=2).

This trusty publication is circulated throughout the mid-western regional council area in which our little bush town of Running Stream falls. The only trouble is they didn't get the link right at the end of the story! It's http://www.environmentalcrusader.com.au/author/nell/

Ecoloco is currently ranked 6th so let's see if it this fresh bit of publicity is enough to push it over the Facebook edge. If not, there's always the wild card call which, in the end, might just come up trumps! But whatever the outcome, it's been a great way of getting our message about the threat to our beautiful bushland out into the public sphere.

FIN FORENSICS

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3185178.htm

ENVIRONMENTAL CRUSADER

It was after watching Rob Stewart's amazing 2007 documentary 'Sharkwater' that I realised the terrible plight facing the world's sharks. Illegal fishing for their fins is driving them to extinction. The Chinese believe that when eaten the fins give them vigor but the truth is that they're basically carcinogenic cartilage. Being at the top of the ocean food chain means they build up toxins by devouring all the other seafood that has already been contaminated by our various toxic outfalls.
But this is not the subject of the short film that I've entered into the Environmental Justice Society's Environmental Crusader competition. In 'Ecoloco' I reveal some of the things I get up to as a founding member of the Running Stream Water Users Association which celebrates 20 years of activism this month.
Here's the link:
http://www.environmentalcrusader.com.au/author/nell/

If I get enough votes I might just win a trip to LA to meet Erin Brockovich!

SPUNK RATS ROOL, OK?

Gotta love Seal Rocks locals for this sign on their dead end main street. Not to mention their general willingness to share the fantastic selection of waves in their neighborhood.
About 10 years ago I was camping out in the bush nearby when an all singin' soul surfin' pot smokin' Jesus freak emerged from the undergrowth with a spare surfboard tucked under his arm. I hadn't surfed in ages but he encouraged me to get back into it and I was soon fully stoked. As I watched the sand whiting flit about under the nose of the borrowed board I wondered what I'd been doing out of the water all these years.
I owe the dude a major debt of gratitude. He even introduced me to the G-spot - the creme de la de da of camp sites in the area which has sadly now been bisected by a boardwalk. We had it several times in peak condition and felt the full embrace of the place which continues to hold a sacred site in my salty sea dog of a heart.

APPLE OF LOVE

Took delivery of my new Brompton the other day and rode it around the Bilgola Bends to Mona Vale like a true woman on the verge! This is the absolute Queen of folding bikes in my humble opinion. I first encountered her while on vacation in New Zealand. I was staying in a small B&B in Dunedin when a gentleman and his lady love wheeled in on matching Bromptons. Naturally I got to talking with them about their most marvellous contraptions. Turned out this dude sold communications systems to UNESCO and was something of a millionaire. And yet his idea of bliss was simply biking around the world with nothing so much as a credit card in his pocket and a change of underwear in his panier. He said that he loved his bike so much that he bought the entire company!
Inspired by this example of freedom, I hit up ebay and bought myself a Halfway folding Giant which I've loved to death for the past 7 years. But the chain kept falling off and it gradually started losing its grip on the  fold. Towards the end it was like riding a circus bike as it came apart at the seams on busy city streets. And so the time finally arrived to replace it. I'm sure if anyone cared to fix it up it'd be quite the fun little bike again. Any takers?

J.O.B IS A DICK

Went to the opening of the Australian Surf Film Festival at the good old Randwick Ritz last night. First flick up was 'Who is J.O.B?', a great doco about Pipeline tube pig and radical nut case Jaimie O'Brien. JOB reveals that he had a chronic ear infection as a kid and was told to stay out of the water for a year. His dad, a fiercely ambitious Hawaiian surf dog, wasn't going to let him loose any time in the water so he gaffer- taped a swimming cap to young Jamie's head, whacked a helmet on him and ordered him back into the waves. And thus was born a champ, albeit one who burns the rule book.

