the state of middles

Taieri Mouth

river to the sea

Blue Sunday - Part 2

Blue Sunday - part 1

The sun shone all day with no clouds in sight, unbelievable! But it was still pretty cold.
Had the best day cruising with mates searching for waves, stopping at heaps of unnamable breaks up and down the coast.

Theres a stack of images to come from this shoot, will put up in a few days. My sister is over from OZ for 3 days visiting, managed to get these done because she slept in this morning :0)

Hayley in Hotline in Curl mag

Sweet, supplied Photos for Advertising feature for Hotline Wetsuits, featuring our own Hayley Coakes!! also Hotline down under 'Liquid Earth Sports' are using my images for their team riders on their website www.liquidearthsports.com

just some randoms

some pics that I never loaded over the last few months.

the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

"According to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals."

A dead sea bird with plastics in its stomach

Plastic in the ocean can lead to deformities in marine life.
"If one were to travel far enough in the Pacific Ocean, one might eventually end up in what is commonly referred to as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch“. Scientifically, the area is known as the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of under-ocean currents that come together and keep the ocean water from going anywhere but there.
Because of the vortex created by the ocean currents, the area has accumulated an astonishing amount of trash (garbage, rubbish…whatever you want to call it). So powerful is this phenomenon that oceanographers are saying that the area is nearly twice as large as the continental United States."

another great video link HERE

muddy waters

One shot from the weekend. Water runoff from the surrounding hillsides emptying to the sea, tinted green with vegetation and large animal excretion. All along the south coast the sea water has been brown and full of land matter. Raw sewerage had been pumped out Lawyers head for a few days last week with the rain, and the beaches were closed.

St Clair Hotel Update

Rain RAIN go away!
Another overdue update on the construction of the Chittock Empires' Hotel on the corner of The Esplanade and Bedford Street.
Two below, back in April/May in the days when the sun shone, and the ground was dry.

Below: The the 6th of June, great progress.


Above, the 18th June, precast panels to encase the lift shaft.
Below, the 10th of July

Finished my Mosaic Table

finally put the hours in over the weekend and got the coffee table finished I started a few months back. No surf photos of late - its just been drizzle and grey clouds for weeks.

Ocean Beach Erosion Update

I haven't reported much recently on the erosion management saga at Ocean Beach. Pretty much after the last public consultation rounds in April I realised there is nothing a single member of the public can do to make a difference to any outcome.
This was verified a few weeks back after I received the Emergency Response Teams minutes of their meeting over the public submissions made.
The deliberations recorded that the following be investigated and implemented:
* St Clair Sea Wall - information on the consent process, in particular why an offshore reef was rejected.
* Monitoring and analysis on the failure of the ramps and stairs.
* The formation of John Wilson memorial Drive.
* Items for funding
* Ongoing communication and work with the community, including the formation of a group of 'Key Stakeholders'
And that the information and Data gathering process outlined in the 13th November 2007 report from the Parks and Reserves team leader be confirmed and approved. View here pg 8
(Note, nothing new, nothing less)

What got my goat was; attached to the above meeting minutes was a short council written summary of some of the public submitters from April. In these what some said was twisted, misquoted and dotted with inaccuracies.
This affirmed that these submitters were not properly listened to or understood, which is both a disappointment and a negligent act of disrespect.

10th June 2008 Community Planning Committee meeting on Ocean Beach Public Feedback

Above & below: 10th of July, more sand replenishment, see article above, another $40,000 worth.

Below, some images from the 18th Of June 2008


Below: 5th Of February this year

KIWISURF 105

Above: My first 2 page spread! Of the South Coast Boardriders Clubrooms and lineup, I also got a thumbnail of St Clair in the club writeup.
Below: Half page of me and Hayleys car at St Kilda for an item on the cost of petrol. I also wrote the interviews with two locals, Luke Grubb and Radar + their pics.

and finally, right at the back of issue 105 is a small bit on the South isalnd Surf Champs 2008 I wrote with some thumbnail pics.