twin fin travels

20' @ 20 seconds from 295

2010-11-05T01:45:00.003+07:00

Five hour session this day. Long clean lines in the afternoon and punchy peaks early.

What a start to Winter

2009-12-19T00:50:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Surf has been very consistent since early November. Beaches and points to the north have been in fine form as you can see in the photo. Light crowds on this day since the swell wasn't over-hyped hyped on the internet.

Shifting into Autumn

2009-12-09T00:56:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Valley offshore winds groom this spot sooo nicely. The window for quality surf was short between the tide dropping out enough, the front moving in and the shifting wind.

Centro America

2009-10-21T06:36:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Fun surf down here after the kids have gone back to school. Economic downturn has kept others closer to home. Most days are just a handful of locals and us. Overhead swell has not abated during the past two weeks keeping our afternoon naps a necessity. Heading further to the south, we are expecting all day offshores to groom the beachbreaks to perfection.

Central coast camp

2009-08-27T01:03:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Saw a south approaching and thought we'd do something we'd do something out of our normal pattern. Headed north and caught some really fun empty surf with Indian summer conditions.

Summer South Swell Hype

2009-07-26T04:52:00.002+07:00

Some good waves from this swell. Never quite lived up to the forecasters calls...

Lowers at dawn on Friday. Closer to home on Saturday. Hopefully this run of surf continues!

A few waves lately

2009-06-26T04:47:00.001+07:00

More Lowers fun. It's amazing how the ocean can fool even a crowd of 40. I love getting warm on the beach, feeling the ache of a long surf in my body and watching unridden waves roll through crowded lineups.

Sacred Craft

2009-05-18T10:05:00.000+07:00

Interesting afternoon in Ventura checking out the latest and greatest on offer at Sacred Craft. I was really excited to see Gerry Lopez mow some foam and tried to get a decent spot to view him in the booth along with all the others. It was somewhat anti-climactic when he showed up with a computer shaped blank. I know he doesn't have to prove his skills to anyone but it sure woulda been nice to see him create a board start to finish. I was really impressed with Wayne Rich but would be amazed if he shaped his production boards in the same way as he did at the show. He was very meticulous and his John Bradbury replica turned out beautiful. Kinda strange that they have Firewire and Surftech showing boards. Seems like they've let the wolf into the chicken coop there. A celebration of hand shaped surfboards right. Why are the pop-outs there???

Afternoon surf's are good...

2009-05-15T10:00:00.002+07:00

We've had a nice run of small combo swells the past week. Unfortunately we've also been plagued with Catalina Eddy morning's. South winds don't do Southern California waves many favors. We had a couple of mornings with a mid morning clean up, but better than that we've had some really fun late afternoon sessions with that beautiful California glass-off.

Dog Beach

2009-05-10T10:15:00.000+07:00

Ran Shackleton down to the dog beach and he was loving it. Running with his favorite toy and showing off to all the other dogs. I tossed his ball out to sea a few times and he swam right out there to bring it back in. I decided to really heave it out there and gave it my best throw and ended up with the rope still in my hand and the ball about 40 yards out. Shackleton raced out after it while I thought about the consequences. As soon as he reached the ball he tried to grab the rope in his mouth, of course without any success. He kept at it all the while pushing the ball further out to sea. Meanwhile I was taking off my shirt and shoes and swimming out to get to him before he made his way to Catalina. He was pretty far out by the time I reached him and I could tell he was tripping out that he couldn't grab the ball. I threw the ball towards shore and he kept after it. Chilly and wet drive home...

Springtime Lowers

2009-04-02T01:02:00.000+07:00

Winter has passed us by with hardly a whisper of Aleutian juice... Fortunately we can always count on Lowers consistency with swells approaching from the south.

V-Land

2009-02-17T10:59:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Had a really great surf this morning with a rising WNW swell hitting
V-Land. Clean trade conditions and not too many people out gave us plenty of waves until the inevitable rush of people. Once word gets out that V-Land is working people come out of the woodwork looking for those perfect hot dog waves. After a few hours the swell outgrew the reef and most sets started to wash through sending us in for lunch.

Haleiwa

2009-02-15T14:10:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The North Shore has been described to me by more than one local as a place of Heaven and Hell. Here, in one day you can experience the most amazing waves of your life, and the worst wipeouts you can imagine. You will meet the friendliest people sharing their lovely Aloha spirit, along with some of the dregs of society that find their way here. It truly is a place of extremes. While picking up some Bulgar wheat in Celestial Natural Foods this morning, a guy stumbles in carrying a twelve pack of Heineken's in each hand. He approaches the sales girl to ask if they have any cigarettes for sale. She politely explained that he was in a "Health" Food store therefore they didn't carry cancer sticks. After he grumbled something unintelligible and left, she looked over at us and giggled a little, somewhat bemused by the guys question. This was at about 9am so he must've thought he was in 7-11...

Rocky Point

2009-02-12T08:08:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

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HIC Pipe Contest

2009-02-12T08:06:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

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Grifta 2

2009-01-15T14:50:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Here's my first pass with the planer on the bottom of the Grifter. Luckily I have Rich to cover up most of my mistakes... Above are a few more photos of the shaping process along with our finished board.

Canyon Shaping

2009-01-10T14:45:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Rich has been teaching me how to shape in his Canyon Shaping bay. We've been inspired by a board that has recently passed on into Surfboard Valhalla. Terry Fitzgeralds "Drifter" model that was featured in The Surfer's Journal. Rich's walking me through the outline process taught to him by Mungall. We're taking turns with the planer with Rich doing his best to patch up my heavy-handed mistakes. Sure has been a lot of fun though!

Winter South Swell

2009-01-06T11:30:00.000+07:00

We drove in early and found luck with our secret parking spot. Stoked! After a quick 10 minute walk, we were staring at wave after wave spiraling down the point at Lowers. With only a handful of guys out in the pre-dawn light Rich and I suited up and after a quick stretch sprinted out to the peak. When south swells hit this time of the year in California you can sometimes surf Lowers without the normal frothing masses clogging the line-up. I think the temperature might have helped. With air temps in the mid 40's and the water in the mid 50's, I heard more than one guy say they hit snooze on their alarm this morning. At one point there were only 6 of us in the water with plenty of overhead offshore waves coming through. Leaving when the late morning crew began to show I saw Jordy Smith absolutely wreak havoc on a left with two gumby flex upside down snaps. Time for breakfast...

Strand

2008-12-19T10:27:00.001+07:00

Some fun surf at my favorite California beachbreak. Perfect overhead A-frame peaks all morning long.

Moss Landing

2008-11-16T02:02:00.002+07:00

The surf was firing upon arrival at Moss. After watching an unruly swell pound my usual spots in Big Sur, it was a relief to find such perfect offshore peaks in Monterey Bay. Rich was up to his usual antics pulling into some big barrels testing the glass work of his guys from down south. We were pretty stoked to scratch outside, catch a few waves with only a handful of others out and make it back in without any broken boards or bodies.

originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Malibu Fire season

2008-10-24T12:23:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Brush fires burning on the Sepulveda pass. The 405 has been closed in both directions!!! LA traffic nightmare scenario, but long period New Zealand swells love Malibu. We were approaching from the 10 anyways so we made the early morning run and found empty kiddy bowls. A long wait between sets but when they came through we had a chest-high speed wall to race.

Trestles - California

2008-10-16T11:52:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Back home after 2 years and 3 months of non-stop travel. First stop, after giving Mom a hug, was Lowers. Luckily we returned to Autumn south swells and Santa Ana winds. I have to admit that after so many out of the way waves it was really nice to paddle out to the lineup, say good morning to the same guys I've seen here for over 20 years and enjoy the familiarity of it all. The waves are always best right at the crack of dawn 20 minutes before the sun, the same guys are always riding back up the trail giving me a report of the early , early pre-dawn, 3am - 6am surf, and old guys named Bob usually get the best waves of the day. Oh yeah, and twin fins go unreal here!

Good to be home...

San Sebastian Tapas

2008-09-18T00:15:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This time of year most surfers thinking of the north coast of Spain conjure images of perfect rivermouth lefts running past the harbour at Mundaka. They can have it. I would rather line up for the Tapas in San Sebastian than fight the other 100 surfers in the water fighting for their "Dream" wave at the famous left. This is probably the best bargain still going for those not earning Euro's at the moment.

Southwest France

2008-09-17T00:29:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Heading home to California soon. Feel quite fortunate to have had such amazing surf around the world on this trip. This day I surfed 3 sessions each better than the last. This was around lunchtime.

