NZ

one of the great things on travels is that things always come up heaps different like you planned.

WA was really good to us regarding the swell although the Ash-Cloud made it difficult for us to leave Perth when we were supposed to. This way I just had a really short stay in VIC and straight off to NZ, where we teamed up with my best mate Raffi, who did the trip from Germany´s awesome summer to southern hemisphere winter just to get good surf and see the country everyone talks about since Lord of the Rings. Well, so we thought, and wanted to make this a 15 day surf trip throughout the whole North Island, or at least the usual West Coast Spots and maybe Gisborne, Mahia and those places to see the East as well. We went along the West for a bit, surfed a few waves along the coast and then were stuck in a town with the most mechanical Lefts for 10 days cause it was cranking nonstop. This way we didn´t see much of the country nor did we cover much distance on the roads but we well and truly did our miles on the long lefts. A big hooray to Mickey there and the local crew of WBB, for an awesome Welcome, sharing waves, jetski and an after-surf heated Spa with us, good Karma is your way. It was a great trip, and I think this has to be one of the most consistent 10 days I ever had in surfing, just clean nice groundswells everyday with some of the best point setups there is. Actually just got to Fiji, which is around 20 degrees warmer, so we´ll see what that brings... Good swell our way and a couple more weeks on the road, Life is awesome indeed...

most Pics by Birgar Olsen: http://www.birgarolsen.com

Deserts & Forests, flat days & surfed out

a week in Indo was a really refreshing change on the trip, since the whole Setup, Surf, Culture is a total different story to any part of OZ. As much as you always look forward to surf warm water in Boardies, have Mie Goreng and Bintangs and all the things, we also really looked forward to what the Northwest of OZ would bring us. Unfortunately the small but clean swells weren´t enough for the renown breaks in the Mid- and Northwest. So we cruised around in the desert, visited a few places and checked some remote Islands that get great surf by a little plane. That alone has been a hell of a mission and the flight was pretty full on, landing on a 400m dirt-strip with 30 knot crosswinds, but our 23-year old Pilot Tim did a great job.

Driving up from the desert, we headed down far Southwest, driving through 4 hours of gigantic forests to visit one of my best best mates Stu. It´s been awesome catching up, time is always too short but we scored the Beachies in his hometown so good, that we were pretty surfed out after 2 long days being out just with your mates. After those great days, we had to head up to Perth where we´re now stuck because of the Chile Ash-Cloud that decided to move over Antartica to West-OZ. We hope to get a flight out on the weekend, to catch up with our mate Raffi in NZ next week...

most Pics by Birgar Olsen: http://www.birgarolsen.com/

...back to Indo

to be honest I didn´t wanna go back to Indo, well let´s say at least Bali after hearing every year of it getting more crazy, more busy and some places that once were nice – more fucked up for the sake of tourism. I went there in 2000 the first time, so can´t say I´m an Indo-Pioneer by any means... but still what changed since then in some places made me pretty sad. Bingin / Dreamland is now the ugliest place you could imagine, and I found Kuta crazier than Bangkok´s Streets at night, and that does mean something. Well, in the end it´s us Westerners to blame. On the other hand there are still some of the most beautiful places in the world there, the surf will always stay epic and the culture off the beaten tracks in Indo is really an amazing One.

We just had a few spontanious days on Bali, because Australia´s Southwest was hit by a big front for a while. The big swell that bombed the coast down at Margies came as a nice 6-8ft. Swell to Ulus, where we spent some really nice and relaxed days before heading back to the good old Aussie West Coast for the next Roadtrip Adventures. Stay tuned.

most photos by Birgar Olsen: check:   http://www.birgarolsen.com/

Look to the West / there´s Swell on the way

what should I say, the Southwest is always great times, full stop. Out of a bit over 3 and a half weeks we´ve been cruising around Margarets we only had a couple of days with onshore winds. The rest of the time was just clean groundswells all the time, good conditions and one little bigger pulse in the swell where the waves reached the Aussie 6ft. Mark. :-)  I´ll miss the place, since it´s one of the most beautiful places in the world, even without the Waves. Add great waves, friendly crew, some nice food&wine and the cheesiest Sunsets and Sky-Colours you can imagine.
We left to Indonesia for a couple of days, since the Winter´s coming down in the Southwest. Thanks to all crew down there for sharing waves, it´s always a blast and also to Birgar for taking some nice footage.

most photos by Birgar Olsen: check: http://www.birgarolsen.com/

Victoria

even though, there are definitly warmer areas at this time of the year in OZ, I always love coming back to that state, because of some great people I met there over the years, the waves and a coastline that rivals any in the world in beauty & ferocity.

The weather over there turned a bit bad so we decided to make the run over to the West, after having some real fun sessions at Bells and a couple of other places. Especially catching up with the crew down in Pt. Lonsdale is always a blast. A big thanks to Wes & Kathy for the hospitality and to all the crew there for lovely dinners...

