Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits TenElevenTwelve

DAY 10.

Sleeping in the RV definitely has its pro's and con's, the later probably more common. Its starting to get a little messy and I'm not gonna beat round the bush on this one, It stinks. Stinky sweaty sk8ers all piled in one room on wheels for any more than a week, what can we expect right.

Left Dillon and Strike last nyt at the Hop shop cause they wanted to sample some of the night delights of Kings Cross! This place has it all. Maybe a little to much. For someone traveling from the other side of the pond, i guess its a must on their "to do" list. It will be an experience, i can't wait to hear the stories when we catch them later today.

Hit out to Dee Why and grab an acai smoothy. Great energy hit to kick us into gear. Bail and head to one of the northern beaches local spots in ElaGnara. Its a super tight run with a coupla nice dropping turns. great for full runs and also for shooting the corners. Get rowdy here for a little until Jaco tries to ollie joshE's Wolfshark and sent it down the cliff. probably around a 12 ft drop its funny watching the boys retrieve it with a borrowed garden hose!

Another spot between the two local hot spots here on the Northern Beaches is a reminder of the BP's. Ive never skied it so i thought we may as well stop in and have a hit out on a few of the rad looking corners. We found a nice tight right, with gnarly big square cats eyes, wonky pavement and drain covers all in the lane heading down. I think as simple as this place was, it was one of the funnest little sessions I've had while on the tour.

Next stop, Hopkin Skate for the Pro signing. Wat a turn out. Crew where everywhere. It was great to see so many of the ol faces that I've been traveling with for the last 5 years, and also great to see some of those i haven't traveled with, but seen on they're local hills, now they in the land Down Under riding our local hills. The groms where like flies. There wasn't to much of a quiet moment for the next 4 hours. Its great to see the ozzi community supporting the OS crew. Thanks for coming down eh!

Its back to Jacko's for a feast cooked up by Mumzi. Herself and Pip really throw down, opening their doors and feeding the masses of rowdy sk8ers. Theyt don't have to but they love to support Jacko and all his friends. U couldn't ask to meet two nicer parents! Thanks guys! 

DAY 11. 

Its gonna get  a little chill today. Things have been super rowdy the last couple days since come in to Sydney. The crew are in town, we are all at Jackos pad so its a great excuse to have a few and be merry. This being said, we've still been sk8in err day so today, we don't have to till later this aft and the sun is shining. Time to get pitted. 

Ian, a Canadian buddy of Kyle's was traveling with us for the last few days and he's been a solid part of the group. He's been driving, he's been cleaning, He's been coin errr thing without even being asked so bro if ya reading this, mad props! Welcome back any time! We drop him at the bus stop and he left to the airport to WA.

Hit the beach after this and the water is sooo nice. The beach down at North CurlCurl had a sweet little shorey barreling. It was to be the first shotgun of the trip to. Down the sand, right there lurking in the dunes, behind two gorgeous young ladies, Guff, Me, Nate R, Jaco and Micah G hit the can and then a bloody Police copter passes over. HAHAHAH. Perfect timing.

Chill for the next few hours over lunch an then get down to Manly Skater HQ for another of our shop visits. Solid little shop down here on the beachfront. Im sure they get some serious business in the summer months. A small crew of keeners were there for our arrival. They hoarded us for stickers... they were stoked!

it up one of the local hills for the arvy and there were even more groms here. Stoked. Crew were throwin down the skids and showin their skills to the big boys. Rewards of Tour shirts were handed out to a select few. The 5-0 turned up twice and told us that  wat we were doing was illegal. OK! right guys, guys u had nothin else to do for the day!

We get the hint and hit home for roast pork. Again, i just can't praise the Shapiera household for welcoming us to their home. Every year they do the same gig and it must be a hassle but they certainly don't show it!  Mondo Props!

DAY 12.

So we hustle pretty well today. I woke early and spread the word to the team that we'll be bouncing in 1 hour. I went back in and feasted hard. Im hungry and we got a big day ahead of us so i start the feasting. Coffee and eggs and I'm ready for the day. The boys aren't to far behind.

