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The following is an excerpt from the travelogue of Sanuk surf teamrider, Torrey Meister.

I was really looking forward to traveling and checking out New Zealand. This year, there was a 6-star WQS event in Gisborne, so I knew there were no excuses not to go. My Mom and step dad also have a place in New Zealand and they always rant and rave about how beautiful it is with fun uncrowded surf. I was really excited to go down there with them and get the New Zealand experience.

The first part of the trip was a bummer. I showed up to Auckland, NZ with no boards or bags. We ended up staying the night in there waiting for the bags but they did not show. The airline “promised” us that the bags would be transported to the house we were staying at in Gisborne (a good 6 hour drive from Auckland) the next day.

With the contest starting in just two days and the promise we were given, we decided to start our long journey down to Gisborne hoping the bags would show up. Unfortunately, they didn’t they didn’t show up at all while we were in Gisborne. I had to borrow a board and a wetsuit from a local New Zealand guy so I could surf my heat. I ended up losing and we left Gisborne the next day on our way up to Bay of Islands, which is where my mom and step dad have a house. It’s an 10 hour drive to the Bay of Islands from Gisborne and we had to pick up my luggage in Auckland on the way. We spent all day and night in the car arriving to the house in the wee hours of the morning.

This is where the trip got good… I had a week to spend with them before I headed up to Western Australia for another surf contest and we took full advantage of the time we had. Surfing fun beach breaks every morning with no one around watching the sunrise and set everyday on the beach, I remember just being in awe of how beautiful this place was. We went on hikes in rainforest that had more different shades of green then I thought possible and we also hiked to a big waterfall and the best part about it was there wasn’t a soul around

We checked out a few historical sites where there were Maori canoes that were 70 years old. They were carved with all kinds of faces, animals, and symbols painted with reds and blacks. The Maoris reminded me a lot of the Hawaiians so I guess I felt right at home in New Zealand.

The last day the waves got really good which was just an exclamation point on how much fun we had in the Bay of Islands!

Smile…pass it on!

Meet Sanuk’s world-travelling surf, contest machine and scholastic dominator, miss Amy Nicholl.

Hailing from New Smyrna Beach, Flordia Amy is the real deal. In recent years, she has amassed a long list of surfing achievements including an ESA Eastern Championship, three ESA Southeast Regional titles, three ESA Scholastic Championships, an NSSA East Coast Girl’s title and an Explorer Women title. At just 16, Amy became the Surfing America under 16 Girl’s Champion and a Rip Curl National Grom Search Champion. Phew!

And according to Amy, now 20 years of age, the biggest highlight of her amateur career was “having been a 3 year member of the ESA All Star Team and a 3 year member of the USA Surf Team”. Needless to say, Amy has pretty much perfected this maneuver:

We like to call it, the “Check Please!”

When Amy isn’t in the water kickin’ major bootay in her contest heats, she can be found in the undergraduate program at the University of Central Florida studying marketing and captain-ing the UCF Surf Team.

When the waves go flat in Florida, Amy can be found behind the boat enjoying her new hobby- wake surfing.

…Proving sometimes you’ve got to spin it to win it!

Welcome to Chapter 3 of Shayne’s Sanuks- a growing collection of photos taken by Sanuk surf shredder/traveler/full-time family man, Shayne McIntyre.

If you missed the first and second installments do check ‘em out (Look, we’ve even hi-lighted them for ya).

This time, Shayne shows us around his old stomping grounds- San Diego. More  specifically, the sleepy, sea-grass covered coves of La Jolla. As a mecca for surf culture, San Diego has seen it’s fair share of legends come, go and stick around. Here, Shayne gives us his unique take on what makes this area so special:

“This is an image of the Wind an’ Sea “Shack” in San Diego, taken at first light (I later caught a couple of those fun wedgy rights you see in the lineup).  This is where I grew up, learned to surf, and even made my first dollar when I was a kid fixing dings with Stecker right there at the shack.  The foundations of my appreciation for surfing and everything that goes with it started here.”

“Along with Family, Wind an’ Sea is what I miss most about San Diego now that I live in Puerto Rico – but I always find time when visiting to stop by and spend as much time there as I can.  One day I’ll move back.”

“This is image is facing South taken from under the shack.  The whole area is really beautiful and never really gets too crowded because there are no direct links to the freeways making it a hassle to make your way down here.  Some people also don’t like all the rocks or body-wamp…those are some of my favorite things.”

“The surfers of Windan’ Sea have made a huge impact on the culture & performance of surfing today that can’t be underestimated: Bob Simmons – breaking away from the single fin into twin fin planing hulls revolutionizing surfboard design forever. Style pioneer,Phil Edwards, who was the first person to drop in at Pipeline among other things.

Mike Hynson, Skip Frye, Butch Van Artsdalen… even Miki Dora got in to the Windan’ Sea Surf Club due to it’s prestige even though he lived in LA. Tom Lochefeldt did his best to keep surfers out of Windan’Sea and invented the “WaveLoch” standing wave which has people riding waves from Abu Dhabi to the decks of Cruise ships today. Other noteworthy surfers include Bill Caster, Chris O’Rourke, Peter King, Richard Kenvin, Tim Bessell, Jon Roseman, Saxon Boucher, & Derek Dunfee, not a complete list by a mile…”

“This little fun right is called Turtles and runs off a rock to the North of Windan’Sea’s main break right into the inside left meeting right on the sand.  It’s a fun wave on it’s day and gives some crowd relief for the groms on busy days.”

Where in the world will Shayne go next?

Photos and Story-Telling by: Shayne McIntyre

While Dorothy runs from big, scary storms, Alek Parker chases and shreds them to smithereens.

All year long, Alek has been watching weather forecasts like a hawk and strategically making moves put himself in the right place and the right time. His year has been spent scurrying up and down the coast in search of the biggest, baddest, wave-slinging storms Mother Nature has to offer.

Lately, Alek has been posting videos around the web of sessions during Hurricanes Alex, Danielle, Earl, Igor and Tropical Storm Nicole. Come December 20th, Alek will be releasing a full-lenth surf DVD available for download exclusively on TheSurfNetwork.com.

But who better to explain the vision than Mr. Parker himself:

“The Hunt started out as an idea to document the most exciting season we get as East Coast surfers. Now it has turned in to an annual project that I put everything I have into each year… This Movie is the first time I have made a surf video profiling a specific Hurricane Season.

“The Hunt 2010 Movie is not like the episodes you see throughout the season. It is a surf video where the surfing, lifestyle shots and music guide you through each major storm of the season. In chronological order from the first storm of the season Hurricane Alex to Hurricanes Dannielle, Earl, Igor and ending with Tropical Storm Nicole… High energy surf shredding from Canada to the Caribbean and everywhere in between…”

Here at Sanuk, we’re counting down the days. Why? Just take one look at the recently released trailer.

Get more Alek on  www.alekparker.com

Follow Alek on Twitter: @alekparker

Download “THE HUNT 2010″ December 20th exclusively on www.TheSurfNetwork.com

Quick- What’s the first thing that comes to mind when we say the word… Canada?

Maple syrupy? Wayne Gretzky? Grizzly Bears? Those burly Mountees with their strange pants?

All very valid. But, what if we told you Canada’s got insane surf? That’s right, surf.

You know, like waves and stuff…bro?

Well, it’s true and our very own surf-shredder, Balaram Stack, went on trip to see what all the hype was abOOT. Have a look, eh?