After this excellent piece of surf cinema, Festival initiator Tim Bonython launched his new film which is loosely based on the premise of taking three indigenous surfers - Dale Richasrds, Otis Carey and Russ Molony - on a safari from Red Bluff and Gnarloo in Western Australia, to Streaky Bay in South Australia, and then (possibly) Wreck Bay on the South Coast of NSW before heading down to some monstrous man-munching waves at Shipsterns in Tasmania.
Coff's Harbour homeboy Otis Carey was in the house and acknowledged that we were all gathered on Aboriginal land before being subjected to a cringe worthy interview by the director. Tim takes beautiful footage but he can't ask a question to save his life!  The big discovery of the night was a crazy SA dude who does surf stunts like riding a wave backwards while hauling an imaginary rope out of the barrel. He also surfs in a kooky pose on one leg and then sitting down. "If you can do it, do it!" is his motto. Right on, 'bro.

BYRONIA REVISITED

Magic happened again at Byron Bay last week with some fantastic surfing snagged at Cosy Corner and a great show witnessed when some hard core dudes took on Saturday's extreme conditions at Belongil, screaming across the 10ft faces on the bomb sets. It was way too radical for me and the White Resonant Mirror to launch ourselves into but excellent fun to watch. Poised as we were right on the bay, we spent our down time jutting out into the Pacific like gluttons sucking up that special far eastern energy.

But there's a real issue emerging for landholders here in the guts of the bay and watching big waves like these really brought it home - the dunes on which they built their flash pads are gradually being eroded away by the endless surge of the sea. The owners of our fab establishment - 'Bluewater on the Beach' -have had experts in to advise on ways in which disaster might be averted. One suggestion is to make a series of breakwaters, each one perhaps sponsored by a surf company, which would stem the tide of destruction while providing some potentially awesome surf spots. This would also ease the pressure on the ever popular Pass by distributing surfers more evenly along the Bay.

There are of course problems with this concept because the Bay is a designated Marine Reserve - nothing must endanger or disrupt the marine habitat here. But maybe the break-walls would encourage sea life? It's tempting to let nature take its course but Byron Bay is such an Australian mecca that the sheer numbers of people pouring through the place on a daily basis has already had an impact on every conceivable level. It certainly isn't the little hippy haven I first came to back in 1977!

But there's something about it that mysteriously draws one back time and time again, despite the summer crowds and gridlock. It's like a mystical magnet. Luckily numbers were down this year due to the floods up north so we had a good run of the place. Even an Australia Day, there were only a handful of diners at Rae's - that well known flash restaurant at Watego's (what egos!). Staff must've thanked their lucky stars that our party was celebrating not one but two birthdays in fine style for a second year in a row, gorging ourselves on their delectable Morton Bay Bugs washed down with plenty of good plonk.

We've already made another booking at Bluewater for next year. Let's hope our excellent ocean viewing platform is still intact!

NELL ON WHEELS

http://www.habitusliving.com/move/artcycle-2011

We're cycling around Clover Moore's State electorate of Bligh on the 26th March checking out all sorts of art en route and deciding which ballot box looks the most glamorous to cast our votes into.

http://www.artmonthsydney.com/_webapp_770772/ARTcycle_-_Paddington_and_Woollahra

THE VERDICT

Spank the Plank is a tank. I need another 20 kilos or so to be able to handle the beast. So I am now faced with a major dilemma; to sell or keep it as a work of art? Any suggestions/takers??

GLASSY NEW STICK

Finally, the infamous hollow wooden longboard, which was handmade by my own fair pair at the Comboyne workshop last October, has been glassed. And what a sexy piece of plank it is too! Her rails were lovingly fine tuned by the amazing Bobo as was her tail and I'm looking forward to handing her over to him for a test ride next week.

Can't decide what to call her yet although 'Spanker' popped out of my mouth just now! She's a bit quirky in that she has something rattling around inside her. I think one of those cheeky Comboyne kids might have inserted a macadamia nut shell while I wasn't watching!

Took her down to Palm Beach for an initiation wax job to rival Rachel Scott's 'Phantasmagoriapsychosexmagia' (see earlier post) and will be cutting together a short film in celebration of the momentous event (watch this space). The low tide Palmy shore breaks were not the ideal conditions to initiate Spank the Plank so I'm taking her down to Green Island for a cruise this arvo.

In the meantime, her sister stick - the 5'10" Webber - has been getting a workout. Yesterday it was on those nice chunky waves  pulsing through at North Avalon and this morning we had some fun at Warriwood.  Life really is a beach.