Surfin' Safari

Follow Jen Smith, Kassia Meador, Lyndsay Noyes, Leanne Curren and Candice O'Donnell, five inspirational young girls as they set out on an adventure of a lifetime.

The adventure: A month long road trip up the east coast of Australia discovering waves and meeting up with friends along the way. Beginning at Phillip Island for the Roxy Pro the girls have two vans, too many boards to count, a few guitars, a mini accordion and nothing but excitement for what lies ahead.... So come along for the ride of a lifetime!

Day 5 - SMALL WAVE SUPER CHALLENGE
By Kassia Meador | Published Feb 5, 2008

We awoke to rain and wind. It started to feel a bit like groundhogs day. The open road was calling us. And we were very eager to get on he road and travel into the unknown. We had a big breakfast and headed into town to get sleeping bags and the other road trip essentials. On the way back we stopped in the Quiksilver store to say bye to our friend angela because we would be leaving the next morning at 4am to get on the road. When we were speaking to her she said "why don't you go grab my standup paddles and check out that perfect lil point break we surfed the other day it could be good." With a few hours left of light and wanting to get in the water before we got on the road we grabbed her standup paddles and some retro boards and headed to the point. As it turned out the wind was light off shore. the waves were small but perfect for standup paddles, logs and our retro quiver. We had a blast trading off boards and surfing all the boards on the right hand peelers. It was a perfect last session in Torquay. We were a bit bummed we didn't get Bells good again but we did get some great waves at this little point we never expected or knew existed. And that is what a road trip is all about. having an open mind and seeing what you can find. Now its late and we need to pack up our lives because were leaving early to put some kilometers
behind us. Check out the photos!!!

:)kassi

DAY 4 - THE SEARCH FOR SOMETHING TO RIDE
By Kassia Meador | Published Feb 4, 2008

6am start for us girls, bright and early. We packed up the car full of boards and headed along the coast in search of something to ride. We were hoping for some clean, descent surf, as the charts the night before had predicted some quality swell for Torquay. Day four saw us meeting with Angela King again (a local surfer girl), and she kindly provided us with some local knowledge. We drove for a good hour, and checked 5 brakes, until we stopped and found a fun, clean little beach brake, with some fun lefts and rights. We surfed solidly for over an hour, trading waves between the 6 of us, while zaz, Ryan and Sunny shot film on land. After our session, we really built up a healthy
appetite, and so we stop at a local cafe and had a feast. Later that day the wind picked up, which put a stop to any evening session for us girls, so to keep our minds and body stimulated we decided to do some on land exercise. Kass and Lyndsey stayed at the house and stretch, while Jen, Leanne and I took the football and hit the park. We played around for an hour and showed off our ball skills to the local dog walkers, before heading back to the house where Kass had cooked up a wicked dish of rice and chicken 'Damme Gina'. That was topped off with chocolate ice cream and a film. A pretty average day, none the less still full stoked to be in oz, and keen to surf this predicted low pressure heading our way. Check out some of the photos!

Until next time, peace out
Candice

DAY 3 - WALKING THE NOSE AND THE RUNWAY
By Kassia Meador | Published Feb 2, 2008

Hey there,

Jen here with an update from our Australian adventure. We're still in Torquay and have been keeping ourselves more than just busy around these parts. With heavy onshore winds out in front of our house this morning we decided to take advantage of the conditions and try something different. We met up with a friend originally from Byron Bay, Angela King, and Ian from South Coast surfboards. Ian lent us a few boards and Angela brought us to a sheltered point break at Angelsea. We all paddled out on borrowed singlefins and stand-up paddles.

I brought out a wooden Alaya board for a few waves. I was only able to stand up on one wave on the finless wooden plank and can't wait to take it out for another try in bigger surf. Our day went from humdrum and windy to sunshine and peeling thigh high point break surf.

Everyone got a chance to ride each type of board and none of us were on our regular equipment. I think we played musical boards for about three hours before everyone was too tired and hungry to surf anymore.

After our radical session we all made  our way back to the house via the bakery and fish'n'chips shop to get ready for the Quiksilver and Roxy range release. Kassia, Lee-ann, Lyndsay, Candice, and Coline were all in the fashion show and strutted there fit bods and surfer-girl tan lines on the runway. I played paparazzi and got a few shots of this 18th birthday themed event. It seemed like everyone at the company joined in on the fun and there were a few stand out outfits that night. While we were at Roxy headquarters we took the chance to check out some of the surfing memorabilia, including one of Lisa Anderson's old boards.  After surfing, modeling, and eating Aussie burgers with CEO's dressed like they were 18 we were all pretty worn out. Back home we go t ready for the next few days of surfing
here in Torquay.

Check out the photos!

DAY 2 - MELBOURNE
By Kassia Meador | Published Jan 31, 2008

hi

Today the waves were not that good in Torquay, so after an early session in Jan Juc we decided to go to Melbourne, to hang out, do some shopping and most of all to see Arcade Fire play in concert... so we arrived there and started to visit, the girls got busy trying every item of every shop of the city, as shopping is not really my cup of tea i just cruised around. we went to a pretty cool music shop and Jen bought a sick little accordion which was about to become our worst nightmare... just kidding she actually plays really good and we're making a band. Our first single is "two girls one wave", coming soon.. Back to the main subject, Melbourne. So after all the shopping we went to a "Mexican inspired restaurant", it was ok.

Then we headed to the Melbourne Forum for what could have been the concert of our lives.... Except we didn't have tickets, but our hopes of getting some in the front were high, so we tried. We started asking around but it didn't really work. Two creepy greasy men were trying to get all the tickets to sell them for 800$ which wasn't cool.

Jen pretended to be a VIP and asked for 6 tickets, and it almost worked! Because one of the other 1 million Jenifer Smith in the world actually was a VIP. But the ticket man asked her for her credit card number to make sure she really bought the tickets, so it didn't work either.

So we eventually decided to go back home like complete losers... Yes we were pretty disappointed, we had to punch each other to let it go... On the way back home we went to visit Jen's skater friends, it was pretty fun to hang out with them. After that we went back home, and that's all for today. Next report tomorrow! And don't forget to check out the photos.
lee-ann

DAY 1 - BELLS BEACH
By Kassia Meador | Published Jan 30, 2008

Our first day of the road trip started off great. The sun was shining and the winds looked light. After some breakfast and tea, to fuel our bodies, we loaded up the car and headed to the infamous Bells Beach to see what we could find. Bells Beach is one of the most famous waves in Australia and maybe the world. It is perfect right hand point break good for long boarding and short boarding.

We pulled up to the cliff to check it out and saw perfect lines reeling through the point. We couldn't get the boards out of the car and our wetsuits on fast enough. We stumbled down the cliff with excitement to surf this wave, some of us for the first time. The session was perfect! We surfed for hours, caught tons of good waves and sun burnt noses.

Wow!!! What a perfect first day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Now check out some photos of our first day :)