Hello world.Perfect 5 foot cloudbreak, with four people out, for 5 hours, and for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee??? Oh Yea, that’s what went down town on our last day in FIJI. The coolest part was that we got to share it with Jon Roseman who, along with being one of my heroes, is one of the owners of TAVY. 
was like being in the nucleus of a mosh pit at a Pennywise concert. There was one point that I was being sandwiched by two lemon sharks and slapped in the face by a Bull sharks. What time is it? ALL
eight training lefts at Frigates. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we rocked up to the wave and it was offshore, “teahupoo like slabs”, and nobody out!!!!!! Bede was screaming like a baby. It seemed as mother nature was showing off for us with a conveyer belt of non stop, below sea-level tubes. After kicking out of each wave, I would see Cheyne, Bede or Maria pulling into to another flawless shack. This was the reason we had come to Fiji to surf. Or so we thought….. I knew something was wrong when an open pelican case came floating by me in the lineup. Then, I really knew something was wrong when I saw the dinghy was upside down on the inside of the reef. I thought Greg was just having a cackle, so I told him to stop playing with his dinghy!!!! Turns out the worst had happened, and the media crew had been caught by a 6 footer. Everybo
dy but Greg had bailed when they saw the wave about to annihilate them. Greg, being the lion tamer he is, thought he would just try and ride it out. Mother nature won, and he now is littered with cuts like Zangief from Street Fighter II (the best video game in the world). Even though camera gear was trashed, I would like to thank little 5lb, 10 oz baby jesus for keeping my friends alive.1 P2,5000 dollars………1 dinghy, 20000 fijian dollars…….. Greg living through it to have the best story ever for the rest of his life, priceless!!!!!!!!!
the mantas were gone. Back in the boat, shivering in the wind under a cloudy sky, I was ready to head back to the Tui Tai for a hot shower. Kristin Valette the optimist suggested one more pass along the reef and just then our dive guide spotted a manta not too far away. I jumped in eagerly with Justin our still photographer and Scott the video guy. Soon a big black shape emerged from the darkness below me and I was surprised by the size of it. I’ve seen a manta before in the Maldives, but this guy was much bigger, easily 6ft wide from wingtip to tip and our guide called it a small one. He was cruising just above the sea floor about 40 feet below me, and after all the kicking to keep up, I was winded. Justin was at my shoulder, camera ready, pointing down and motioning me to dive down alongside but I just nodded and waited. Up ahead the reef grew a little closer to the surface and as the ray swam u
p over it, I swam down for a quick moment of synchronized swimming. The ray looked over at me for a moment and then swam off. We found it again and I got one more chance, this time lasting a little longer. It was just enough for Justin to snap a few frames of the Manta and I side by side, swimming together. I spread my arms out to the side in my best effort to imitate its graceful wing-flapping swim. Finally I pulled myself back onto the boat incredibly grateful that we’d taken the chance on one more pass. It was definitely worthwhile. 
a wet n’ wild day in cancun! Owwwwwww. Unfortunately we had to pack up shop from the Tui Tai and make a crazy 18 hr travel to surf a wave called Frigates on the other side of the island. Hopefully it all pays off.
the natural slides. That waterfall is like a water park. We were like little kids running all around and sliding in the waterfall. Cheyne pants broke. That was so funny. Alex got scars in everywhere. Cheyne and Alex are insane; they slide backwards and with the head first. They make everything look more excited. Holly and I slide together in once, and we hit each other. She hit me with her knee and I don’t know with what I hit her, but that was a little painful. We didn’t care and we keep jumping all around the place like monkeys. Without wants to leave, we left back to the Tui Tai boat to get our breakfast. At 10:00 am we went to dive to the Great White Wall. Holly was my buddy and during our dive we saw two little fish around a coral. I stayed there looking them and they were so friendly. It was so cute. The fish was like Nemo, but yellow and blue lines. After this dive, we returned to the Tui Tai boat to eat our breakfast.
ought the diving would be good over here but it has blown me away how surreal it is down there.
s are so colorful and there are different sea plants and corals. There are a lot of different kinds of fish too. The current was so strong, but we had fun anyway. I saw a shark on the first dive and it was getting close to me, but when it was almost three feet away, it left. On the second dive I saw another shark, but it was at the end. It was pretty scary. But I am getting some training for the dive we are going to make with the tiger and bull sharks.
n fire before the lime, but after it was hurting so bad that I almost cried. He put the lime on so rough that it was worse. After a lot of pain, the cut was looking better and feeling better too. I realized that the lime works very well for this kind of cut. If you get a fire coral cut, put some lime on it. It really works!
s you Bede Durbidge!!! Bede is one of the best surfers in the world along with one of my favorites. After meeting him at one of the airports today, I instantly knew that he is going to bring some great vibes. I am also really curious to know why his nickname is the “White Fijian”. We ran over a lot of frogs on the way to our new home for the next 3 days: The Tui Tai. As we made o
ur way from shore to the boat, everyone could hear the entire crew singing a welcome song. The Tui Tai is easily the nicest charter boat I have ever been on. Can’t wait to dive and surf off her…………..
rip includes a foot massage, which is good. You have good food on it and drinks all the time.
, I’m in the tube!” I was really impressed with how confident Maria was over the shallow reef. Holly had a nic turn. After surfing, the generous people of Tavarua were nice enough to bring us on their island for lunch. We finished the day off with a bitchin dive. Ultra bitchin!
tomorrow.