Head to the airport to get OG Jezza from Early so he doesn't have to ride on a bus. I guess its a sweet trade off. He's stoked and he's bought us all coffee. The lads are super pumped and its not long till we bail the city and start into the Blue Mountains. Pass through all the little towns on the way up to Katoomba and jam out at sk8 parks. Theres a real sweet one in Lawson and we stopped here for lunch and turned some wheels.

Next we hit up the Three Sisters at Katoomba. Its and old aboriginal story and to sum it up, three sisters got exiled from their tribe and turned into stone by the tribes witch doctor. All good, whatever the story, its a great place to show the boys and stretch the legs. Next stop, Bathurst, Mt Panorama and the first event of the 2013 IDF circuit.

Get into town and head to the skill set building for the riders meeting and rego. Its great to see the crew. Kunts from all round the world and all round Aussi are here for the race. Beers and stories were shared and basically good times and smiles was the order of the nyt. El Presedente, Haggy, took front and centre and welcomed the community. This is gonna be a fukin great weekend. Next stop, top of the hill!

Setup Saturdays with Katie Neilson

Check out what Katie Neilson is riding these days.

Justen Ortiz Does Japan

A few weeks ago I was given notice that I would embark on a six week adventure through Asia. I’ll be visiting several countries to spread the stoke of skating and check out the local scene in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

My first stop is Japan. I met a few friends in the USA that were from Japan so as soon as I heard about this trip I got in touch with them and let them know I would be visiting. I arrived at the airport and was excited to see some familiar faces in a foreign land. Returning to their house, I headed straight to bed and slept for about 15 hours straight to recover from the jet lag.

We woke up that morning and had a solid breakfast before heading out to go meet up with some other longboarders for a skate sesh. The hill we were heading to was about two hours away along a scenic oceanside road. Checking out the Japanese landscape was amazing! We drove through a bunch of Japanese surf towns that had a really cool 70’s vibe, and I noticed many a skate spot as we drove by. I knew if I saw so many awesome skate spots on the trip up that our road would be out of this world! When we showed up to the spot, I saw it was a dirty mountain road with hairpins all the way up and a gate at the bottom to close car access. The locals have been cleaning it with brooms as much as they can, and they had a pretty large section of it cleaned up that we were able to skate. One thing I noticed was all the skaters here seem to be older than what I am used to in North America. Everyone is in their 20’s and 30’s, and are really good as well.

The next day I met up with Yoshi who was the owner of a Funwaves Skateshop. He has a really cool little shop and it was the only skate shop I have ever seen where you have to take off your shoes and put slippers on to come inside. We waited for a few other riders to show up then we headed off to a local hill to warm up. After a quick lunch break with some authentic Japanese food we headed to a nearby ditch where they like to hang out and skate. This was a perfect spot to test out the 2013 Landyachtz Dinghy. The new shape is perfect for an afternoon ditch jam with friends!

After we were done we met up with some more of Yoshi’s friends and got some authentic Japanese food:  pork intestines, stomach, liver and heart. I told myself at the start of this trip that I wanted to try as much traditional and crazy food as I can just to gain that experience and say I’ve done it. Some of it was good and some of it I couldn’t handle but it was a really cool experience none the less.

After another good night of sleep we were ready for the big skate jam on Sunday. People from all over came out and we had about 20-30 people show up. We spent a few hours on a cool hill that was closed off to traffic. After we were all tired and sunburnt, we headed over to the beach to have a big bbq with everyone and relax.

The next day was pretty rainy out so we decided to head into Tokyo to go sightseeing and check out the downtown area. After a long train ride and a good nap we finally made it to our stop, where we spent about an hour or so checking out a Japanese shrine. Following that, we checked out Harujuku, the fashion district of Japan to go shopping. There were some pretty unique looking people and interesting characters there. Some more local cuisine was downed for lunch, and we headed to Shibuya. Shibuya is the area most people see in a lot of movies featuring Japan, it is the times square of Japan, and with people everywhere crossing in every direction it was pretty chaotic! After a good day of sightseeing we finally headed back for some sleep.

