After flying into Auckland, we collected our big old Bedford Beauty of a bus named Bealey and quickly headed toward Raglan where a swell was heading in. Once we started to stretch Bealey's legs it was clear that she was going to dictate the pace of our drive, which turned out to be a nice lazy 10 day journey down the North Island, giving us plenty of time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. 

 

No matter how much fun we had on the boat, you couldn't keep this crew out of the water. We had fun waves, some of the clearest water and prettiest reefs you've ever seen and more fish than you knew existed. There wasn't a daylit moment where someone wasn't in the water and we had sun burns, pruny fingers and reef rash to prove it. 

 

Before making our way to N-Zed we spent two sunny weeks on The Windward, part of the Indies Trader fleet, in the Marshall Islands. Along with our usual gang, we were joined by several friends: Kim, Aamion's cousin and lady ripper for Patagonia, Kanoa an old friend who was shooting photos for Surfer, Barlo who is writing for Surfer, Gavin who is True's godfather and master on the Alaia, Darren ran the under-water video camera and in addition to our awesome boat crew of Capt. Chris, Mango, Terry and Retno, we were also lucky to be joined by none other than Martin Daly and his family. Spending two weeks on a boat with almost 20 people could get ugly, but besides the occasional brush with sea-sickness, it was an incredible trip thanks in large part to those 20 people. 

Here is life on the boat - some beautiful water shots coming next.  

 

Toward the end of the trip, we made a strike mission to Cuzco to get a sense of the mountain life in Peru. Cuzco sits at a thin air altittude of about 12,000 feet making it a completely different climate and culture than the coast, so much so that you could believe you were in a different country. The dusty and monochromatic views of the coast are a world away here where it rains often making everything colorful, vibrant and clean. Everyone was enamored by this area, and yes, Machu Piccu is breakthtaking in person. 

 

After a few days in the city, we all got a little anxious to get out into the country and into some surf.  With the intention to power eight hours up the coast, we loaded the cars and were on the road again.  Three hours in and after a few small contributions to the local authorities, we spotted a potential point break in the distance.  We decided to check it out and to no surprise, we found a nice little 100 yard long reeling left.  We surfed 'till dark and then decided Barranca would be a nice place to post up for a few days...

Lima, Peru's biggest city has areas as ritzy as beverly hills and then just a short distance away, ghettos that rival the favelas of Brazil. At first glance you may see a crowded, monochromatic desert city, a collage of tan covered with a thin layer of dust. But then take a second look and you notice the Easter egg like buildings give a frequent burst of color that offer the same refreshing zing as the food of Peru. Ceviche all the way!

And though you don't hear much about surf in Lima since it is overshadowed by better breaks up north and down south, you can easily have a fun session just a 5 minute drive from downtown on beaches named after Hawaii's most famous, like Waikiki. The people of Lima also know how to do Christmas proper...you've never seen so many fireworks cover a city!

 

The 29th annual Pipe Masters went off without a hitch running and completing within the first three days of the 12 day waiting period. 48 started the event and obviously only 1 prevailed. This year it was Kieren Perrow from Aus. But, before the final, Aamion beat Daniel Ross in round 1. In round 2 he just barely skated by with a win against Taylor Knox and took some skin on the way. Ultimately his showing at the Pipe Masters came to an end in round 3 against Joel Parkinson who finished 2nd overall.  The waves were pumping, the sun was out and win or loose it was a great contest to wrap up the season and an even better opportunity to check in at home before 9 more months on the road. Next stop....Peru!

Our second stop in Thailand was Chiang Mai, in the North of the country. Chiang Mai is dramatically different from the island we visited first and our time there was a flurry of cultural and regional experiences including a visit to the Karen Tribe a friendly battle with a Cobra, traditional Thai dancing, a jaunt through the jungle with elephants and the Yee Peng lantern festival.   

More photos of beautiful Koh Yao Noi in the south of Thailand. 

We started off Thailand with a week on the island of Koh Yao Noi. An hour off Phuket in the Andaman sea, they call it Thailand's last unspoilt Island. While that is mostly true, the tourism bug has already begun to spread, mainly for rock climbing which is aplenty (much to Devin's delight!) We were hooked up with a local named Dut who was born and raised on the island. He is a bird-nester turned rock climber and all around legend. We didn't anticipate any surf, but the boards became handy for paddles around the stunning vertical islands.   

