Riley Rocket Morrison

Durban skate trip

Durban gets a double thumbs up for its Moses Mabhida stadium and the ICC, but the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for what has become of its Mexican restaurant. While most of our time was spent in and around Durban, we also took a trip up to the Valley of a 1000 hills to see the newly built pool, which is Dallas' latest addition to the Indigo Skate Camp.

Lesotho

"We should do this more often...." just turned off the freeway and onto the open road heading to Lesotho. This was my first time to Lesotho, and once again I was blown away by another awesome getaway spot right on our doorstep. We were heading to the Afri-ski resort to catch one of the the last few weeks of snowboarding before the end of the season. We somehow managed to turn a 5 hour trip into 10 hours with the combination of an extended breakfast in Bethlehem, an expired passport at the border, some deliberating over whether or not to tie someone to the roof racks of the car? a trip back to home affairs in Bethlehem, some pit stops to take in the views, the balaclava horse gang who have a way of making you depart with your alcohol or money before they'll let you pass and some overheating concerns made the last 30 km's quite stressful. Luckily we had been driving for so long that the sun had started to disappear and with it the heat. The frozen ponds and blocks of ice on the side of the road bare testament to just how cold it gets at night, so the dropping temperature helped to ease our paranoia and it was relief to have the resort in our sights.

The accommodation was perfect. I had visions of a backpackers when asked to bring pillows and a sleeping bag but was pleasantly surprised when greeted by a spacious wooden house with all the comforts of home. It was so warm inside that you'd often pause to turn off the running tap in the kitchen sink, only to remember that the result would be frozen pipes. The noise of the water falling into the metal sink would slowly torture whoever fell victim to the couch instead of their bed.

The slope is actually a lot larger than it appears and makes for a good ride. The ski lifts were out of action for most of Saturday and if you were desperate enough (like us) you could stand in line and get a lift to the top on the snow plough. The lifts started working again at about 3pm and we made sure to get our money's worth before the sun set and the tears froze to our face.

Injuries included, doing half a backflip by walking on a section of iced paving and shooting both feet forward at the same time and landing flat on my back. The scorpion move perfected near the end of the run, where you go from 40km/h to dead still in about two meters by catching your front rail, planting your face in the snow and almost hitting yourself in the back of your head with your own snowboard. Then the, run, trip and dive down 5 stairs to hand grating which wins you a trip to medic before you can go down more vodka!

All together a great spot which can only be better mid winter and worth another visit.

Revolution rooftop

We had some cheese and wine on the roof of the Revolution building to say farewell to Alice who will be leaving for the UK shortly.

Thunderstorms

Its that time of year when everything gets washed out with a late afternoon thunderstorm. Friday's sunset, just after the storm.

Window seat

A few shots just after sunrise before landing back in Johannesburg

Bali

We decided it had to be done. Just like every skateboarder should visit Barcelona at least once, Bali is its equal for surfing. The biggest difference for me is 15 years of experience on a skateboard and only a couple of weeks over the past 5 years on a surfboard

So before we knew it we had a crew of four, Two from Cape Town and Myself and Clint from Johannesburg. I wasn't sure what to expect from this trip, but I never like to think about a new place too much before getting there, rather arrive and take it in slowly. What I did know was that everyone else in the world who loves surfing feels the same about Bali and the chances of uncrowded perfect waves were slim.

Bali is small, scooters are readily available and there's plenty of accommodation. We settled on the side of the island which has a couple of surf spots within easy reach and besides a day trip to a neighboring island and a visit to Kuta (tourist central), we didn't move around much. It takes a day or two to get into the flow of navigating your scooter through the streets, but you soon get into the swing of things. One of the first things I noticed was people patience on the road. The roads can be chaotic, 5 on a scooter, kids 10 years and younger with no helmets and there buddies on the back, traffic coming towards you in your lane etc (the traffic coming towards you happens daily), but although this is ongoing I didn't see anyone getting angry once, people simply move over and make space instead of making a fuss... Its mind blowing when you come from a road rage society where people blow up for the smallest thing. The best part of all is that its infectious, when the people around you are that patient you feel the same.

Normal life and tourist life is chalk and cheese. The one side of the island is a congregation of hotels, everything you need is within reach and there is plenty of western names to bore you. On the other side (where ourselves and most of the surf spots are) is a lot less glamorous, not to say there isn't great accommodation, but its quite dirty and poor so when you aren't on the beach you can quickly forget you're on an island. On our ferry ride to a neighboring island we saw the ocean being treated like a dustbin. Rubbish was leaving the boat everyone second and even being collected in packets and then dumped over the side. We began to have our say but Rambo in his camo pants didn't seem like he was up for chat after adding his contribution to the water. We left that alone.

The surf is amazing, perfect lefts and warm water. The spots are always crowed so unless you go exploring neighboring islands and their breaks you won't have the waves to yourself...ever.

I had good and bad times but I'm grateful I had the chance to check it out and be there with friends. Its less of an island vibe than I expected, I think Thailand's the place for that, but its certainly got its own flavour and if you surf you have to go...Bagus!

Wedding invite

Ingrid and Craig soon to be married on the beach in J-bay, this is their wedding invite!

Lomo look

Some self timer shots of my girlfriend (Jo) and I on route home. The ride through the mountains is super rad and worth taking the time to check it out.

Morning stroll

As you can see from the post below, the berg is still very dry so there are loads of fires. At night its way more obvious and you can see just how many fires are burning on the mountain. We took a quick stroll before heading out in the morning, there's not that much to see because the camp is surrounded by huge open plains but all the fire breaks and other burnt paches make for some good contrast.

Drakenburg

Spent a day in the Drakensburgh over the long weekend and camped at a place called amphi backpackers. You camp on a huge open plain facing the amphitheatre and the views are amazing