Autumn arrival

2008-09-16T00:26:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Headed out early this morning with JM looking for "the" spot. Always a bit of a challenge in France. Shifting sandbars, massive tidal swings and the mobile Swiss Surf Championships keep one on the move looking for the best combination of elements. Found a great spot this day.

Les Chasseurs de Lapin

2008-09-14T00:21:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Early morning surf checks can be dangerous in the south of France. Caffeinated baguette delivery boys, overloaded swell detonating onto shallow sandbars and of course les chasseurs. Hunting season, curiously enough, opens in September in France. Right at the same moment surfers arrive looking for their fix of beachbreak perfection. Wear orange if possible and move quickly through the forest.

Boscombe reef - UK

2008-09-04T00:08:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The artificial reef here is coming along nicely... There will be some very stoked locals if they can actually make this project work. The massive mountain of sand piled on the beach looks promising. Good luck!

K59

2008-09-03T03:49:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Here's my Dad pulling into a perfect wave at K59. I don't know if a son could be prouder...

La Libertad - El Salvador

2008-08-06T07:45:00.003+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

There are very good waves here, but be careful walking along the path to the cemetary... The locals regulate the lineup quite well. Any Brazilians that paddle to the peak are immediately told to go surf the inside. Whoa! One local named Juan told me they´ve seen buses with 20 Brazilians show up and paddle out together. Crazy nuts.... I picked up some scraps on the inside and went home really happy.

Nicaraguan friend´s

2008-07-22T00:41:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This morning I found the second scorpion in as many weeks here in Nicaragua. The first one we found our first night down at Playa Gigante. Heading in to take a shower and rinse the road grime off myself I nearly stepped on our first friend. I asked Hedda if she wanted a look at the little guy. She did and then I quickly smacked him out with a sandal. This second one must have stowed away in my boardbag or backpack to Granada. I pulled on my shorts this morning and felt something scratching my back. I instinctually swiped him off and then Hedda yelled out ¨scorpion¨. He must have been slowed down from the rooms A/C which saved my ass from getting stung!

Colorado's - Nicaragua

2008-07-20T08:17:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Lazy lavender clouds drifting across the evening sky. Looking as though they were painted across the horizon.The daily offshore winds settling down with the sunset. Walking out to Colorado´s through the forest trying not to step on the flourescent orange colored crab legs that scurry across the undergrowth at my every step. Pigs scavenger for scaps trying not to trip on the triangular stick harnesses they are hooked up with for misbehaving. The beachbreak here is a classic set up. Offshore all day everyday due to the location of a massive lake just inland, South facing so it picks up any swell going in the Pacific, and it even has a little creek that nicely replenishes the sandbanks, keeping the assorted peaks in good form.

Playa Bluff - Bocas Del Toro - Panama

2008-07-05T03:33:00.001+07:00

picnikfile_t1h9a3, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We´ve started to move faster than we normally do since we only have 1 month to get to El Salvador and fly to Europe. Leaving Santa Catalina we arrived in Santiago and spent a couple of hours waiting for the Tica bus which would take us directly to San Jose, Costa Rica. Unfortunately, when it pulled up, we found out it was fully booked. Change of plans.... We decided on the spur of the moment to head to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama. I´d been wanting to check it out and since the swell was looking meager to the west, we hopped on the next bus to David.

What a beautiful place Bocas is. Tropical islets and virgin jungle ringed with small communities beginning to make a living from tourists. While walking into town looking for a hotel, we ran into some friends we´d met in Santa Catalina. The next morning we hired a boat to take Nathan and I surfing while Trish and Hedda snorkelled. Small waves, but uncrowded and beautiful crystal clear Caribbean waters made up for the lack of swell. A couple days later Hedda and I caught a boat with Roberto to Playa Bluff. We spent a lazy day sharing a mile long stretch of golden sand with just the crabs. Punchy chest high barrels kept me in the water for a few hours. Hedda was working on her bodysurfing in some pretty hollow waves. The waves break in knee deep water here so be careful...

Santa Catalina - Panama

2008-07-01T00:59:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Scored some good surf here. We stayed 8 nights right in front of the reef at Punta Brava. Overhead waves everyday. Tides can be issue here since the range is something like 15-20 feet. If you surf through till low you're guaranteed a long, slow walk back over the reef. Depending where you come in it can be as long as 300 yards and the reef aint soft! The wave were good but I wish I could've seen it double overhead. It must be incredible at that size. There are other waves nearby but I never felt the need to take a long walk since it was pretty damn good straight out front everyday. A bit crowded on the weekend but most people were watching. There is also a nice beachbreak around the corner where Hedda has been catching a few waves herself!

Coiba Island - Panama

2008-07-01T00:53:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

We hired a boat for the day and motored out to Isla Coiba, about 1 1/2 hours from Santa Catalina. It's a totally different world out there compared to the mainland. Santa Catalina has some river runoff into the sea so the water has a green hue to it. Out at Coiba it is absolutely crystal clear. We free dove some reefs and had about 50-60 feet of visibility. White tip sharks, Barracuda's, Turtles, various coral formations and loads of fish. Granita del Oro is a tiny islet, one of many that surround Coiba. We had it completely to ourselves and didn't see another boat all day. Until recently, Coiba housed over 1,000 prisoners in various camps scattered around the island. This helped to preserve the island and reefs since no one really wanted to get too close to the prison. Today it is a protected national park and UNESCO world heritage site.

Cartagena - Colombia

2008-06-27T01:00:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We sadly left Lobitos and hopped on a bus north to Quito where we explored the Colonial sections of the city, checked in with the Equator and finally met up with Christine and Mike. It was great to see those two again. Although Hedda has bumped into them in Barcelona and Brazil, I haven't seen them since we crashed their honeymoon in Thailand almost 1 1/2 years ago. After the best sushi I've had in ages we flew, finally no bus ride, to Cartagena.

I've always wanted to see this legendary city of pirate lore and wasn't dissapointed at all. The walls that surround the Ciudad Viejo have withstood assaults for nearly 500 years. The city is filled with gorgeous original colonial buildings, some lovingly restored while others have slowly deteriorated while awaiting some love. There is a massive effort going on to restore many of the buildings and I have no doubt that in years to come the place will stun many more visitors as it did myself. Great food here. Pizza and beer in the park, mango's from the street vendors, drinks at the Whiskeria, ceviche, our favorite breakfast place, Mila and more.

Lobitos - Northern Peru

2008-06-24T09:18:00.005+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Our first morning dawned crisp and clean, groomed by the predominate offshore winds found here. Unreal to wake up and see Ranch surface conditions with half a dozen sand points within walking distance of Darwin´s place. Darrin and I jogged down the beach to La Piscina where we surfed picture perfect head-high lefts with a most polite crowd of 5 others. Everyone taking turns. After one wave Darrin paddled back out laughing, telling me how he´s never surfed a spot where complete strangers called him into waves straight away. Of course not every story has a perfect ending. You should be warned that this place does need a solid swell to get around the corner and when the swell does come up, the local boogie crew can be pretty aggressive. That said it´s still a sweet spot worth coming back to.

Upon arrival, the fishing village of Lobitos looks like a ghost town. The U.S. built a military installation here 50-60 years ago to guard the oil one of our giant Texas corps was here to raid. Some thing´s just never change... Eventually the Peruvian Government decided to reclaim the oil reserves off their coast and booted the U.S. out. Since then the town has fallen into a decrepit mess. The place has a ghost town charm to it with the rusted hulking pier, the abandoned houses and church. Some of the homes look earily like our bungalow back in California. The demolition goes on daily bit by bit, piece by piece. Retired fishermen gather scraps of iron to ride into Talara with for pennies. We found it an interesting place, so we stayed a couple of weeks....

Talara - Lobitos Transport

2008-06-12T07:26:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Darrin has been travelling with Hedda and I the past couple of weeks. I was really stoked to share some of the joys of South American bus travel with him. Our first bus from Lima north to Huanchaco was 12 hours overnight. Darrin was lucky enough to sit across the aisle from a huge guy who snored all night long. This guy rumbled like a horse. Eventually Darrin, one of the most laid back guys I know slammed the guy in the shoulder. He shuddered for a moment and we thought it might have done the trick, but then a moment later the guy was back at it just as loud as before. Not much sleep that night on the bus.

