DAY 17.
Slept
at the base of Mt Kiera in one of the parks of the side of the road.
Its closed and we can't really session it without hiking and the boys
are a little more stoked to get down to the beach and have a swim. The
coast has been a solid part of our trip. Everytime we head inland, we
want the coast. Got down to a place called North Beach and Guff and I
got down and had a swim. Its cold, offshore and the swell is up. Nice
little bash and were off to the hills.
Ive
been down this way a few times before and we usually drive past a
Chinese Temple that apparently has a sweet little road there. We hook up
with local lad Dijan and hit the temples paths. Its sweet to walk in
and see the statues and zen style gardens. We hit this tranq little spot
for an hour and then head south to Mac Pass.
Again,
I've been here twice before but never been able to sk8 because of the
weather. Today as we head into the valley theres a few raindrops but as
we get to the hill, its dry. Im finally gonna get a chance to ride.
Theres so many features to this beauty. So hard to even begin. Its like a
7 minute run that flows. Guff and Jaco get out and get the goods right
from the get go. Its time to bounce after we get stopped by the 5-0.
They are pretty chill but tell us to bounce so bounce we did.
Next
stop 7 pins. This one I've been waiting for. Just a meka run with
everything u can ask for. Fast and tight, rad flowing turns and as u can
imagine from the name, hairpins! We hook up with the local Hopkin crew
here. Luca, MattB, Maga, Robdawg and Kam have been here for the last few
hours while we've been at Mac Pass. Its not to be. Right at the bottom
of run 1, the heat was on again. the 5-0 pulled us over and went through
all our deets to no avail. That's twice now. Luck must be on our side.
No point pushing it, we decide to head back to the coast through K
valley.
Get
into an area known as Jervis Bay, capital of LBG (Land Base Game).
Massive fish in this area but thats not we're here for. Tonyt its
movies, chicken rolls for dinner and a few brews before hitting the ask
for another end to another rad day!
DAY 18.
Woke
in the most amazing part of the country this morning. Riverside just in
from the coast at Jervis Bay. There was morning mist on the water and
the birds where loud as they woke with their calls. Clean up the RV and
hustle pretty well. We head to the local boat ramp and feed a family of
Kookaburra's. Ive been telling Guff about these creatures since he
arrived but still till now, all he'd heard where the laughs errr
morning. Kyle bust out some sausage and i get some chicken and start
coating them in for some food. Epic birds man, so much character. 
Breaky
and a swim and we on the road to Canberra and the Capitol city of
Australia. Its gone be a 4 hour drive through farmland and epic bush.
The most direct way there wasn't necessarily the fastest but was for
sure the most fun. An hour on the dirt and a stop at a crazy refine for
some tranq nature shots and how can anyone complain about the extra time
in the RV.
Get
to Canberra and bounce straight to the laundry to clean the socks and
jocks. Funny mission this one. HAHAHA. Guff actually got a lesson on how
to fold clothes!
Adrenalin
Boardshop is a quality store full of all boards for all sports. They
had a pretty sweet range of sk8 boards too. The crew that turned up was
waiting out the front for our arrival. Its always rad rocking up to
these stores and seeing how much stoke it brings to these youngness
faces! Same as all the other shops, we spend the next hour signing
boards, hats, posters and handing out shirts. Left here and Its great to
chat to the shop owner, Gavin, and see how stoked he was!
Off
to Ainsley ditch. Ive wanted to hit this one for years. Finally i get
my chance. Guff is zoo pumped as well. He's the king of the ditch and
hasn't hit one since Ditch Slap! Epic. Little sections gradually getting
bigger as u drop down. Each section that dropped down had a set of
teeth at the bottom of the cascade. Gnar. The very bottom had a sweet
tree that had dumped all its leaves so as u run from one side to the
other, u ride in through the leaves! The session winds down and its an
incredible sunset all with Cockatoos squawking in the trees ready to
nest for the nyt. Us too, its been a big day!
DAY 19.
Found
a rad sk8 park on the way outta town and we just had to hit it. It had
it all. Banks and bowls. we got funky here for around an hour. Guff
taught me a few new tricks that i was stoked on. Firecracker down the 3
stair! Yew! Dillon had a chat with a few local kids and got rings
prepped for the drive!