- Melbourne is a totally different story and after a quiet week at the beach, we weren´t used to the busy streets of town for a sec . However, I like this place, especially watching the skyline at night, having Sushi looking at Fed Square & Flinders and grabbing a coffee at St Kilda. Life´s good.

most photos by Birgar Olsen: check: http://www.birgarolsen.com/

livin´life in W.A.

...and there it was again. A feeling and a state of mind, which you get after a while on travels. In busy everyday´s life a heap of things seem to be really important, things to make life nicer. You wanna reward yourself for hard work or busy times, buy the 100th electronic gadget, another car, a new coat or you just go clubbing every now and then... On travels though those things seem to fade in their importance and priority really quick. Without even realizing you´re wearing the same Hoodie or Boardshort for the 4th day in a row and you arrive at another place wondering why you took so much stuff with you, Stuff you thought is really essential. Well, so slowly getting into that mood, waking up on the beach every day, been blessed with a great run of awesome surf here in Western Australia with a week of good swell, beautiful weather and offshore all day every day. Had a few memorable surfs already including my daily fix on big drops at Margarets Mainbreak, a great tow in Session with Madman Simo, …. so can´t wait for tomorrow and for everything life has to offer, nearly falling asleep while having some dinner :-) Good Night. most photos by Birgar Olsen: check: http://www.birgarolsen.com/

a World trip - first little update

puh, an exhausting first week of the trip is gone by, time to upload a few little pics. So, this is it, a World-Trip, 3 months on the road, 5 countries, 1 time around the globe. I look forward to some time off from everyday´s life & work, let´s see what it all brings... Coming from a really nice springtime in Munich, a last visit to a Beergarden, getting the last couple of things organized, we headed off to Bankok for a quick stopover. Been there before, so kinda knew what to expect but must admit I can´t really cope with the heat and humidity...  the whole town seems to be a fake, those guys just about fake everything to sell it. We were quite happy when we left the crazy place and headed off to quiet and beautiful Victoria in the south of Australia. About 20 degrees cooler and a couple of million people less, it seemed that we finally arrived at something you can call holiday. The travelling, jetlags and climate zones took a few days to settle in, but now after a few nice surf & chill days, it´s all good. It´s great to meet up with my friends down there, have a coffee on the beach, get a few surfs, and paddle fitness back & running. Update following soon, most probably from Western Australia, where we´ll go end of next week or so...   feels good to be on the road again :- **pics by myself and Birgar Olsen

short trip to Portugal

Sometimes trips come up with more than you expected...   I always wanted to spend some time in Portugal´s North, a place where I´ve never really been, and just knew there would be some nice Beachies as long as conditions are right. My friend Jan had to use up his "old holiday" as well, so we booked a flight for the next day to cruise around a bit down there, have a few relaxed days off, and the first glimpse of springtime and Sun.We ended up having some pretty good days at the beachbreaks in the North, but full on and really dumpy 6-10ft. nearly Closeout Barrels. Then we headed off to Peniche, caught Supertubos great, and went on for a Saturday Night in Lisbon. Next morning straight back to Peniche, and another couple of nice days there... It was a really pleasant trip, we had great weather, the cheesiest Sunsets & Sunrises, great food and found some really nice waves. Sitting here now back in Munich amazed how much you can actually fit in a week off, and how far you get your mind from everyday´s life here. Good times.

more pics coming...

farewell, my friend

Thanks, Günni for being a legend, friend and a mentor for many years. The first character I really got to know on the Riverwave Eisbach...   To some people he seemed like a grumpy guy, but once you got to know him, he´d do anything for you and be the kindest person you can imagine. We´ve on many trips such as Portugal, Ireland, Indo, Madeira, France and Italy and I was always thinking there will be many more but it wasn´t to be. He passed away in his bus down in Portugal right at the beach, after a week of the most awesome surf. So even though way too early, this may have been his way to leave. Goodbye Günni...

well, Hello 2011

...people always say "the start of a year is an indicator for how the year is gonna be" However, if this the case, 2011 is gonna be an awesome one.  31st and 1st were 2 real classic surfing days, before heading home to snowy Munich. I was cruising and hanging around a lot of times with Slab-surfing madman Matt Smith, who is a legend in and out of the water.   http://www.mattsmithsurfing.co.uk

New Years Eve we were invited for a lovely dinner in the village and then went to Funchal, which was a display of the craziest fireworks I ever witnessed, I just couldn´t believe the intensity of it. SIXT was being friendly cause they made a mistake with my booking, so they gave me a new car, a shiny Audi Cabriolet, white with red leather and red roof. Pretty gay, but fun to drive around...

For me this was a classic surftrip, getting the mind of work and busy life, and having to focus on dodging freaksets, climbing over moving boulders getting in and out of the water, avoid getting hit by rockfalls on the roads, and swimming after my board when (again) my legrope snapped. A big Salute to Matt, Mike&Crew, and of course to Cecilia, who really looked after me well & my friends out there, have a great 2011 :-)