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AUSTRALIAN TRAVELOG
Story and photos by Julien Stranger
Showed up January 1st, seventeen hours
before I even left SF, due to the time difference.
When I left SF, it was raining and cold, so I had
on long pants and a sweatshirt; when I got off
the plane, it was 105. Immediately the pants
got cut off and the sweatshirt buried. My first
impression of Australia was that it didn't look
that different from California. They drive on the
wrong side of the road over there and some
times call an American like me a "sepo," which
means gringo, honkey, yank, etc... Some
Australians don't like us sepos, but I think it's
just because the girls dig our accent.
Me, Alan Petersen, John Montessi and Karma
Tsocheff, Seb Steel and An-1
drew Currie spent the first two
weeks doing demos down the
East Coast. Driving, sleeping.
skating, eating, driving, sleep-
Spiral clockwise from left: Kormo
slices a rail near the Sydney air-
port. John Montessi goes big on
the Big Day Out in Adelaide. The
Ramones let it roll. A local carves
o over-vertical corner over a chan
nel in Perth. Punk lives in the land
down under. Alan Petersen takes
the aerial escalator entrance in
Perth, then pops a bad ass ollie to
fakie on a Gold Coast halfpipe..
Koala nose wheelie. Volcanic
action in the middle of nowhere.
ing and so on. We started up on the Gold Coast
of Brisbane (Brizbin). Brisbane is a way cool city.
It's a lot mellower than some of the other major
cities. There are at least three killer skateparks
within an hour of the city. Also, the beaches and
waves are excellent. The street skating in Bris-
bane offers some very challenging terrain. One
of the things that's so rad about Australia is that
it's a young country so it doesn't have 2,000 year
old cobblestone roads everywhere like Europe.
The streets in the cities are all smooth, which is
especially killer
when you're on
the other side of
the planet and
you can get on
your board and
cut loose and
not be some
kook pedestrian.
tourist dragging
your feet across
the very same
ground as a mil-
lion lame tourists
before you. Fuck
no, roll! Maybe
get a beer and
just take it all in. That's one of the best things
about traveling. Anyway, we kept on going
down the coast toward Sydney. All the roads
through were closed due to gnarly brush fires, so
we all camped on the beach and the next day.
flew into Sydney. At the airport, Karma did an
insane grind on a railing.
Sydney is the largest and most fast-paced of
the cities I visited. I saw more beautiful girls than
you could shake a stick at. The skating in and
around Sydney is excellent. Bondi Beach has a
shitty vert ramp and an excellent mini right on
the beach with topless sunbathing girls for inspi
ration. The water is crystal clear. A short way out
side the city is Manly Skatepark, a really rad self-
contained trannied out street type area with a
sick box, rail, ledge and bowled out corners to
keep your speed going. Next to that is the
fastest vert ramp ever. The 2x4's are not stag
gered like most ramps, they're all touching and
laid on a steel frame and layered with steel.
Scary and fun. All along the trip, people would
tell us of other ramps and parks, "Not twenty
minutes from here," but we missed most of
on your board and stay around the buildings and
you'll find sick stuff everywhere. Pretty much all
you could want. And if you go down toward the
waterfront, you might even find three sets of
sweet brick banks with hips going both ways. It's
one of the best cities I ever went skating in, but
then pretty much all downtowns rip!
Down the coast from Sydney is Canberra, the
capital of Australia, home of Belconen Skate-
park, the mothership of parks I went to. It has a
12' keyhole that is perfect. Alan ripped this bowl
hard. There's also a vert ramp and some smaller
craters, banks and bowls to grind and snap on.
Further down the coast from Canberra is Mel-
bourne (Mel-burn). It was raining our first day in
Melbourne and me and Curry went walking
downtown and he gave me the Gonz tour, show
ing me all the mind-blowing stuff Gonz did four
or five years ago, mind-blowing to this day, and
telling me the stories that went with the skating.
The next day was sunny and a perfect day for
Prahran Park, which is a twenty minute trolley
ride out of downtown. Prahran has a sweet 10'
steel ramp and a crescent moon shaped bank
that's about 5 1/2' high at the middle, then
tapers down. It's a rad spot to kick back, skate
and check out girls, because it's in the middle of
a part of town where lots of people hang out.
Across town there's a bowl with a 6' deep end
and 4' shallow end connected by a spine and a
them. The streets of Sydney rule. Rule! Just get hump. Way fun.
Down on the south coast of Australia is Ade-
laide. I didn't skate there, but the locals told
about what sounded like a sick park.
Clear on the other side of the country is Perth,
home of Bon Scott. Downtown looked cool, but
tucked away between the skyscrapers, down a
narrow dead-end alley was a sick bowled mini in
a warehouse. Thanks for having us over, Ross.
When you're out there, don't listen to people's
opinions. If they tell you about some place to
skate but say, "It sucks," go there and see for
yourself. Chances are it's rad. Half the people
you meet may only think the local waxed up
curb or ledge is what's rad, but we all skate that
stuff at home.
So keep your mind open and your eyes and
your ears peeled. Just don't forget to pack the
mozzy repellant.