The Econoline in the photo was our link to Talara from l'il ol´ Lobitos. The driver was sometime's able to fit 19 people inside along with 2-3 niño's, a bag of freshly caught fish and some scrap metal. Little cramped, but it was usually smiles all the way around. The drop offs in town were always interesting. Everyone wants to get there 2 soles,(.80 cents) worth so they ask to be dropped off directly in front of their homes. This happens all over the world but here in Lobitos we stopped to let one woman off. The driver turned off the engine since he had to unload some things off the roof. He then started up again and hadn't even gone a car length when another lady yelled from the back to stop. She was in the house next door! This stuff always cracks me up....

Pacasmayo - Peru

2008-05-26T08:07:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We had some pretty good waves in Pacasmayo. Unfortunately it didn´t get big, and I think for this wave to really show it's true potential you need some size. That said Darrin and I had a few small fun days off the top of the point before the Devil winds really started to howl. The wind was incessant but a slightly better direction in the early morning. Our last day it picked up and was a slightly lumpy but still good 2 feet overhead. The current was ripping around the point on the lower tide, but the waves were really good and reeled off for hundreds of yards. Otto, the owner of Duke's Surf Hotel showed some true Aloha.

Caballito de Totora - Huanchaco

2008-05-23T07:54:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

One afternoon in Huanchaco, Darrin and I took out a couple of the reed rafts called Caballito de Totora by the locals. The fishermen here have been using these same rafts built in the same traditional way for over 1,000 years. The Moche people left pottery remains with drawings depicting the same style raft being ridden back to shore on waves. The nearby Temple of Chan Chan has incredible decorative carvings of waves covering walls. The ocean had a massive impact on these people´s lives. We thought we'd try to tap into that millenium old tradition. We made it out the back without to much trouble, but actually catching and riding waves back in without either burying the nose or swinging to one side or the other and getting slammed was not easy. As usual the locals made it all look too easy. It was amazing to see a 1,000 year old tradtional method of fishing unchanged and thriving today.

Machu Pichu - Peru

2008-05-20T07:58:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Hedda has written about our trek along the Salkantay route so I´ll direct you there to hear her account about the dumping snow storm we enjoyed while crossing the pass, the 2 hour soccer match I stumbled through with our guide and cooks at 12,000 feet, Hedda´s attempt to dance with a horse train, and the 70 km´s we´ve added to our total treks these past two yerars. We eventually made it to Machu Pichu. The ruins aren´t bad, it´s the Andes that are stunning.

Isla del Sol - Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

2008-05-15T07:56:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Isla del Sol is believed by many to be the birthplace of the Inka's. Wouldn't you want to believe your people originated from here? The island is beautiful and the grilled trout excellent, but as I looked down towards these many bays, I couldn´t help but imagine a clean stacked groundswell pulsing into the bay and lighting up the points. It´s been too long away from the ocean and I´m drying out!!!!

Leaf Cutting Ants - Chalalan, Amazon basin, Bolivia

2008-05-11T02:54:00.003+07:00

In the Madidi National Park we saw these tiny bits of leaves walking across the path. We looked a little closer and saw that these tiny ants were carrying these bits of leaf for miles. Well, maybe not miles but for a long way.

Mercado de Hechicería - La Paz, Bolivia

2008-05-05T02:30:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We´ve been cruising through Bolivia the past month enjoying the sights, sounds and scents the place has to offer. On this day we wandered over to the Witche's Market to see what was on special for the day. Apparently it was Llama fetus's. All different sizes and colors. Dried out and ready to place on your mantle to bring good luck to your home. They also had beautiful tapir, puma and, ocelot skins that I don't believe would be legal to sell anywhere else in the world. Endangered species maybe???? The shops were interesting and the ladies selling their wares were really sweet. We ended up with some tiny Puma carving´s to protect our home.

Waves

2008-04-28T08:21:00.004+07:00

Here are a few of the waves I´ve been lucky enough to surf the past couple of years.

Between Waves

2008-04-28T07:56:00.005+07:00

Here are a few of the moments between waves from the past two years of travel. It's not always a vacation. Not that I'm complaining....

Tarabuco - Bolivia

2008-04-20T01:36:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This lovely small town in the hills near Sucre has a great Sunday market with people from all over the surrounding area coming by bus, car, truck and donkey. Seriously, they had a donkey parking area just on the outskirts of town. The locals are amazing to watch as they buy and sell what they need. Everyone wore a hat. Some wore leather versions in the style of the conquistadors who came though 500 years ago. Others wore knitted beanies, precariously perched upon their heads. But the hat of choice was a fedora-like version made of felt that was bent, twisted and worked into whatever stylish shape the owner was in the mood for that day. We had some fried chicken in the central market, walked all the lanes and appreciated the authentic traditions still being lived today. Not much Castellano spoken here. Nearly everyone spoke in Quechua.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

2008-04-15T00:20:00.000+07:00

Driving across the Salar de Uyuni is mesmerizing. The landscape goes on and on in a never ending blue and white horizon. The scale is difficult to describe. Islands of coral and cactus rise up out of the expansive white horizon far in the distance. I lent Jorge my shades so he wouldn´t suffer from the snow blindness and fall asleep at the wheel.

Altiplano lake, Bolivia

2008-04-14T01:03:00.000+07:00

This was the final lake we visited on day 2 during the trip to the Salar de Uyuni. The lakes are filled with different micro organism´s that the Flamingo´s live on. The micro organism´s also give the various lakes their unique colors as well. Hedda has some great photos of the lakes here.

North by Bus - Chile

2008-04-07T01:21:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This may be a little mundane, but I thought I´d write this to remind myself later about how this sometime´s works. I haven´t had any hassles the past few months loading my boardbag into the storage areas of any south bound buses. As soon as I started heading north, the gringo taxes began... Leaving Valparaiso I was asked for 2,000 pesos. Then 3,000 pesos. I got off the bus and went into the office and was told by the manager, the bus driver, the luggage assistant, the ticket taker, even the guy selling hot dogs on the street that I had to pay extra for the boards. I kinda have a problem with this since everyone else is bringing wide screen TV´s, Ice chests with frozen shrimp, dried seaweed snacks and all kinds of other crap without being charged anything anything extra. So with the silence of the other passengers giving me strength, I maintained my position of not paying extra. I held out till the bus was pulling out of the terminal. We were already ten minutes late because of my stink. Well they asked once again if I was going to pay. I said, "no." They actually reversed the bus at which point I caved in and paid them 2,000. $4 bucks isn´t really worth missing the bus for....

Next up was La Serena. They wanted 2,000 straight up. I held firm with my desire not to pay. I was told we were going to the Policia and laughed at em. "OK, lets go". I´ll pay them before I pay you! Well I was a little nervous when we pulled up to the Policia checkpoint. Will they drop me and my boards here in the middle of nowhere? Is all this really worth $4??? In the end the bus inspector got off. The driver took the wheel and the ticket guy came over and quietly asked how much I´d be willing to pay. I gave him a buck and the rest of the 12 hour trip he was my best friend. He even played "Resident Evil" for me in English. Ummm, thanks. I guess. The photo is of a police checkpoint in the Atacama.

Mamalluca Observatory - Chile

2008-04-05T01:12:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The place where it never rains. You don´t have to be a genius to understand why most major countries interested in Astronomy have observatories built here in the southern reaches of the Atacama desert. Mamalluca was purposefully built for tourists so, unlike the professional observatories where you can look but not touch, here you can use small telescopes with a guide to see all kinds of cool places far, far away.... I was able to see Saturn and its rings, Mars, Alpha Centuri nebuli and a few others whose names I´ve already forgotten. Something like CRG-1224. I can also pick out at least half a dozen constellations in the southern hemisphere so whenever you´re down here with me next I´ll show em to you. Saw heaps of shooting stars as well.

What I found most interesting was finding out what the Mapuche and Inka´s thought when they looked up at the stars. European´s always focused on the bright stars to create their constellations and create their myths and legends. The South American indigenous people instead found images in the dark areas between the light. These dark area´s are called carbon nebula. They block out much of the light in some corners of the night sky. When our guide pointed these images out they seemed so obvious. A large Inkan snake winding through the sky. A huge llama just below the Southern Cross. The last image we saw was a Nandu, a large flightless bird from South American. Aboriginal´s in Australia called the same shape an Emu, a relative of the Nandu. I love that thousands of years ago, people half way across the world shared the same celestial aesthetic.