My last day in Japan took me to a Japanese theme park which is home to some of the gnarliest rollercoasters I have ever seen in my life. A lot of these roller coasters held world records like tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster. It was a pretty rad experience, and before the day was over we headed to a nearby skate spot to meet up with some friends to enjoy the last few hours of sun. This spot we went to was one of the craziest roads I have seen. Apparently it was a pretty new, and recently discovered spot. The sessioned road was super steep and featured brand new pavement down a very narrow road through the forest; super fast but you are able to grip almost every corner for almost 13 km! With the skate sesh finished, we had one final goodbye dinner with every one before I had to catch my flight the next morning for Korea.

 I was pretty sad to leave Japan but at the same time this is only the start of a really long trip and I have a lot more countries to visit.

Check out Justen's Instagram for live updates! 

Justin Ortiz's Asia Adventure

Justen Ortiz in Asia - Part 1 Japan from Landyachtz on Vimeo.

Justen Ortiz is currently traveling around Asia skating with the locals and enjoying life!

Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits

DAY 8.

Dorrigo's a magic place to wake up. We parked on the side of the road around half way up the mountain in a little turnout spot just off the road. Its an early start again and we gotta get some eats into us before hitting the road. Stop at the waterfall to have break with a view. Its been ages since I've skated this one so I'm really looking forward to shown the boys down.

Dillon hurt his ankle at the Nimbin sk8 park yesterday, nothin major but he feels the need to chill and get it right for race day! Wise man. Kyle belts off on a solo run while JoshE and myself chill big time on the waterfall run down the mountain. Its such an epic road. So many rad turns, its smooth and fast. Its easy to get ahead of yourself but just around the bend will always be a reminder that this one is pretty gnarly. Plenty of bikes trucks and cars use this road so yeah, on a weekend, its busy as.

Punch out 3 runs getting all the goods and move on to the beautiful little town of Bellingen for coffee and lunch. We hit up the sk8 park after kai. Its a rad little jam park with some interesting features. It was at this moment we had a car pull up next to the RV and 4 groms get out frothing that the Landyachtz Team were in town. They came over and met us all. We smashed out some autographs for the crew and gave them all a tour T. After some pics and mondo stoke on the 2013 range, we said our HooRoo's and hit the road for Duddy's house on the Central Coast.

Its a long drive again. Best part of 5 hours but we finally rock up to the bottle shop just near Duddy's house 10 minutes before closing time! The boys have been wanting beer the whole drive so they are fukin pumped! Get to Duddy's and he's cooked us up some pizza so we sit out in his man cave, eat, drink and get merry to the comic Jim Jefferies! Its been a great day!  

DAY 9.

Had a sweet day planned. It's to be a day of heavy lurking until we get to the Hop shop for LHL. Started by heading into the wilderness of the central coast to a place called Snapper Point and Frazer beach. These spots are off the beaten track and it was the hell tranq drive in there through fern covered forests floors and ghost gums reaching for the sun. Get to the end of Snapper Point and look down at the features of the coastline. Right there before me was a mondo natural cave. We had to get a shot from inside that. Thats the mission for the next 2 hours. Hike down the cliffs and get to the cave. It wasn't all easy hiking to get the shot. The last part was a rock jump down into the water. This was epic watching Strike jump off the ledge. Guff and Jaco wrapped their cameras in dry bags and followed suit. 

After it was straight to get some eats and then the 90minute journey into Sydney and the Hop Shop. Hopkin is Australia's largest longboard retail store and has done so much to support the scene here in Sydney, also branching to Qld with team riders. The Shops had a small down grade due to the hard times of the retail market but u wouldn't know it. Its still such a legit store and now that its a little more together, it feels that no one misses out on anything. The second level of the store boasts a mini ramp while the third level has a cafe for all a skaters needs.

Its good to hang and session here with some of the local kids that won't be able to make it out for tomorrows Pro signing. LHL was on the cards but apparently its pretty hard to find the hockey sticks here down under. Hop improvised and bought some kanes. Good man but it was gonna be a little hard without the length of a stick so we opted to continue jamming the mini. Kyle threw down and was trying to rock-to-fakie the extension. Its tight up there. So much so he put the nose of his Loco33 into the ceiling!

Bounce and catch up with all the other crew round at me Jacko's house. Good to see all the punters from the other side of the pond. Lookin like a good turn out for the Pro signing!