Head
south down the road to Cooma. We stopped here for a quick bite to eat
and some supplies. I had to go get a few razors so i could shave me
noggin. All shaved and clean i joined the boys at some burger joint for
grub. Tasty massive burger and we hit the road again, this time up to
the Snowies.
The
drive into Jindabyne is mello and the terrain is slowly changing. Big
boulders scatter farmland. I came here like 10 years ago for a snow
season and remember a fun little ramp down by the lake. 10 years on and
that little ramp is now a sweet little sk8 park. Big bowl and a fun box
and some sweet banks to jam. Again, after rollin the bowl, i fuck around
and get into short board tricks with Dillon and Guff.
Next
we head out to Thredbo right in Kosciuszko National Park. Very similar
to Whistler with a little village right at the base of the mountain.
Jaco comes across a dirt track with some whoop dee whoops and wants to
jam. Stop the RV! We all get the 2013 Dinghy's out and shralp the dirt
rollers and banks. Fun times!
Its
turned out to be one of the best days on the tour. We skied. We got
some killer shots. We drove a lot and covered a heap of ground. Ventured
into some uncharted wilderness and travelled through two states and one
territory. Off to Wodonga and camp up beside Lake Hume for the night.
Early start tommo and anther big day!
DAY 20.
We've
been getting super lucky with our camp spots. This morning was one of
the best yet! Lake Hume is a flooded river system created back in the
50's. Theres a graveyard of old trees scattering the lake in the view
to the east as the sun rose. This country is really turning on the goods
for these lads! Dillon was up as soon as id mentioned the view. He's
been getting down on black and white film. I can't wait to see some of
his shots! Guff and Jaco are in the same boat but with the digital
approach!
Drive
into the Victorian alpine region and up to Falls Creek. Its an epic
drive. The colouyrs in the valley are amazing. Its fall and most the
trees are differnt shades of reds, oranges and yellows. As we head
higher up into the mountains the landscape changes into deep forests
with small patches of ferns. A lot of this area was on fire a few years
ago so its great to see all the new growth. On top and all the trees are
dead. It looks like ribs of some giant as the road winds through them.
The
roads been epic the whole way up. Spewin that there are some wet
patches on hidden blind corners. Its a safer bet to session a section
that was exposed to the sun right at the top of Falls Creek snow
village. Dillon and myself get down and get some good shots with Guffs
pro assed camera. Thanks man for trusting me which that one. Again, Jaco
is sitting roadside getting killer shots. After he's done on the lens,
he's up on the board and stoking hard as well! Yeah man. Ripping. Its
such a beautiful part of the country, the Victorian Alps. Im gonna have
to spend some time here in the warmer summer months, just have to be on
the watch for them bad assed bush fires.
From
here its a 3 hour track south to the city of Melbourne. Its a great
city and theres always heaps to do, whatever ya need really. Its got a
killer casino, so many little cafe's and rad pubs, two massive stadiums
and tonyt is game nyt for my team the Essendon Bombers. We get into the
city early in the evening and find yet another hot camp spot. Well i
wouldn't say it was a camp spot more of a car spot in an alley, deep in
the heart of the CBD. Catch up with me little sis, Emily and roll out
the annex on the RV and have a few drinks before setting off to the game
and the pub! Shaping up to be a wild nyt!
DAY 21.
Nyt
life in melbourne rock. Peeps are so down to party. Tried to get into
the game but couldn't get tickets so we hit the streets and the pubs.
Guff even got to get behind the reins of a horse drawn carriage. Funny
spot to wake up in this hip little alley. Perfect really. There is a
cafe right on our doorstep and at 7 am the crew that work there are
setting up the restaurant. I can smell the bacon! time for breaky!
Took
the boys a little while to get into gear but we got rolling mid morning
down towards the morning ton peninsular. We had a date with Arthurs Seat. Id heard very little of this one but from the looks of things, it
had plenty of features to keep a group of shred happy sk8ers busy for a
while. It must been something to do with the red goon bag we consumed
before hitting the town that mad us all need the toilet at the same time
on the trip south. Heavy. Where are we gonna find 6 toilets on the side
of the highway? Gas station stop and subway helped with their
amenities.