Valparaiso ascensor´s

2008-04-03T04:31:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We had a bit of fun and saved our legs from destruction by using the ascensors whenever we could. There are about fifteen scattered throughout the hills to help you gain some elevation around the really steep spots. Most were built about 100 years ago and I believe they´re still the original parts. The wood box car creaks and shakes violently as it´s quickly yanked upwards a few hundred feet.

Valparaiso - Chile

2008-04-03T04:28:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Valparaiso is a city suffused with history and art. It breathes an inspiring cityscape of paint, sculpture and music at every turn. Our hotel is next door to an Academie de Musica so we breakfast with the sounds of classical music and opera filtering in through the windows. Tiny, windy streets twist, climb and sharply drop. They criss-cross and weave their way over the countless ridges and canyons the city has grown into over the many years. I feel at home with the many precariously placed homes that teeter on the edges of the hillsides. So much like the Canyon in Sierra Madre.

Grafitti is everywhere. Mosaics of tile and mirror glass cover street embankments. Peering into alleys you may see paintings of fang toothed kittens attacking bunny eared girls, or a couple of people kicking back on a non-existent back porch. Rich and I wandered the city for hours soaking it all in, tripping out on how extensive and fine the qualityof art was wherever you looked. This is no town for a tagger.

Pablo Neruda´s House - Valparaiso

2008-04-02T04:34:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Pablo Neruda´s home is a condensed version of the city itself. His eclectic tastes are laid out as if he just wandered down the street to pick up some knick-nack in one of the cool antique stores downtown. The four storied house is simply one modest room stacked upon another. The top room was his study and has stunning views of the city and harbor. The stuffed Penguin in the bar was my favorite. Don´t think you can pick those up too easily these days...

Valparaiso ghosts

2008-04-02T03:26:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Rich and I were sitting in a little cafe sipping on a beer and resting our legs after trucking up and down hills all day when Rich notices this guy pulling out cans of spray paint from his satchel. We´re thinking he might start tagging at rush hour. Since there´s so much graf everywhere, maybe no one cares what or when you spray down here... So we watch for awhile and this guy is jumping on and off buses, sticking his head into taxi´s and bumping into people on the street. Seems he´s a spray paint dealer. Instead of chicklets and bad watches though, he´s making sure the youth of Valparaiso can get their tools for the weekend assault on the cities walls. We watched as he made a couple of sales, pulled more stock out of his bag, and then drifted off into the night.

Parrilla down south

2008-04-01T02:21:00.000+07:00

The fellow surfers we ran into down south were a good crew. Some good international surf cross-pollination going on in the photo above. On this night Larry somehow convinced everyone to jump into the back of a pickup truck and head 20 minutes up the road to the local discotecque. We arrived to find a raging party for a 90 year old lady. She´d blown her candles and headed home a couple of hours before, but her younger friends in their 80´s were keeping the karaoke singer in business. We had a few piscola´s, danced to Chile´s top 10 dance songs of all time and ruined ourselves for the next morning´s surf.

Down south in Chile

2008-04-01T02:09:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The pace of life is moves a little slower down here. The chilly mornings and the vino tinto being consumed most nights might be part of the reason. When we arrived Rich and I ran into Ian who said it´d be a miracle if he got into the surf before 10am. Rarely have I ever been so lazy but here, there´s just no need to rush. The left points are protected from the south wind that blows, and there´s no one here. This is a fishing village at heart. Eating a dinner of Paila Marina with the locals watching the futbol. No menu here. If you want to eat you´re served a beautiful seafood stew out of a huge steaming pot. A few pieces of buttered bread and beer. What else do you need???

One afternoon Rich and I walked out to surf the point in town. The fishermen were keeping busy folding nets and checking out their boats. As the sun began to drop to the horizon we were having a blast catching wave after wave, running back up the beach and jumping back in at the top of the point. After one wave dropped me off halfway down the point, I noticed the fishermen towing one of their boats out to the shorebreak with a team of oxen. It was crazy as they managed to coax the oxen into the shorebreak and through breaking waves to launch their boat. They launched about 20 boats with the oxen as Rich and I stopped surfing and watched. There is no harbor here. No breakwall. They go right through the surf. These guys are truly hardcore watermen!

Central Chile

2008-03-26T03:19:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........................

Central Chile - Sunset set

2008-03-25T04:12:00.001+07:00

30 seconds of perfection. This wave was incredible! Only and handful of guys out this evening. Rich and I were so tired from our 3rd surf of the day we came in, lit a fire, cooked up some lentils and rice and crashed out. Ready to go again the next day.

Central Chile

2008-03-23T01:38:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Rich knocked on the door at the Happy House in Santiago fresh off the plane from California. It was great to see him. It´s been nearly a year since he came out to Bali and Sumbawa. He was loaded down with a boardbag, books for me, (Haruki Murakami, my favorite author, so finally I wouldn´t be scrounging around the hostels hoping for something decent to read), and fresh baked cookies from Mom. We had a couple of coffees and breakfast while catching up.

By midday we were on the bus south to Pichilemu. There we had a decent surf at Punta de Lobos. It was good to get in the water after a month of trekking in Patagonia. We spent the next day organizing transport north and shopping for supplies for the next week of camping. The following afternoon we were on the bus to Litueche. Once there we bargained for a taxi ride to the Rancho. The driver dropped us at the clifftop overlooking the point. We´d been told it was only 30 minute hike down to the point. I later discovered there are a few different roads out there and this taxi driver decided to drop us at the point most convenient for him, not us. The view from the cliff revealed perfect lines of swell wrapping around the wind protected point. Wave after wave following in each others path. The taxi driver collected his cash and was quickly off. We were looking down an extremely steep and rutted out one-way track that would eventually lead us to the point. We grabbed our packs and then took turns letting the boardbag drag us down the hill. After 30 minutes we were down on the flat near the village. At this point Rich and I heaved the boardbag up and over our heads and finished the last hour hiking across a sandy track behind the surfline. We arrived just before sunset and quickly made a fire, cooked up some pasta and then crashed out in the tent to the sound of a rising swell.

The next week the surf didn´t let up. The point offered up variations of perfect surf everyday. Surfable through the tides, but low being by far the hollowest and most lined up. Camped directly in front of the surf. It was basically surf, eat breakfast, sleep, surf, lunch, read and then surf again before dark. I watched Rich catch a wave late one afternoon that looked more like backlit, green Padang Padang in Bali than any other wave I´ve ever seen. Not a huge wave, but he pulled in on the take-off and was perfectly slotted for about 4-5 seconds through two separate sections, just barely getting pipped at the end. Every night we lit fires with wood gathered from up the hill and warmed up under a starry night sky. There are some photos of the surf here.

Perito Moreno Glacier - Patagonia

2008-03-13T04:47:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Last stop in Patagonia....

This has been an amazing month down on this end of the world. There is still debate in South America whether this is bottom or the top of the world. I kind of enjoy the idea. How does anyone really know... The glacier was impressive. 5 KM´s across and an average of 60 meters high. That´s wider than Sierra Madre is and almost twice the size of our dam in the canyon. The weather was perfect. We took a boat trip in the morning and saw the first of many large pieces of ice break off and come dramatically crashing down into the water.

The Italian style on the boat was pretty crazy as well. Fur head wraps, knee-high leather boots, and wild animal print matching tops and bottoms. Trippy to see all that after we d been so dirty hiking most of the past month.

In the afternoon we made it over to the lookout directly in front of the glacier and with the day getting warmer more and more massive chunks of ice crashed into to lake. Its pretty difficult to get a sense of the scale, but when some of the ice splashed down it sent spays of water almost 80 feet into the air. That must be a big piece of ice to do that....

All the wild horses - Patagonia

2008-03-13T03:34:00.003+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I shot this photo just as we pulled back into El Chalten after 4 days hiking around the Fitzroy Mountains. I was fascinated to see the modern day Gauchos running their horses and cattle around the Estancia's. Although the Gaucho culture that Darwin and other early traveller´s experienced while visiting the Pampas has hasn't existed for many years, the modern day Cowboy seems to have a strong sense of history and pride in his occupation. The nomadic lifestyle the Gauchos lived was effectively destroyed the moment the land was divided and fenced in.

We finished setting up our tent in the free camping on the edge of town and watched the gauchos herd about 30 beautiful horses down the dusty road as the sun went down. They still had about 18km's to the Estancia.

