tanner real talk from Tanner Gudauskas on Vimeo.

Read more

Read more

At the asp banquet a few nights ago dane finally found what he had been searching for. The female form to his haircut. The “dane-highline fringe” The “business in the front party in the back”. The “george greenough”. The “bullet” anyways we were all excited to see someone as stylish as dane. THUMBS UP TO YOU DANE!

Read more

On the morning of the trials here at snapper, i figured i would sit down and put a few thoughts onto paper (or computer screen) before heading into our first events as rookies on tour. My brothers and I have been here on the Goldcoast for about 2 weeks now.. It seems as though heaven on earth could exist for a surfer here in Oz. I’m sure as a reader you’re thinking… I’ve heard this before. And frankly, so have I. But I’m that excited about the energy of this place, that i feel compelled to share. It’s like being a little runt playing little league baseball, then one day getting to go to the Pro Stadium. Then one day being able to set feet on the freshly cut, beautiful green grass of that stadium. Then later being able to run out onto that field and feel the electric energy of thousands of people cheering for their favorite players, and local teams. While we may not quite have thousands of people cheering for us.. it’s a fun thought. In a freesurf yesterday, I was greeted with what to me was a “super session” of Mick fanning, Kelly, Taylor, and a handful of rookies, including myself, tanner, nate and simpo. People line the rocks with their point and shoot cameras hoping to catch a glimpse of the reigning Australian champ or the 9x, or an aspiring ripper performance. There’s even the little league groms littered across the dense line-up. A young West oz hell grommie Jack robinson, was deep behind the rock enjoying stand up (2 ft) barrels. It’s a dream land for groms. Running back up the point after a long ride, i am flagged down by friend and commentator Pete Mel. “Pat, can we get a few quick words?!” It’s the big show, and energies and anticipation seem high. For some, like Kelly, Taylor, and Mick, it’s perhaps just another event. And perhaps this will give them the calm cool collected edge over their rookie competitors. For us rookies, it’s like the first day of school. Everything seems relatively new, and fresh. From sessions like the one yesterday, i’ve been watching closely the seniors. Seeing where and how they surf these waves. At this point, preparation is in the past, and the present is upon us. We have nothing to loose and everything to learn from.. It’s a great place to be when setting foot onto the grass of our major league stadium. Stay tuned for updates and froth!!

Read more

Hello, its me again. After my second session and its only 10. I woke up with the sun and said “hello” to it. It returned the favor and said “hi” back. Two hours here and two hours there, its now ten and snapper and d bah have both been surfed. A bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and peanut butter. A tweet, and a status update and I am smiling. Networking online is an addiction.

We have been surfing more than normal, which is a lot. Its pretty awe-inspiring to see the event coming together. The scaffolding at D bah is bigger than the lifeguard headquarters! haha. Seriously it has four stories. The only bad thing is that it faces the jetty and the really good peak is in the middle of the beach! So we will see how that goes.

We have had a couple of drives down south towards lennox heads and ballina but are yet to stop in at byrons bay. But we have heard a really irie bunch of folk live down in byron. We might have to drive down and visit the shire.

Anyways the ASP kickoff banquet is tonight and the contest starts tomorrow. So excitement is all around. The eve of the 2010 WCT season is about to start and I can’t wait to make it rain!

-tanner

Read more

This might be dane just after the best ride ever ridden at the super bank. But it might not be just after that ride. We will never know. The video will answer you questions though.

dane’s description of rippin. from Tanner Gudauskas on Vimeo.

Read more

D bah. snapshot! from Tanner Gudauskas on Vimeo.

Just an off day with an ON session! tons of blue bottles but tons of wedges, no one is mad!!

