‘Spindrift’ is the short story of acclaimed Chef Ben Shewry, who during a transitional time in his life, had the fortune of meeting Victorian Mussel farmer, the Sea Bounty‘s Lance Wiffin, through Ben’s late friend Jason Jurie.
The encounter formed a unique bond between Chef and Fisherman, the tale emphasizing the importance of sustainable food practice, compassion and friendship.
“In Winter we become little home bodies, pottering around our homes, draped in kimonos, sloppy joes and uggies, drinking hot chai and enjoying the Winter frost. So we chose to shoot in a little beach house here in Byron Bay, with the crisp Autumn air blowing in off the ocean.”
My fiance Elizabeth and I were joint in agreement. We wanted to know who this little being was that was growing in between Lizzy and I.
So a few weeks back we had our 20 week scan. We chose to find out but in a special way. The lovely gentleman who did the scan wrote our 50/50 chance on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope.
The following afternoon (with a day of suspense) we couldn’t hold the suspense. Taking a drive down to our local beach Broken Head, we unsealed our dream to be… a little boy!
It was an amazing moment. For me, I felt more connected than ever to the experience. As a man you can at times feel like an outsider, trying to grasp what is happening to your partner through facts and thought. This moment I felt, unified with my fiance Elizabeth as we count down the weeks and days until we meet the spawn of our love…
Well… it’s only taken 7 years, but that $27,000 credit card debt is now… IN CREDIT!
Doesn’t make sense? For those of you who don’t know, in 2005 I racked up a $27,000 credit card debt travelling the world On Credit, in the process making a film about the life of a struggling competitive surfer and the unseen side of pro-surfing.
So… I’M FRIGGIN STOKED! Woohooo! I did pay it off a while ago, but was still in debt from life. This is the first ‘proper’ time I’ve reached positive territory (apart from the time one of my best buds Danny Salfield lent me $7k to help ease the interest haha).
Time to rack up some debt? I don’t think so. Might enjoy this for a moment.
This morning I was trying not to surf, have a sleep in and relax. Then I got the call from Alex Frings, “it’s 4-6ft and offshore”. Bullshit I thought. It will be bigger.
So, after a protein bar and a glass of water, I found myself staring at this lonesome lineup, with one commando already amidst the moody morning waves. I paddled out. A bit unfit at the moment. Got a couple waves and mixed words with the commando, who was surfing it on his own. Let’s just call him ‘Dan’. Nuts!
Anyway, I could see a really dark line further out halfway through the session. Paddling wide I thought I’d be more likely wear it on the head, let alone having the chance to catch it. This shot was taken on the double up part of the wave. I thought I’d give Alex a salute on the cliff face, after making the big drop on the first part of the wave (which was one of the bigger ones I’ve had for a while), I was just stoked to get to this bonus part!
Off to Tassie now for a week. I’m no big wave guy, this wave to many wouldn’t be that big, but I got the buzz! I’ll be semi prepared now.
This week my fiance and I lit our fireplace for the very first time… the crackling of the wood and smell of sweet pine cones made us smile. Autumn is here.
Lizzy and her sister in Spell crime Isabella, were so inspired by the change of seasons that they decided to rig up a little blog post to feature their new winter woolies. Then, Lizzy asked me to have a crack at doing a the photos for them, video is usually my forte, so it was great to have this chance to do Spell‘s first dose of Winter for the coming season.
Featured is Jara, Lizzy spotted her at a local Byron Bay coffee shop, and then kept seeing her out in the surf, so she asked her if she’d join us at sun-down for Spell‘s ‘storm chasing’ blog post.
Here are a few of my personal favorites. The full post can be seen HERE.
A fun recent fashion video I did for local Byron Bay designer Myee Carlyle.
“Willowy and delicate, she wanders through the serenity of her hillside home. Strolling through the wild woods, a free-spirit with an alluring stare, the deep sapphire blue of a bohemian soul, a purple romance in her heart…she finds solace in the magic of her spirit. A dream weaver all her own, realising peace in stillness and the beauty possessed within, she floats alongside a cool autumn breeze…”
That’s the name of my Toyota Camry. 423,300 kms of pure legend-ness. The champ just got back on the tarmac for another year of bombing roads in a town near you (thanks to my good bud Janni at Byron Classic Cars).
It’s done it all. Multiple surf trips. Breakdowns in Grafton. My mates Nick Chalmers and Matty Yeates grafitti’d it’s interior and exterior. It was named Garry Swaggy for a while there. I bought it for $2000 from my Mum and Dad.
So this post goes out to you my steady soldier, al la ‘The Bomber’. Feel free to draw on it anytime in the carpark, or give it a high five.
These are some images from a recent trip with Pro-Surfer and Patagonia rider Dan Ross to Forster with my good mate, filmmaker Mick Waters. We were all down there getting footage for latest release of Patagonia‘s R1 & R2 wetsuit lines – WATCH VIDEO
We had an amazing few bloke days, surfing, a couple beers, coffee’s, lentil burgers, a few hacks and a massive rain squall (which rendered Mick to attempting to film under a tarp).
Enjoy the images.
Pics taken on a Nikon D7000 with a variety of manual focus lenses.