Cerro Fitzroy - Patagonia

2008-03-12T02:43:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Sunrise from the mirador this morning was stunning. I can't believe how lucky we've been to catch this kind of weather in one of the most notoriously bad weather zones in the world. The hikes around Fitzroy are a breeze as well. The trails aren't too steep, except for the mirador which of course is done in the dark. An hour uphill in the dark along with a little boulder hopping gets you to the top of the lookout where you look down on Laguna de Los Tres, the lake this glacier drains into and straight up at Cerro Fitzroy. I love it here.

Torres del Paine - Patagonia

2008-02-26T04:38:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Hedda has written a great day by day account of our trek around Torres del Paine so you should check it out here.

http://ladyhedda.blogspot.com/

Here are a few of my own thoughts about my favorite day...

We crossed over Paso John Garner early in the morning in sleet, rain and cold, heavy winds. Our hope of lunch at the top of the pass wasn´t realized since we just wanted to get the hell outa there to some lower, warmer elevation. The trees below were a relief from the incessant rain we´d experienced all morning. What made this day so amazing was that we had all afternoon to walk right next to Glacier Grey. Of course soon, in great Patagonian style the weather cleared. The rain stopped, the clouds parted and the deep blue colors in the crevices came out. I had to pause every few minutes to check out the new angle we´d come across which gave a totally new perspective on the ice. It seemed endless as it crept up towards the peaks where it begins its long drift towards the lake. It was a very long tiring day and I´d do it again tomorrow if I had the chance.

Puerto Eden - Patagonia

2008-02-22T04:16:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This is the only town we passed in 4 days where people live down here. The rest of the trip was about as wild as it gets. Rugged glaciers, huge snow covered mountains rising up out of the fiords, Volcanos and dense forest fed from the rain that is constantly delivered from the Pacific. When the sun occasionally peaks out the colors are amazing. The deep blue glaciers, dark, crystal clear waters and dark green forests contrast the snowy peaks. The ferry is the only connection the people who live in Puerto Eden have unless they own their own boat. I can´t imagine the intense feeling of isolation they must experience...

Navimag

2008-02-21T04:05:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The trip has been great. We´ve had some heavy rain at times but the open sea crossing wasn´t nearly as bad as it could have been. I kept thinking of the storms that send south swells to California often end up heading right into Patagonia before blasting themselves out over the Andes. We only had about 6-8 feet of open ocean swell. There were a few moments when Hedda and I both thought we might get tossed out of our bunks, but we made it through allright. The scenery has been spectacular though monotonous at times. Eventually we wound our way through to some of the narrowest passages you can imagine. The ship was zig zagging through these channels practically fishtailing while everyone on deck closely watched the rocks and kelp pass by just yards away from the edge of the ship.

Navimag Puerto Montt

2008-02-18T03:55:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Well I´m leaving the surf for the next month. Hedda and I are heading south to Patagonia on the Navimag. We´ll meet up in Puerto Montt from where the ship will take us through the fiords eventually dropping us off in Puerto Natales. Should be interesting.

Yo no comprende nada

2008-02-16T04:22:00.002+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

My feeble language skills are progressing slowly but surely. Yesterday I was able to return AA batteries and exchange them for AAA´s. Even without a receipt! I never figured out how to express what a dumbass I was buying the wrong batteries, but eventually I did get my point across, and they kindly let me exchange for what I needed. I also discovered the difference between cocinar and comida. Till now I´d been going into restaurants asking if I could go into the kitchen and help cook up some orders rather than sit down, order and eat. No wonder everyone looks at me like the loco gringo I am.

BBQ under the stars

2008-02-10T00:09:00.000+07:00

Last night Italo invited me for a BBQ. Talk about Spanish language immersion. He and Anita don´t speak a word of English so it was a great chance to learn a few more words. It´s always amazed me how people cross the language divide so easily when they want to. I brought some queso and vino tinto and they BBQ´d some really nice locally farmed porc. We sat under the stars, the fire keeping us warm against the chilly southerly wind while Italo and Anita pointed out the southern constellations. Las Tres Maria´s, Cruces de Sol and many more from the brilliant starry night.

Punta de Lobos

2008-02-08T00:26:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Sorry not much time to write at the moment. Don´t want to let any more of these lonely waves go to waste.... This is what I woke up to on my first morning. Nobody is really in the water till 10-11am. You know I don´t mind the early. Four of us shared this session for about 3 hours.

Punta de Lobos - Chile

2008-02-07T03:48:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I caught the 11am bus in Santiago for Pichilemu so I could enjoy a lazy breakfast at the Happy House. The buses here are great! Modern lazyboy seats with plenty of leg room are a nice contrast to what we had become used to in South East Asia.The bus left the city and wound it´s way through rolling hillsides dried out by the summer heat. I imagine these are the perfect weather conditions for the countless vineyards we passed on our way to the coast to create those great Chilean wines. After only 3 hours we arrived to dusty Pichilemu. Siesta time and pretty quiet. I dragged my gear up the street to la esquina and soon was on a local collectivo for the last 6km´s to Punta de Lobos.

Dropped off in another dusty parking lot I looked around and had no idea where the rumoured campground was. Plenty of expensive looking cabañas dotted the hillside looking out over the point with a black sand beach heaving with a summer crowd. The surf was onshore and small so I wasn´t rushed.

After asking a few people about camping and receiving vague answers and even vaguer directions,( probably only vague due to my lacking any local language skills whatsoever) I eventually met Señor?¿?¿ El Caballero de Churro´s. He and his wife were selling churro´s filled with dulce de leche out of a van on the clifftop. Yes, I´ve had more than one so far. Mmmmm..... We talked for awhile. Actually, he rattled off directions and instructions to me in Spanish while I nodded my head pretending to understand all the while feeling like a complete idiot. I guess I understood enough because soon I met Italo and Anita. After explaining to them that I was an old friend of Señor Churro and was looking for a place to camp near the surf, they generously agreed to let me set up my tent behind their ramshackle shack in a grove of trees. Perfect! Shaded, protected from the wind, inconspicuous, and only 100 yards to the surf!

Breakfast at The Happy House Hostel - Santiago

2008-02-06T19:04:00.000+07:00

I love Hostel´s! You meet so many people from all over the world in such homey environment. Sometimes people are a little shy but I always find that a smile and hello relaxes most. Of course this morning I woke up headed down to breakfast. It´s really good here. I said Buenos Dias to everyone, sat down and had some coffee. I thought I´d start a coversation so I asked the French girls next to me what they thought of Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. They looked at me like I was crazy! That´s when I found out the older folks across the table were Italians. Hah! We didn´t take that topic much further....

On the bus to Pichilemu this morning!

Argentine Beef

2008-02-04T09:07:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I´m not going to turn this into Emeril´s food freak blog but I´ve got to talk about the food in Argentina and Uruguay. The steak here is truly amazing. You hear all about it but til you get here and slice into a nice thick prime cut with a butter knife you can only dream... The European culinary heritage is still well in place here in the southern countries and thankfully so. Hedda and I have had to force ourselves to only eat steak every other night so our arteries don´t explode. But don´t worry.... The other nights we feast on some of the best fresh pasta´s I´ve ever had. Tonight I had pumpkin filled ravioli´s with a sage butter cream sauce that was amazing. Buenos Aires is lovely. I´d come back just to feast.

New Zealand - Outer Island

2008-01-16T09:34:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This wave was unreal. Extremely hollow sand-sucking takeoff into a playful Lowers wall that wound off over the rivermouth sandbar for 100 yards. Some waves were sucking in so much water on the out going tide during the peak of the swell that the wave broke in almost a standstill at the peak. It was really bizarre to see the ocean swell approach the opposing outgoing river current and stall for just a moment before rifling through and across to the bar where it broke unimpeded by the rivers flow. Not many people out here and it was the peak of their season. Cyclones or tropical depressions near Fiji create most of the swell for this paradise. I camped out here for 4 nights and will definitely be back.

Raglan Lines

2008-01-08T18:18:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We had to go back to Raglan. After passing through and not catching any swell on the points we made our way up to Auckland to drop off the camper. We spent a few days around the city hanging out with Dave Decker who was traveling through from Oz with his friend Kevin. Way to many beers over a couple of days... We closed down the last bar we hit every night together while catching up on old times.