Read more

First off Masatoshi Ohno brings good energy to anything he does. Whether its a nasty backside blast at d Bah, or a six pack of crown lagers mar is the man. Tacky to say he is the zen master but he is the closest thing to a sensei that I have. Today he came over and chilled with the boys and talked some shop. He lives here on the goldy and has kept us in the “know” on where the hot spots will be to surf. He has been experimenting with surfboards and has tried a couple of merricks along with his quiver of DHDs. We chatted about his shorter “dumpster diver” esque DHD and some of his future merricks. He is psyched! Tomorrow the surf is going to be smaller than today. Which will probably be too small to surf. So I think we are gonna go swim laps with mar at the local Tweed pool. Training with a guru damnit! Go Mar Go!!!

-tanner

Read more

G’day mate! We just got back from a southern expedition from the goldy! Set our watches to NSW time and put the wheels of our car in motion. The surf came down in size from yesterdays shenanigans which forced us to get creative. Which is a good thing, because the only downfall of the goldcoast is groundhog’s day. I am not trying to sound like surfing snapper and d bah all day every day is a bad thing, but every now and again change is welcome.

Fins on, wax in, wallets for pies, and sunscreen for the lack of ozone down under and we were off. The drive was about 100 km but in reality it was one playlist of DJ rashguards that put us there. Time trance. Pulling up we started to sing the hightide blues. Time for a pie and reasess in thirty? Sure. So we headed down the backstreets of Ballina and found a random gas station for advice for our pasty friends. But he told us that he had no idea where the bakery was. However they conveniently sold pies there. Hmmm. sounds fishy, or should I say piey? Of course the boys had to sample the gas goods. However I quickly realized that eating a pie from a gas station is similar to eating a hot dog from 7 11. They have either been cooking for the last month or the food itself can’t really be food. Because I know the stock doesn’t move that fast, and the freshness factor isn’t always the top concern at a convenience store. Nate spearheaded a chicken curry, and pat a steak bacon. wow, somehow the bread looked colored similar to pumpkin bread than pie and pat’s smelt more like a bean and cheese burrito than a pie. We had to eat before we got on the ferry, but only time will tell how the stomach will digest..

Anyways, we surfed it. Southwall ballina. Mick fanning’s section of campaign I. It was really small but the energy could be felt!!! Wedge factory lefts running on sand with crystal clear water. Sorry. We mucked around the beach all day and burned our bodies crisp. Australia is seriously the best place on earth. I am not sure if it is right to say, “god’s country” but I know why aussie people are so passionate. Damnit I would be too.

-tanner

Read more

Thus far on the goldy things have been happening. Patrick made heats at the breaka burleigh pro. I have been learning how not to burn chicken on the “Q” and we have all become DJ alias characters.

First off was the breaka pro. We entered late because we weren’t sure if we were going to do it. But it worked out well to get a couple of heats under the belt. Burleigh is a freight train wave and was quite difficult to wrestle down on the backhand. No excuses because I saw Owen destroy some peelers. Pat looked fresh on his new K Whip. Fresh as in the sense of ripping. I was stoked to see him get his a couple of runners in his heats. The announcer said it looked like he was at home at trestles. I debated the call, due to the sluggish lowers right not matching this speedline burleigh, but let it go. I was stoked. And sunburnt. and burning hard on Breaka flavoured milk. This is what its all about.

As for music sense, we have all learned from our forefathers. Remember “the artist formerly known as prince”. Hopefully you do because we are all now artist that have former names. Patrick is DJ Friend Request. A name like that is pretty self explanatory but its mainly for his love of facebook and twitter. He has been aquiring new friends and networking like it was his job. I feel like every twenty seconds a new tweet is inspired. For me a love of the magical world lead me down a road to DJ HARRY POTTER. Not mad about it. Its for the kids really. Or atleast thats what I am telling myself. and Thirdly our friend Nolan Hall, who is a Photographer, Surfer, Videographer, frother, fellow blogger has been travelling with us and has taken the name DJ Rashguard. Could be because his basecoat skin color is matching to that of casper’s. The Ozzie sun has been tough on our friend Nolan. This is the master of distaster…DJ Rashguard.

-tanner

Read more