We wrapped up Nepal with three days in Kathmandu. If you've been there, you know that three days feels like 3 weeks. With so many people, cars, animals crowding every street and a barrage of scents and sounds coming from every angle, it is one intense place. But, what really makes this big city different from the rest, is how life takes place on the streets. Within those three days we saw people praying, working, going to the bathroom, eating and being cremated all without opening a door. 

The faces of Nepal

The Trishuli River: Half way between Pokhara and Kathmandu but on another planet all together. Clean air, clear water and green all around.

In Pokhara, we were introduced to a couple who run a beautiful store filled with Tibetan goods. Their families escaped Tibet in the early 60's and headed to Nepal along with 20,000 other refugees. They were raised in the Tashi Palkheil Tibetan Refugee Settlement outside of Pokhara, where they still live along with about 1,000 other refugees. The settlement has two monastaries and a school and is actively working to maintain Tibetan culture within Nepal. We left inspired and humbled by their dedication and open hearts. 

Pokhara was once a sleepy lakeside town in the middle of Nepal and is now a sprawling city that acts as the launching point for trekkers doing the Annapurna circuit. Despite the growth, the colorful culture is held firmly in tact by the beautiful hard-working people, the water buffalo ruling the roads and the 4-year-olds who are more competent than most college students. These photos were all taken in and around Pokhara. 

Locals are who make a country worth visiting and who will show you the real soul of a place. Without our new friends in Israel, our trip would have only been a fraction as amazing. So thank you thank you for showing us all your country has to offer. We miss you already!

Yaeer "Jango Mango" Eldar. This man is a one-stop production house and can make all your dreams come true.

Arthur Rashkovan, co-founder of Surfing4Peace.org and has many big things on the horizon. 

Doc Paskowitz also co-founder of Surfing4Peace.org and of course a living legend. 

Nataly Elian a sassy and talented designer who also happen to be Arthur's better half. Check her out: naftul.tumblr.com

Asaf Shalem. Talented mucisan on the rise in Israel, you'll be hearing from him.

Yanai Dietsch. One of the most enthusiastic people you'll ever meet and also a talented designer. Sadly Israel is losing him to Indo. 

Shmuel Raykin maker of the best honey we've ever tasted. He also hosted us for Rosh Hashana the Jewish New Year.

Josh Burde, our EP's brother, is a transplant from South Africa but you'd never know it. He makes beautiful Kabbalah based jewelry and hosted a Shabbas dinner for us. 

Last but not least, we have to thank Janothan Paskowitz for introducing us to most of these guys!

The Negev desert at the south of Israel is closer to what we had pictured of the country, but it is still more beautiful than you could imagine. Because it is so untouched you can get a good idea of what it looked like in biblical times, minus the Land Rover of course. 

Sea of Galilee, Kinneret, if you're Israeli is in the north of Israel. A far cry from the dry desert imagery most people conjure of this country. The area is lush, green and fruitful... literally. Jango took us to his uncle's mango orchard and honey bee farm and if you know Given, you can imagine how stoked he was. Three of his favorite things are honey, picking mangoes straight from the tree and of course, tractors! It isn't often you find all three in one place. Another reason Israel continues to amaze us.

Befriending a local has to be the best piece of travel advice one could give. Without our solid group of locals in Israel we never would have known you can camp in style on a random beach north of Tel Aviv.  This is definitely not the Israel you hear about on the news, though maybe it should be.

On the horizon, the first and best of the daily rain storms where everything would get soaked, just in time to dry by sundown. 

Small fishing village down the beach a ways.

Setting it all out to dry.

True had her first meal and started crawling in Israel.

The whole family. A solid bunch.

The remnants from other campers' gear made the perfect decorations for our little home.

Not sure sunsets get much better than in Israel, but we might have been lucky because even the locals were pretty blown away by the few we got while camping. 

Words to live by. We tell ourselves this at least once a day.

Serenated by Asaf and Jango - wait till you hear this gem. 

Jerusalem arguably has the most history per square foot than any other city and is beyond beautiful. Regardless of what you're looking for you'll find it there. Without going into the cliche specifics it is more than worth seeing. You'll learn more than you could in a text book, buy more than you'd want in a mall and discover more about any religion than you could in a church synagogue or mosque.