It was time to get back on the coast. We organized a van for about NZ$35/day from one of the rent-a-wrecks in town and started thinking about where we wanted to head to. There were some small waves and good winds in the forecast for the east coast but the German couple at our hostel was raving about a swell due to hit Raglan in a few days so I thought we'd do some sight seeing on the Coromandel for a couple of nights and then shoot on over to the west coast and catch that swell at Raglan. It ended up working out perfectly. We drove up to Hot Water Beach which is one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world. Not much surf and a little crowded for our liking but stunning scenery on the Coromandel all the same. The landscape is mountainous with lush, sub-tropical forests that drop steeply straight down to the ocean with tiny little secluded bays and white sand beaches. We rambled along in our beat-up little Toyota van that couldn't be any different from the Britz camper we'd had a few days before. We ended up down at a DOC campground in the forest a few miles from Whitiroa where I had two days of really fun head-high beachbreaks to myself.

Arriving in Raglan the first afternoon we rolled up to some fun waves coming into Manu Bay. A little windy but still some of the best surf I'd seen in awhile. Long lines of swell unwinding down the point. Dave and Kevin had just finished risking their lives getting into all kinds of action down in Taupo. White water sledging, abseiling into caves and bungying. All kinds of craziness!!! We met up for a beer to hear all about it that night. This time we stayed at the campground in town. It was really great since thats where most of the local Maori families were set up. The people next to us come down to Raglan every summer with their kids and grandkids for 3-4 weeks. Rivermouths are pretty special places for surfers as well as most indigenous people. For surfers it's the pointbreak that has been created over millenia from the flow of water or the sandbars that open up after a good rainfall. For others around the world a rivermouth is a source of fresh water, food resources and arable land. And its pretty.... Think Malibu, Rincon, Mundaka, Trestles, Talebudgera Creek behind Burleigh along with many, many more. Anyway it was really cool to camp for 4 nights with so many local people. Seeing what they brought in from fishing all day, cooking in the kitchen seeing what they were fixing up and learning a few Maori words. No, I can't remember what they mean now... And the swell came as the Germans predicted. Surfed Manu and Indicators really good. Far from epic but for a summer swell I was really stoked.

Ruapuke - North Island

2008-01-03T07:54:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Hedda and I spent our last night in the luxurious Britz camper at Solscape in the hills above Raglan. Pretty cool set up there with their abandoned train cars creating a trippy atmosphere. Beautiful crystal clear, offshore morning but no waves on the points. We took the drive around the points on the gravel road. Pretty slow and winding but with amazing views of the Tasman Sea. I did pull over at one point and spotted a nice looking left point at the bottom of a long steep valley, most likely only accessible by boat.

Just when we thought we'd past the road to the beach we found it. Black, black sand and a small Mako shark in the parking area obviously left by some locals to remind visitors where they are. The surf was offshore, head-high and pretty punchy. A few little barrels were there to be had. Unfortunately for those lonely waves I was surfing this long stretch of beachbreak and only saw 4 others all morning.

Cobden - West Coast - South Island

2007-12-28T06:49:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I didn't have much luck on the West Coast this trip. The winds are really tough on this side with the typical SW flow obviously creating stiff onshores for most spots. Looked at some amazing coastline along the road north and can imagine that with the right conditions there'd be many waves going off. I'd love to surf one of the rivermouths below the Glaciers and the sub-tropical rainforest that covers this section of the island. Next time....

I did end up surfing Cobden near Greymouth. The north side of the river has some brown water and some decent peaks somewhat like a Newport jetty wave. On the positive side, it was protected from the wind and the water was about 10 degrees warmer than the East Coast. Had a fun surf with a guy from Wales, (he seemed to think it was great), and a couple other locals recovering from their Christmas fun.

Big Bay Hut

2007-12-18T08:19:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Woke up early to bluebird skies and a light offshore breeze. I ran out through the flax down to the beach for my first clear view of the bay. It's absolutely huge. The beach is literally over 3 miles long between the two rivermouths. The south side of the bay stretches about 8 miles out from the beach and the north about 6. I quickly made up my porridge breakfast and coffee, packed up my gear for the day and headed through the forest to the swing bridge to cross the river. The path through was a muddy bog after the past two days of rain. I was shin deep in mud 20 feet up from the river! Another barely marked deer trail to get back to the beach where I had to cross a waist deep river anyways. It took me about an hour to go 2 km's. I still had about 5-6 km's to go....

I kept up a steady pace jumping from rock to rock, but soon saw the wind starting to come up from the west making my chances for a surf slim. I made it to Crayfish Rock and had a good look at the best wave in the bay. A great looking right point breaking mechanically over large boulders. Unfortunately, the wind had kicked in and was blowing out the head-high waves. Pretty difficult to be on it here when the wind can change direction 4 times in 20 minutes and the hut is a 2 1/2 hour walk from the break. Should've brought a tent.... I decided to have a little lunch and go fishing. It was a beautiful sunny day and somebody must have felt sorry about the waves being blown out so I actually caught not just one but two fish. I'm calling em blue cod but truth be told I'm not really sure what they were. I had to throw them back anyways cause they were definitely on the small side.

After another 1 1/2 hours tramping back along the north side of the bay I reached the rivermouth. The mouth itself was looking mighty ferocious so I walked up the river for a bit and found what looked to be a good spot to cross. I put my camera in my waterproof bag, stripped down to my speedos and started wading across. The glacial runoff was pretty chilly but luckily it was only waist deep keeping my backpack out of the water. The river was about 40 yards across at this point so I was able to make it across pretty quickly. I jogged up the beach to warm back up and then thought I'd better change back into some pants before heading back to the hut just in case someone had shown up. It had been 3 days since I'd seen another person. Talk about solitude... Luckily I had changed clothes because Philip from Germany had arrived. Really nice guy, crazy enough to attempt the Pyke River Route on his own. I've heard you sometimes have waist to chest deep river crossings when it's been dry. I can't imagine how Philip will find it on his own. I gave him an extra gas canister for his stove in case he had to wait for the water levels to drop somewhere. It was nice to have a little company that night.

Big Bay Hut

2007-12-17T07:44:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Woke up to pouring rain. The rain had been relentless for over 36 hours. The good thing about the rain is that it keeps the sandflies down. Sandflies are nasty, noiseless bloodsuckers who relentlessly attack any tiny bit of bare skin till they've left it covered in welts and have driven their victim halfway to insanity. If you don't normally cuss, spend ten minutes with a handful of sandflies and you will. Little F@#%ers!!!!

OK, back to Big Bay.... I slept in and recovered from the previous days hike in. Around lunchtime the rain stopped so I walked out to the beach and up to the rivermouth. About halfway there a giant circle opened up in the clouds above me showing beautiful blue skies for about 20 minutes. It soon closed up and started to pour rain again. It rained heavily through the afternoon, finally clearing around 9pm. Just in time to show off an incredible sunset.

Martin's Bay to Big Bay

2007-12-16T07:27:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I left Martin's Bay Hut after a breakfast of porridge and coffee. Said my goodbye's to the Kiwi fishermen and started down the track in a light drizzle. The track to Long Reef is good but as soon as you start heading east into Big Bay it changes dramatically. At times there is no path and you have to push through the bush keeping an eye out for tiny orange triangles or buoy's people have tied to trees which mark the route. It got pretty stressful at times. It started to rain pretty heavily and I was climbing into and out of steep ravines, stepping into knee deep mud, all the time trying to keep an eye out for those damn triangles so I wouldn't wander off the route.

After a couple of hours of this I made it down to the beach which felt great. It wasn't a flat sandy beach though. It was a scramble over rocks, reefs,cobblestones and shells. I saw more abalone shells littering the beach than I've ever seen in my life! There was no shelter from the rain so I pushed on to Mackenzie Creek. I tried following the trail to the river crossing on the DOC map which was a mistake. I followed the trail till it disappeared into flax bush behind an estuary when my instinct had told me to stay on the beach. I ended up stumbling along deer trails for an extra half hour which zigzagged all over the place. Sometimes I was knee deep in mud, other times I had to crawl through the bush making sure my board wasn't getting dinged up... I finally thought I saw a clearing and made my way towards it only to find out I was on the edge of a creek with no bank to walk on. I was getting pretty fed up at this point and soaked to the bone by the rain, so I jumped into the waist deep freezing water, held my board on the surface to keep steady and waded about 50 yards downstream to the beach I could've walked right up if I'd listened to my instincts! Mackenzie Creek was nothing after that. I was feeling pretty cold so, now that I was finally on relatively flat ground I picked up the pace as best as I could against the northerly wind for the final 3 miles up the beach to Big Bay Hut.