Getting to know Angie's Curves

Raw Run: Angie's Curves with Billy Meiners from SkateHouseMedia.com on Vimeo.

Billy Bones shows you how to safely navigate Angie's Curves.

Daddies Demo Day

The crew at Daddies Boardshop in Portland OR held a Landyachtz Demo day a few weeks ago at Mt Tabor.  Looks like the event was a ton of fun!      

                  

Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits

Day 7

 

Enjoyin bed this mornin. Not gonna have the benefit of me bed for the next few weeks, gotta take it when i can eh. First things first, clean up, freshen up and hit the road looking for hills.

 First of the day is me favourite little jam spot right up on the top of Burliegh Headland. Its  a gnarly spot to start the day, Steep, fast and tight, the pavement in one of the top corners is wavy and a little uneven. All good. Session the hell outta the fewm for the next hour. Drew a crowd of all ages. Stoked to see so many keen punters login wat we're doin.

 The next hill was a tight hairpin above one of the oldest runs in the GC scene's history, Racetrack. the top of racetrack is for the more skilled sk8er. Steep and smooth and to negotiate traffic u need to be in control. The bottom and the more commonly sessioned part of Racetrack is fun and mellow with some real nice S bends in the bottom. We got down and did a film run, narrowly missing a van towing a boat! 

 Back to the beach and North Burliegh for a pathway jam. The headland at North Burliegh is tight steep and rough. RAD. Again, theres a heap of crew sitting watching and really takin in the show. Dillon, Kyle and myself all riding different decks/wheels displaying the range of Landyachtz' products for 2013. Guff and Jaco getting down and capturing everything, must be hard at times so i say thanks boys!

Next up is a little gem I've been working on for the last 3 years. Its next level this joint and ive called it "Aussie Pipeline". Be sure to look out for a race here in the near future. Its 1km, the pavement is butter,its steep and tight with the big breaking turns, fun all houses, the locals are dope and its in a private estate behind closed gates! This is only the third time I've sk8ed the hill in 3 years and I'm stoked to be able to get the chance to bring the Landy crew here to meet the locals and session. The feedback was so positive. Everyone was stoked. Tour shirts, mags and stickers got handed out to the residence and the kids that came to watch. Its hard to describe the feeling after so many years of networking and so much hard work and to see it finally pay off in the most amazing way between the sk8 community and the residence, one word, STOKED!

Frothin, we jam back in the RV to mission south to Byron Bay, the most eastern point on Australia's east coast. Early has a sector down here and its a great place to come and unwind. Its hell chill in the bay. Its gonna be great to see the boys! Its been a damn good day!

Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits

DAY 5.

Anzac Day. Australia New Zealand Army Core. Tried to  wake for the dawn service but the crew were all way to comfy and woulda takin ages to get em all in the RV. Bailed it and opted for the mid morning one. Rum straight from the bottle for break. Sips to remember the fallen diggers of the World Wars and all other wars to present. Sk8ed down the beach paths to Burliegh and the joints packed. Got down there just in time for the parade and service. Anzac Day has to be one of three of my favourite days. Its a great time to reflect on the fallen brethren that fought for our freedom in life, here in Australia.

Spent the afternoon down the beach with a tonne of beers and all was merry. How could it not be. The suns out. The waters warm. Theres a heap of smiles join round. Perfect way to celebrate freedom. Need less to say, the rest of the day was a little bit of a a blur but one things for sure, its been a great one. I feel privileged to be able to share such a special day for Australians with me wantoks from Canada.

Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits

DAY 4.

Start the day at Early HQ after a pretty rowdy night on the ramp. Jezza was up at sparrows fart to go to work but he wasn't about to pass up an evening with the boys at his pad. Thanks bra! Called Theobald and filled him in on how the tour had been goin on. Needless to say he was stoked to hear of the success to date!

Been hangin to get to the beach and that was the mission of the day. Pack up and head to the beach. Picked up the mals and me dog Raskil, and hit the local. Its such a rad day down here. Picture perfect day and the lads are stoked to get in the water. Spent the next 3 hrs at least down there. All the boys got down and caught a few waves. Strike sunk my board so as u can imagine, he didn't catch any waves but least the big man tried! Siik. Jaco was getting down and takin shots of pure stoke. Great to have the Cunucks getting pitted!

