It was always the people I met that made me want to go surfing.

They were happy! The happiest people I’d ever seen! They travelled around the world looking for waves and stories, and told each other of epic times, frothing for their next adventure.

There was definitely more to be stoked on than just the waves. And of course it was the boys! Their white blonde hair matched only by their bleached white teeth.

After my time in Sri Lanka, they enticed me to move to Newquay where I caught my first green wave, then bought my first fibreglass board.

One thing travelling gives you is the thirst for knowledge.

With a few years of wandering under my belt it was a serendipitous moment when I discovered you could actually study surfing!

I found a Bachelor of Science, in Surf Science and Technology, based at a world-class surfing location. For three years I lived and learned in south-west Western Australia.

I studied the oceans and what was in them, the weather and what was happening ‘out there’.

I worked with the local council on managing the coastal zone and wondered why there were still politicians heading up the artificial reef committees.

I got to surf with a West Aussie hero – our seasonal lecturer Mike McAuliffe – and uni trips down to Denmark were spent surfing our brains out and yarning around the campfire.

The highlight of my second year was taking the job as Event Director for the uni’s regional surfing competition.

My team and I couldn’t believe our luck, it was 6-8ft Yalls, clear skies and offshore!

Everyone surfed from grommets to the open men’s but the highlight for me was the power and style of the girls in such challenging conditions.

That time spent liaising with the local community, developing marketing plans and obtaining sponsorship, really propelled me into the Cape Naturaliste surfing subculture.

I started working for a local surfboard manufacturer and within a year I was redeveloping their website and using uni electives to write research papers about the unique culture of the surf shop.

I love that Yahoo Surfboards is a family run business who really care about their customers and what’s best for them. Mark Ogram and his son Zak love getting creative and always have the time for customer input.

I feel proud travelling around the world with a Yahoo board under my arm, even cooler that it has my name written all over the stringer.

I think if surfing had a Bible, the first commandment would be; “A surfer shall always get itchy feet”.

It wasn’t long before I was off again – in and out of Indonesia, up to India and Nepal (I’m not sure how I wandered into one of the most land-locked countries in the world!), the south-west of France, couldn’t help but stop over in Sri Lanka and back to Sydney.

I was then offered a position at a surf resort in the Mentawais Islands, a five hour ferry ride from the mainland of  northern Indonesia. For three months I lived and worked in the jungle, surrounded by the most beautiful waves I’ve ever seen.

It’s incredible how surfing intensively enhances your performance and I fell in love with it all over again. Every day as we took the guests to and from the waves on an Indo long boat I couldn’t believe this was my daily commute!