One of my absolutely favourite online articles. Adventure Journal’s weekend cabins. There is one whole load of wonder and lust here…
Flicking through endless photos I took of colourful washing lines strung above canals and gondolas, I had forgotten about this little moment.
One day you’re travelling to work, crammed into an underground commuter train like a smelly sock in a packed dirty linen basket. You arrive at work, grabbing a $4 coffee. You wait in the queue of subdued suits for the elevator. You swipe your pass to select your floor and find yourself in autopilot as you step off at Level 4 and swipe through the next door. You walk through the open plan office. A quiet hum. Switch computer on. Fill water bottle. Greet colleagues. Sit at desk. Check email. Delete email. Delete ‘your mailbox is nearly full’ email, for the fiftieth time in the last month. Go to meetings. Answer phone. Screen calls. Lunch. Phew. Oh but no time to leave the building.
And so it goes on…until hometime. Head down, scurry out of office avoiding ‘a quick question’ on your way out. Into elevator. Into fresh air – notice the weather for the first time in eight hours. Daylight.
The next day. Hop in car to work. Work is on Sydney harbour. On a beach. On the water. Breathe in the fresh air..and relax. Learning the ropes involves launching kayaks into the harbour waters… and going for a dawn paddle before work.
Corporate ship officially jumped. I’m pretty excited about this change.
When I first left home to head to university (years ago) my mother gave me a card with a Mark Twain quote on it. I’m not sure she meant for it to ring through my mind so much, in so many decisions, but here it is and I love it… and isn’t the nautical theme apt?
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Dawn on Middle Harbour
How would you fancy going for a paddle in Antarctic waters? On his latest adventure, Kepa Acero, Basque surfer and explorer did just that… What a happy chappy.
“Tan importante como vivir la experiencia personal, es compartirla” – enjoy sharing 3 minutes of South Pole stoke in this short clip.
I was very lucky to receive some pretty awesome Christmas presents. I posted about the Tom Wegener Surfie earlier this week. Another gift – this time from my husband – was a ticket to The Reef, March 4th, at Sydney Opera House. Have a look at the synopsis and trailer below. It looks and sounds inspirational.
In May, Richard Tognetti took a crew of surfers, musicians and film makers to Ningaloo Reef, where the desert meets the sea. They spent two unforgettable weeks surfing, making music and filming and the result is The Reef.
It looks like some tickets are still available here – check it out.
My husband and I were totally blown away with a joint wedding/Christmas gift we received from my brother last year. The Tom Wegener surfie arrived at our apartment in Sydney and, wrapped in bubble wrap, with ‘Tom Wegener’ as the sender’s address, I guessed (wishfully) at its contents and begged to open it before Christmas…but wasn’t allowed.
We packed it in Luna the kombi for our Christmas road trip and come Christmas day, the surfie was unveiled. We headed straight down to Marengo Beach, beside our campsite on the Great Ocean Road to give it a test run. The waves were tiny. No surfing was on the cards. But the surfie prevailed with hours of fun, catching the smallest of barrelling surf. When you catch a wave, you absolutely fly along, and with no fins to wedge in the sand, you can take it super shallow if you so wish.
And what’s more, no roof racks required, no sticky wax on car seats and the joy of riding a beautifully crafted, personalised piece of wood. Oh, not to mention, the smallest of surf forecasts doesn’t matter.
We are hooked.
The testing of the Surfie’s limits continues and we’re stoked to have become a little part of the wooden board movement… Thank you J (and thank you Tom!) x
“It’s about taking a breath and kicking your feet in the big blue sea”
Keith Malloy’s film can’t fail to inspire. Forget the expensive kit and flashy brands… get out there and get in touch with the ocean…
“love, hope, heart, fun… sometimes sadness.”
What does the sea mean to you?
The ever graceful longboarder Belinda Baggs features in this beautifully captured short film – the first in a series from Macauley Rae.
This weekend we had the pleasure of attending Sydney’s episode of the Adventure Film Festival. Held in a beautiful arthouse venue – the Chauvel Theatre in Paddington, the “Feature Length” red wine was a lovely accompaniment to the soul nourishing, awe inspiring series of films. Freeskiing, mountain biking, climbing, diving and the contrast of solitude and community.. and a whole bunch of inspirational characters who push the boundaries, take risks, and generally challenge life’s limits.
Currently planning instructorships in snowboarding, kayaking and surfing, midway through, with my eyes lit up and my heart full of aspiration for future adventures, my husband turned to me with a smile and wryly said, “so which sport is next then?”.
If only I could reach the limits these people do…
Here’s a snippet of one of my favourites of the evening, ‘Racing the End’.
We’ll certainly be going back next year and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone in Sydney, Chile, Chamonix and the other lucky places to receive such an exhilarating festival of film.
“A free man is someone who is true to himself. Who follows his dreams and turns them into reality. You have to put fear to one side, it will always be there, but you have to follow your path. It’s all possible if you put enough energy into it. A free man, to me, is someone who tries to make his dreams come true.”
I can’t believe that between first discovering the trailer for this mind blowing documentary so many months ago, to actually downloading the full version and watching it…has taken us so long. But boy was it worth it to finally sit down and watch this incredible short film.
The most inspiring, breathtaking, heart in mouth forty minutes you’ll have experienced for a while. Watch the trailer and download the full version – it’s worth every minute. But I don’t advise eating dinner while watching – indigestion guaranteed.
The soundtrack brings back those wanderlust moments I experience when listening to Sipping Jetstreams… the visuals, quite simply captivating.
Enjoy and be amazed, inspired and mesmerised.
(For less than 5 Euros you can download the full version here)
the wanderlust 