 Hit up my local sk8 park, Pizzi Park. This is where i learnt to drop in and it was a hard task to drive past and not show the crew. This park has a few sections. An old bowl that's scetch, a park thats pretty sweet for lines and the new section that's off the hook with a massive bowl and a weird but fun little bowl and a half? The Dinghy is a rad board man. I can't praise this new and improved shape and size. Its epic. Flows so nice!  Stoked.

Head down to the third shop Concrete Lines. Les is a cool cat and runs a solid ship. True to the description, he sells longboards only. Good man! The crew there was tight. Around 30 crew lined the pavement outside the shop hustling for autographs! Rad setup inside. We took over the till/counter area while the crew lined up in a sum what orderly fashion. After we hit the beach paths of Coolangatta, Les threw down on a BarBQ down the beach. Good times and so much ambient stoke. Sunset in full swing, peeps be full, tired and super stoked on such a rad day, its home for brews and bed. Got a big one tomorrow. Anzac Day!

Hawgs is the Title Sponsor for Britannia Classic!

The 2013 Britannia Classic is being brought to you by Hawgs Wheels this year.  Mark May 26th on your calendar and come check it out.  

britanniaclassic.com

Field Report : Palm Trees & Pits

DAY 3.

Woke to a few small issues with our power source. We had none. Looked around outside and it was like a war zone. Sorta fitting for the prank that we played on the sector lads last nyt. We had strike and Jaco, lying dead and beaten on the ground outside the RV while the rest of us hid. MattK gave us the response we were looking for, " hold on, man, na-na-na turn the lights on. Holy Fark?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA

So hit the top of Nebo and got some grub for breaky. I chose to sit and shave me skullet in. Strike actually said that it was makin him sick watching me. Thats a hard task, makin the big man himself sik. Guff got all tranq with the local birds. Parrots of all sorts where hang in around getting fed of the crew. After fill in the guts, we hit the hill. Nebo is a fun winding road with split lanes a few times on a few of the harder corners. This is always good wen ya know there aint gonna be some o cutting the lane.

Head on the mission from hell to get freshened up before the demo @ ExtremeSkate. Finally got to the spot, emptied the RV and walked up the river and the so rounding rocks. Id paced out in front as i was hell keen to wash the Jedus. I came up and over a large set of rocks to naked women. "Don't mind me, i love nudity. Just thought id let ya's know, theres 6 more lads right behind me eh!" Need less to say the girls scrambled for towels to no avail. They squat and happily let us through with a smile! Great ozzi sheilas for the cunuck crew! Got to the rock hole and it was pretty damn cool. Flowing waterfall with a "pitted" feature and a slide section! Big Strike hit it. Bloody big grizzly bear was lovin it after the struggle up the river bed.

Right so we kick into Extreme at peak hour and theres mondo grommets flowin from the shop to the side walk. This is off the hook. Serious today. Strike got off the RV and publicly announced our arrival individually. Yeah man, getting er done. Had to push through the masses but finally we got inside and set up in one of the corners of the shop. It was pretty much the LY corner wit boards from the 2013 range hang in from the walls behind. Mate, such a privilege to be here doin this shit an see the stoke on all the young cunts faces! RAD. Jam at a local hill for a little just to get the most out of the time wit the Extreme crew. Thanks Franca!

Hit the road south to the GC and straight  to early skate HQ and Jeremy is there with beers and Kurt from Heelside is there with the eats. We hit the ramp and get funky for a few hours. Need less to say, beers were had and errr body was merry. There a solid crew here enjoying the get together. OG Kevdawg came out, Sorro, fresh from tour with Suicidal Tendencies was there as well. Lucas from the Heelside crew. Mate, peeps are in full support of the tour and today was proof that punters are down to support Landyachtz down under!

New VAN!

Zen, Justen, Charlie, Travis, Graham, Katie and Hugh piled into the new Eh Team van this morning to start their journey to the Catalina Classic.... Meow I'm sure it will never be the same again.