This is what dreams are made of, trekking through the bush to find a clearing for the first glimpse of what lies around the corner. Behold, a perfect peak with no one around for miles. Click one of the links below to download this desktop wallpaper.
To go with the previous post we give you WAVE CLOUD SAND, a short film we produced while filming for Way of The Ocean. We were drawing so much inspiration from the empty waves we were finding that we decided to create a short piece that pays tribute to the elements.
Waves are created as wind transfers energy to the ocean’s surface. As the wind blows, it pushes the water in front of it. The water gains energy from the wind due to the friction between the wind and water. RPS MetOcean found that the waves around Australia constitute an energy resource of almost 200,000 megawatts, or four times the country’s total currently installed power-generation capacity. We tapped into this energy source with another week of lefts, rights, a frames, crowds, empty line ups and everything in between.
While on the Gold Coast we spent a day at the D’Arcy surfboard factory to check out the process of building a board and to find out how D’Arcy’s shop was named the most environmentally friendly facility in Australia. While there is still a need to develop greener materials used to build a board, D’Arcy shows that we can still take action now to ensure the cleanest outcome for the environment and our future. The factory is outfitted with various extraction fans and other technology to lower the toxic dust and floating fumes emitted in the manufacturing process. The air leaving the building is actually cleaner than the air outside and with just a 3% emission output, the factory is setting high standards for environmental responsibility and awareness.
Australia is geographically isolated from the rest of the world, and contains distinctive plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. Eucalyptus forests dominate much of coastal Australia, Scrub dominates the inland regions, and pockets of tropical and subtropical rainforests can be found on Australia’s eastern and northern coasts. Temperate rainforest can be found in New South Wales, Victoria, and the island state of Tasmania. The oldest rainforests on earth are situated in the Daintree National Park and also the Cape Tribulation National Park. The Karri forests on Australia’s south west coast contain some of the worlds highest trees, some trees can reach heights of 90 m (300 ft).
Over millions of years, as the climate and geography changed, the Australian tropical rainforests receded to a small band between the coast and and the Great Dividing Range, and stretching from Cooktown in the north to Townsville in the south. Today these rainforests represent less than one thousandth of the country’s total land mass. Despite their relatively small size, the rainforests are home to an amazing diversity of life and provide a living record of the ecological and evolutionary processes which have shaped Australia’s plants and animals for over 415 million years. To protect these rainforests, and to ensure that they are preserved for future generations, they were placed on the World Heritage list in 1988.
After a long week of production we needed a down day to relax and the rainforest is just the place to do that. Here is a look at one of the many beautiful spots we visited aside from the ocean.
The crew over at MESURF took some time to interview us recently, check it out for some insight into CIRCULATE and take a look at the rest of the site for tons of great content. Read the interview here.
Here is the first of many WAY OF THE OCEAN desktop wallpapers. We will be offering new imagery weekly. Click one of the links below for the correct size. The file will open in a new window.
The only thing constant is change . . . and as time marches on around us it is easy to loose sight of all the natural beauty that surrounds our everyday lives. Often we forget to sit back, relax and take it all in, creating our own pace.
More than half of the earth’s population lives within 60 miles (100 km) of the ocean. But even those who live far away feel the effects the ocean has on our weather. The ocean has the ability to absorb, store, and release heat into the atmosphere and by doing so directly affects the land. Changes in water temperature cause major climate events such as El Nino, those temperature changes have a huge impact on weather events such as hurricanes, typhoons, floods, and droughts which directly affect the land and the people that live on that land.
We awoke to a fresh cool offshore breeze and a solid 4 foot swell. It was a tell tale sign of the changing of seasons. The cool, dry morning offshores that often accompany winter greet the strong southerly swells and groom the long lines into clean hollow a frames.
Earlier this year more than half a million students lent a hand to help Clean Up Australia as part of the 2009 Schools Clean Up Day. Estimates suggest that students from 2400 schools have removed as much as 2,880 TONS of trash from the environment, that’s the equivalent weight of 60 army tanks. Its hard to conceive that in just one day so much trash could be found and removed. Makes you think about how much of a difference it would make if everyone picked up just one thing from the beach every time they went for a surf? Big changes can be made by simple efforts.
A day on the Gold Coast
Entry 5: The Gold Coast
We headed back to Coolangatta where Asher lives to meet up with Josh Kerr who had some time off between WCT events. The waves were only small but there was hope on the horizon. We settled for a quick afternoon session and then assessed the situation for the remainder of the week and once again things were looking good in the forecast. stay tuned for video . . .
The gold coast of Australia can be quite a spectacle at times. Modern high rises dwarf the many palm trees and beach goers while surf shop after surf shop line the beach side streets filled with restaurants and shopping malls. One thing is certain, surfing is a major part of daily life on the gold coast and for good reason. The climate is subtropical with 287 days of sunshine annually, an average water temp of 72 degrees and enough world class point breaks and beach breaks to satisfy even the most seasoned traveler.
With a population of 482,566 in 2005, the gold coast is the seventh largest city in Australia and is also the most biologically-diverse city in Australia. Its vegetation ranges from mountain rainforest to coastal wetlands and is home to more than:
* 34 species of amphibians
* 323 birds
* 72 mammals
* 71 reptiles
* 25 species of fish
With so much diversity in such a small stretch of coast we were looking forward to checking out all the gold coast has to offer.
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Ocean Facts
