Fun in the Gutter

Day two in the city and it rained. Rained that tropical jungle kind of rain. You see it coming like a big puffy grey thing, and in two seconds it starts bucketing down with a "I'm gonna flood everything" kind of ferocity.

I got caught out in the local markets, camera it tow. Had to hide in a store for an hour. On the way back I came across this kid having a roll around by the street curb. I asked the local fruit peeling ladies who he belonged to but no one seemed to know.

I tried to sneak up to get these pics but he noticed after a while. I gave him a pack of gum and a few coins, a small price to pay and he was happy. For me this picture below captures so much. That feeling of the rain, the heat, laughter... this water had to be filthy but he didn't care.

I saw a gutter, this kid saw a whole lot of watery fun

I'm in the JUNGLE

Well hello there Amazon River!

I've seen plenty of jungles before right? Costa Rica, Hawaii, Panama, Samoa to list a few... but they all pale in comparison to this one - the one and only AMAZON! Seriously I feel like I'm ticking something so major off my bucket list, like a place you dream about as a little kid.

You don't realize the enormity of the Peruvian Amazon until you see it from the air. The thing is huge. I wonder how many tourists have disappeared in there?

Right now I'm spending my first night in Iquitos on the edge of the Amazon river. It's the largest city in the world not linked by roads, you can only get in by flight or boat. It's cool and all but after 5 weeks in Lima I'm pretty well citied out. I can see the wilderness right there, but the question is, how do I get in it? Being a major tourist hub there are all kinds of over priced sight seeing tours, but I'm looking for a different kind of experience. Here's hoping I can find it.

I really want to see a sloth. And an anaconda. Oooh and a pirahna!

Iquitos

The Nifty Fifty!

I love shooting the people in my life. Unfortunate for my friends, they're always like "Hey! You're pointing that camera at me AGAIN??"

I finally got a new toy yesterday. Trying to do everything with the same kit lens blows, so I'm on cloud nine. Meet the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8. We're in love. He may be small and plastic but don't let that fool you. The quality that come out of this baby is unreal.

So my latest guinea pig is my friend Mox. He has a Youtube show here in South America called "What da Faq Show". Yesterday I filmed a short one minute documentary about making his show and life in general. Here are the stills to go with it. I might release it soon, if you're lucky :)

Ceviche Secrets

I love ceviche. It's half the reason why I stayed here in Peru. Well that and the really really long lefts. Each country I visit has amazing food, it's one of the main joys of traveling, but Peru takes it to a whole new level. It's out of this world! Ceviche, Tiradito, Saltado, it's all so good. The other great thing is the fresh fish. Each little coastal town  (especially up north) has a pier. You can meet the fishermen as they come off their boats to buy freshly caught fish.

While I was living up north the locals taught me to cook traditional Peruvian ceviche. Lots of people have been asking me for the recipe, but you'll just have wait until the next issue of WSSM.

To accompany the article  I shot a Ceviche cooking segment for the mag. It was a blast running around the local market filming and buying ingredients. Except the security guys at the market place told us we couldn't shoot, so we tried to sneak around incognito. I ended up behind the counter at the fish stand doing an impromptue live cooking show as the vendor taught me to prep fillets for ceviche.

Here's a few snap shots from the video.

Lobing It

Latest video project. Filmed this around Lobitos Lodge the past few weeks. We had a blast chasing everyone around with the camera. The one big barrel shot is of my friend Segundo. That day was absolutely firing. I remember standing up on the rocks at El Hueco shooting this and just loosing my mind!

Big cheers to the amazing Kaiquin Castro Botto for helping me film/edit this. I would like to say I did most of it, but the truth is this was his baby.

I'm hearing this song in my sleep now and it's driving me nuts. See more of Kaiquin's work at his latest project Eighty West http://www.eightywest.tv/ The lucky bastard just set off for a month to shoot Puerto Escondido in Mex. Here's hoping he comes back alive.

Rolling Stone

And just like that it's over. Add it to the experience pile - the "remember that one time I thought it would be fun to manage a hotel in Northern Peru...."

Now I'm back in Lima the grey. and. it's. bloody. amazing! I don't even care about the cold or the lack of surf. Right now I'm in bed watching a movie, and it's so good to have some chill time.

There's so much I want to write about Lobitos. Lots of stories. But for now my writing brain is fried from playing catch up with magazine deadlines, so instead here are some pics.

I'm going to miss you Lobitos!

Turning 5

2008. A girl and a backpack, South Island NZ

This week is another celebration. It marks 5 wonderful year on the road. At least I think it does. My mum and I are trying to count it out now but neither of us are quite sure, it's been so long!  Originally I left for a one month trip with my backpack, surfboard and about $1500 in the bank. Around 17 countries and a lot of good waves later and I'm still going!

There's so many stories. So many stories and I don't want to forget them all.

But for now here's a little video kindly created by my dear friend Jose. He's very good at what he does, I'm fortunate to be able to work with him!