Noticing a couple of buoy's tied to some sticks back from the beach I followed them over the sand dunes, through a forest of flax and finally found the hut a few hundred yards back from the ocean. It felt really good to make a fire, get dry, and change clothes. Pretty exciting day of tramping. I now know the difference in New Zealand between a track, (a well maintained walking trail) and a route, (general directions with next to zero maintenance, an overgrown deer track). The last time any work was done to clear the route to Big Bay was over five years ago.

Martin's Bay

2007-12-15T08:58:00.000+07:00

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I somehow managed to get a ticket on a backload flight from Te Anau in to Martin's Bay Lodge. Only cost me $125 rather than the $1,000 if I'd chartered it myself!! I kissed Hedda goodbye on the grassy runway, strapped my board down the middle between the six seats and then we took off over Lake Te Anau. The Pilot kept us at a low altitude to try and avoid the worst of the turbulent weather. A mix of dark clouds and blue sky hovered over the mountains. We followed the road to Milford up the Eglington Valley. The pilot pointed out some areas of the river that are being overtaken by Didymo, an invasive algae someone introduced to New Zealand about 4 years ago. It is devastating to be seen from above, Once crystal clear waters are infected with brown colored algae that looks like dirty toilet paper.

We soon crossed the Divide and were on the West Coast side of the mountains, heading up the Hollyford Valley. Stunning snow capped peaks rise straight up on both sides of Lake Mackerrow. The lake is about 15 miles long stretching towards the Tasman sea. Dolphins actually swim up the lake and work together as a team to herd trout for a special feast at the head of the lake. The pilot flew us straight out over the sea at Martin's Bay which was whipped up from strong northerly winds and circled back to the landing strip. I tried to keep my salami and cheese sandwich lunch down. Although the grassy landing strip didn't look very long, he landed smoothly and rolled to a stop using up only about half of its entire length. I later found out that this bush pilot, Shaun, once circled above Martin's Bay on a socked in cloudy day for over half an hour before diving straight down through a hole that opened up in the clouds, rushed his passengers onboard and then shot straight back up before that same hole could close back up.

After unloading my gear and getting ready for the sandflies I hiked the 2 hours to the hut at the mouth of Martin's Bay. No one there so I grabbed a sandwich and headed up the track to Long Reef. There's a seal colony there with a population of a few hundred. It's actually one of New Zealands largest. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon so I spent it lazing on the rocks giving the seals plenty of space. Later on I poked around in some great tide pools. The rivermouth looks to have some potential with a shallow sandbar built up in the mouth. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty small. Back at the hut that night I ended up meeting a couple of local guys who went out on the reef for a few hours and came back with half a dozen Paua (NZ Abalone), more mussels than we could eat and a few fish. Lucky for me they shared their catch that night along with some great stories of life on the South Island.

Catlin's - South Island - New Zealand

2007-12-07T14:45:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Woke up to onshores at the little bay we'd camped at. Hedda and I stayed in the tent until the sun nearly had us sweating. Getting up and having a look at the surf I could see that the swell had dropped a bit and the wind was coming straight into the bay from the north. A neighbor of ours camping mentioned there might be a wave around the corner working and would we like to follow him around to see if it was? Kiwi hospitality at it's finest. We drove off down the dirt track, up and over a few hills, through a couple of gates entering a farmer's property, and finally through a couple of sheep fields to find a left firing down a point. Great waves all day!

A Bay somewhere in the Catlin's

2007-12-06T14:29:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I heard about this spot from a guy up the coast in Oamaru. In New Zealand the locals are so incredibly cool. You occasionally read in the news about stories of locals beating people up for surfing "their spot" or stink eye's. They've never heard about it in NZ. I guess they've got so many waves and so few people they don't need to worry about crowds. This little bay had great little barrels in an amazing setting. There is no way I would've found the dirt track that leads to it if I hadn't been told about it from that guy. We camped here for a few days on a grassy paddock overlooking a creek that fed the sandbanks.

Best Fush and Chups Ever!!!

2007-12-05T14:32:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The lady that filled our gas tank sent us over to this takeaway that had the finest fish and chips in NZ. Award winning with a certificate from Crisco to prove it. Tasty lunch for Hedda and I!

Dunedin - South Island, New Zealand

2007-12-02T14:18:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Paddling out for my first surf here, I saw yellow eared penguins walking between their burrows on the hillside and out to the surf. It was pretty cool to see these guys in the wild. In Oamaru, Hedda and I had stood in the rain for almost an hour, looking down a 100 foot cliff with 20 other tourists just trying to catch a glimpse of the same penguins. I was virtually alone with them just a few feet away, watching them waddle into the surf next to me. Here I was, just another silly looking creature dressed in black, flopping around in the surf.

Once outside waiting for the next set, I saw a fur seal come flying down the line on the wave of the afternoon. I was ducking under the lip with him just a few feet away riding the wave. Fun. Kind of... After the wave finished he poked his head out of the water about ten feet away to announce his presence. He stared me down pretty good to let me know who was boss out here. I asked one of the local guys who was out if he was a regular and he told me yeah, the seal name is Jerry. Hi Jerry, nice to meet ya. The wild life here is amazing.

Summer in New Zealand

2007-12-02T14:09:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

It's summer in the southern hemisphere, but you wouldn't know it in Dunedin. Listed below are a few of the item's I've had to pick up here.

2 pairs of wool socks
Long sleeve flannel shirt
Thermal underwear - bottoms and tops
Mitts
Short sleeve .5mm neoprene shirt to wear under my fullsuit - I'm still freezing out there!

We've been staying in a campground, (hot showers) and playing with penguins and fur seals. Surf has been pretty good on a couple of days.

South Island - New Zealand

2007-11-27T14:04:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We picked up a little Subaru station wagon in Methven and hit the coast as soon as we could. Banks peninsula was our first stop. We based ourselves in the little harbor town of Akaroa for a few days eating fish and chips and enjoying the amazing views of the bays that circle the peninsula. The photo here is of one of the 12 bays that circle the peninsula picking up different swell angles and work in different winds. This place seemed to like the combination this day.

Summercloud Bay, South Coast, NSW

2007-11-15T13:55:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The company Ocean and Earth were kind enough to repair the zippers on my boardbag free of charge which gave me an excuse to roll down the south coast for a couple days of surf. They're warehouses are located at Sussex Inlet just down the road from Wreck Bay. The first day was good with consistent head-high waves peaking and pealing off perfectly across the reef. The nor-east breeze was light and the grommet bodyboarders were getting barrels on every little wave that came through. It was kind of strange for me to surf with only bodyboarders. They were pretty laid back for kids but still it was kinda strange to be the only one standing up. I surfed into the dark and was out by myself for the last hour of light once the kids left to get back for dinner. The sun sets in the southern corner of the bay to the south which means the waves were a beautiful back-lit green for the last hour. On the way in I stepped right onto an urchin at sunset. Plucked out some nice pieces in the van that night with the tweezer's. Camped right there in the Park with just Kangaroo's for company. Incredibly dark as there is nothing around. The next day I had breakfast with the local dog walking crew down at Manyana beach and listened to all the local gossip. Then I headed back for another long session at Black Rock, or is it Summercloud? What about Aussie Pipe? So many names for this spot. The surf was even bigger the second day and the nor-easters were stronger cleaning the swell up even more. It was a little bit more crowded but still plenty of waves for me and my bodyboarding buddies. There were even a couple of guys coming in with surfboards as I was leaving... Great waves for a 24 hour period.

Treachery, Central Coast, NSW

2007-11-11T13:45:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Great 2 days surfing this beachbreak. Dave and I had it nearly to ourselves 12 years ago. While it's gotten more popular it's still relatively empty and the waves are great. Wedgy, unpredictable barrels down towards the middle of the beach and a more distinct peak up near the headland. Crystal clear waters, and this peak to myself. Can't really complain...

Lennox Head, North Coast, NSW

2007-11-10T13:35:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I wasn't really expecting much surf on the east coast of Oz at this time of the year, but have been really lucky. Leaving Brad and Linda on the Gold Coast, (along with some of the most crowded line-up I've ever seen at D-bah) we stopped first at Lennox. I raced down the grassy headland and got the last couple of hours light with overhead, offshore walls running down the point. It was really cool to surf there again nearly 12 years since traveling through with Rich and Dave. I even lucked into one of those Greenough barrels that comes through across the inside, sticking my arm in the wall of the wave to stall and wait for it. Yep, I also got cut up on both feet and one finger got slashed pretty good. Some things never change and the rocks at Lennox are legendary for scraping bark from ya!