That
done, time to get to the hill. Driving up this one, it didn't really
seem like the gradient was that steep but wen we hit a series of
switchbacks, right, left, right, left and so on till the top, we where
eager to get er done. Top of the hill and Guff and Jaco setup a spot to
shoot and Dillon, Lilspoon (JoshE) and myself got into the tight turns.
Theres a heap of bikes on the hill and u can imagine at lunchtime on a
Saturday, plenty of traffic. 1 run and I'm absolutely frothing. Wat a
way to start the day! Thank u! We bounce and head to the beach for a
swim and on the way the local 5-0 where driveing up the hill and gave us
a stern look! HAHAH missed us this time bra!
After
spending the next half hour down the beach, cleaning, washing,
freshening up, we head back into town to visit our last shop, Mac's
Waterski World. Upon arrival, kids have lined the street and the alley
next door. WOW. Wat a great turnout. Groms are frothing and to park up
and get out was nothing short of rockstar status! Kyle and Dillon both
got mobbed, while i threw shirts into the crowd. Inside and there's a
heap of sk8's and I'm stoked to say that its the first shop we been too
that had the new 2013 Dinghy in stock. The next hour was spent signing
all sorts of sk8 gear. I even got asked to sign one of the lads nipples!
A raffle went down and shop owner Troy put up a WolfShark for a prize.
We thought we could add to this by thrown in some wheels. Then outta
nowhere, a kid hit me up to see me haircut. He saw it and said, "i want
one". Didn't need anything else. I got Troy to get me some clippers and
the rest is history. Grommet got himself a fresh 2013 DropHammer and was
stoked to be the new owner of a mullet.
Sk8ed
up to Hungry Jacks with the grommets from the shop. They just wanted to
session with the crew so we joined em. Funny little sk8 but these kids
are so pumped to be sk8in to their local HJ's with the Landyachtz boys,
how can ya not be stoked! Stoke fuelling Stoke! After we hit up a drain
in melbourne thats been getting sessioned for the last 30 years. Ive
heard a heap of this one too, but again, never had the chance to sk8 it!
Pretty pumped on getting in a few lines on the banked walls of the
drain. Theres a solid turn out of locals and a few short boarders that
had built a little DIY box.
Well
thats been a day. So muck stoke. Kyle is pumped. We hit up ST Kilda and
found an empty parking lot to sleep in and thats that. Day done and how
good was it!
DAY 22.
Well
its to be the final day of the tour for me. I have to be in Tasmania
for a buddy of mine. Again waking in the middle of the burbs has become
quite the norm so this morning wen the masses of bicycle riders and
walkers are passing the RV in the early hours i didn't even think twice
to empty my bags and fort all my shit out right there on the side of the
road. After getting me shit sorted and cleaning up wat i could of the
RV, Guff was up and we both went for a walk to get some coffee.
Walkin
through the streets of ST Kilda's cafe scene, its not hard to find a
good spot for a fresh grind. Coffee that is! Coffee in hand and we
walked the block to see whats up. We come across a community garden with
some real quirky things in it and a massive pumpkin! Massive i say!
There,
at the end of the street the RV was parked was one of the area's newer
sk8 parks. OK, time for a sk8. Ive got half hour. Rallied the troops and
hit the park. Guff and myself have a nice early session turning wheels
on beachfront park. Its epic. Such a great finish and the transitions
are smooth and flowing. They have a few bowls of different sizes, some
flat bank stuff, some steel coping and some pool coping. Its epic. So
much fun and to finish the tour here, well it just seals the envelope on
an absolute epic adventure!
Well there it is, the Landyachtz Aussie tour: Palm Trees and Pits has come to an end. Wat a journey its been. Is true what they say, Its not the destination, Its the journey. Couldn’t be more true. The crew, the places, the memories. EPIC. Its a first of its kind here in Australia and i think its fair to say, the bar has been set pretty damn high. Thanks to all the shops for havin' us, thanks to the crew out there who came to see us and a massive thanks to Landyachtz for throwin down and makin it happen. Much love. Till next time eh..... Yates.
All Photo's were taken by Jacob Lambert
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