Main Beach, North Stradbroke Island - QLD

2007-11-04T13:28:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

What a great few days of surf!. Main Beach has to be one of the funnest beachbreaks I've ever surfed. Lines of swell coming in from the north east wrap around a headland and form excellent peaky punchy waves. The surf was really consistent as well keeping the weekend crowd pretty happy. The waves sometimes grow as they reel off down the line almost breaking parallel to the beach. With the consistent swell and nor-east wind blowing offshore all three days we were there, Brad and I didn't dry off the entire weekend, surfing pretty much non-stop.

Broken Head - Northern NSW

2007-10-29T12:57:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

After leaving Angourie, one of the most beautiful, tranquil beaches I've ever come across, we headed north up to Lennox Head where we had tea and biscuits with Gran and John who live up on the hill overlooking the point. Rich and I had spent a lot of time here years ago, so it was great to catch up on all of the local news. Apparently the weather is going back to how it was 20-30 years ago with with more tropical rain in the afternoon, wild hail storms that drop hail the size of tennis balls and more swell. The point pumped all winter long this year seeing some of the best surf in local recent memory.

We camped out that night in pouring rain at Broken Head. We cooked up a nice meal in the van and got cozy for the night. The van keeping us warm and dry. I woke up quite early and decided to check the surf. The storm had passed but left a ragged ocean in it's wake. Not too much swell out there and the waves that did come in were pretty torn up from the night's winds. I walked around the point and saw this beautiful sunrise coming up out of the Pacific. I've been taking quite a few early morning walks recently and always finding something special. If not surf, then a magical sunrise, or some funny looking native animals running for cover in the bush as the day gets started.

Angourie Back Beach - Northern NSW

2007-10-27T12:53:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

How much fun can you have surfing? I think this photos says it all. A few people out sharing a perfect little peak on a sunny offshore afternoon. We spent a few days camping in the National Park at Angourie and had perfect weather and waves. The wind was coming from the north so I only surfed the point one morning when it was calm. The back beach was offshore nearly the entire time and had these perfect 3-4 foot A-frame peaks running down the beach. So much fun on the twinny.

Tuncurry - NSW

2007-10-24T12:48:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The surf has been pretty small the past few days but I've still been managing to get out there for some small but fun beachbreak surfs. We started up the coast and stayed in Catherine Hill Bay our first night. Staying here reminded me of good ol' Simon, our larrikin Aussie mate who caused all kinds of trouble in California in the early 90's before essentially getting deported from the US back to Lennox Head. He had always told Rich and I how good some of these spots could get. Surf was fun but small. Perfect offshores and some of the friendliest older locals you could ever meet. I was even invited back to surf with them any time. Nice little shorey wave. The locals even let me know about one of the points around the corner that most people don't ever get too. The next day we headed up to Boomerang Beach where there was a really nice set up in the southern end of the beach. Swells were refracting off the headland making for some really nice wedgy peaks that were protected from the afternoon southerlies. Head high and only few school kids out. Perfect little twinny waves... Later that day we made our way up to Tuncurry. The northern breakwall here is really good. It set's up a bit like D-bah with a rebound off the wall creating really peaky, punchy waves. Fun surf till dark, but a little crowded after the solo session at Boomerang. Heading to Hat Head National Park this afternoon. Hope the swell picks up.

Dreamride

2007-10-23T12:44:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've got to find a way to ship one of these babies home. Load it up with boards and still room to sleep in. Check out those rims too!!! Long Beach to Lowers in 15 minutes.

The Farm - South Coast, NSW

2007-10-18T06:56:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Nick and I had a late start driving south from Sydney and arrived late somewhere near Wollongong. Too late for a caravan park to still be open so we camped out in the beach carpark and woke up to howling north winds blowing the surf to bits. We started cruising down the coast and ended up at the Farm, just south of Shellharbour. This beautiful beach is tucked up in this little bay, protected from the winds. We had a really fun surf in the peaky head-high waves. Crystal clear water that is getting much warmer as we head north. There are so many twist and turns on the aussie coastline that you're guaranteed clean conditions somewhere. Just have to keep looking to find it. We ended up camping at the state park here surfing heaps, BBQ'ing some salmon and having a roaring fire to keep warm. Still spring here.

Bell's Beach - Victoria

2007-10-04T06:50:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Happy 36th Birthday!

Three days of pumping surf at Bell's, Winkipop and Bird Rock October 3rd, 4th and 5th. What more could a surfer ask for for his 36th birthday? After the wild surf down south this was heaven. Perfect ruler-edged lines of overhead swell with all day offshores.

Johanna - Victoria

2007-10-02T06:43:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've been getting hammered down here. Nearly all my sessions I've surfed alone. I guess I should learn something from that. Follow the locals... The thing is, offshore, onshore, high tide, low tide, tiny or fricking huge, if that's what it looks like when we happen to be passing through that's what I'm going to end up surfing. Traveling up and down the coast is a crap shoot where you hope you end up at the right place at the right time. Without any kind of local knowledge you wake up, assess the conditions and try to make the right call on where to search for the day.
On this day at Johanna I got absolutely slaughtered. I'd started the morning looking at some of the reefs in the area, but the swell wasn't really clean enough for any of them to be working. The offshores were cleaning it up though, so in the afternoon I thought I'd have a chance at Johanna. It looked absolutely perfect from the lookout. Offshore, empty, clean and green back lit barrels. I grabbed one of my bigger boards and headed out. After 30 minutes of non-stop paddling and catching only one wave on the inside I pulled out. I'd been wondering where all the other surfers were. I guess they knew better and were up at Bells actually riding waves rather than getting drilled into the sand like me....

Cactus - South Australia

2007-09-23T15:08:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Ummm... Yeah, there's waves out there in the desert. I surfed mid-afternoon on this day, (trying to avoid the evening feeding hour), and believe me it wasn't as good as this photo makes it look. The wind is really temperamental here in S.A. I still had some solid, clean overhead walls to myself. Somewhat reminiscent of Silverstrand even though this is over reef and breaks in exactly the same spot every time. Very deep channel I'm guessing. When I was heading out this local guy, (I guess he's a local since he lives there half the year in a caravan) started to have a yarn with me about the place. After a few minutes of talking and looking at the waves, I thanked him for for the conversation, and headed out to surf. When I got back in he was laughing at me saying, "Oh that's good you survived!! I forgot to tell you about the 100 bronze whalers that live in the channel just next to the wave. No one's been surfing that spot since a couple of guys got taken there a few years back." They've got a funny sense of humour over here in South Australia. At least it wasn't 100 Great White's...

Streaky Bay - South Australia

2007-09-18T15:02:00.000+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

There's been plenty of swell the past few days but the winds have been howling all directions and I haven't found the spot with the right combinations of swell, wind and tide. Looking down at a left point with no one out I decided I had to do something. One of the local guys pulled up while I was checking it and he told me the wind might lighten up or turn a little more from the south which would be a good thing for this spot. He said he'd probably see me out there in a little while. I thought that was encouraging so I suited up and ran down some stairs to the rocky beach below.

It wasn't perfect but it was overhead and empty. I asked Hedda to keep an eye on me since this is a notoriously sharky spot and no one else was in the water. I'm not sure what she could've done if I actually was attacked but it felt better all the same. The paddle out was nice and easy through a channel just to the south. I did see a pretty big shadow somewhere in that deep water so I kept pretty close to the reef. I ended up catching a few waves before getting kinda spooked out of the water. The winds came up really hard onshore and I was pretty much just duck-diving most of the sets. For some reason I wasn't real comfortable sitting waaay outside to wait for the bomb sets.

This place is called "The Granites", and I found out why when coming in. The whitewater surges onto these huge granite rocks. When making my way in I ended up in one of the channels between the waves and the rocks where the water was well over my head. The rocks were totally smooth which was a good thing, but it also meant there was nothing to grab onto! I got lucky and without getting hit by a wave, was lifted up in a surge and onto a rock where I ran before the next wave hit.

Flatrock - Coffin Bay, South Australia

2007-09-15T14:53:00.001+07:00

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I checked this spot early in the morning after driving in circles, nearly running down a HUGE black snake of some sort and running up the dirt track so I wouldn't get the van stuck in the sand. The tide was coming up and this shallow sucky reef wave was just beginning to work when I snapped this photo. I started to get my wetsuit on and then the wind started howling cross-shore. Not too much luck this day for surf. The National Park was beautiful though. I'd love to go back with a 4X4 to do some exploring sometime.