Mr Price Pro Ballito

This past week I got to work at the Mr Price Pro Ballito, an event I absolutely love as not only do I adore the sport of surfing, but the event takes place in my neck of the woods, practically in my back yard.
It was so divine to be a part of the event buzz and hear all the foreign accents meandering around the beaches and taking to the Ballito waves. Apart from the final day, the weather wasn't the greatest, but despite that, the crowds flocked to the beach to show their support. Good form Ballito, good form. 
The event was flippin' amazing, and I was so proud of our Saffa surfers Dylan Lightfoot, Beyrick de Vries and Jordy Smith for surfing outstandingly well. In the end, it was Jordy Smith (SA) and Julian Wilson (Aus) that went head-to-head in the final, and my God, I have never seen surfing like that in a final in my life. The hugest airs were being punted and landed, turns were being smashed and perfect 10 waves were being ridden. It was an edge-of-your-seat-bite-your-nails kind of 30 minutes as we supported our local man Jordy who ended up placing second to Julian Wilson who took out a well deserved win of the event. 
The prize-giving ceremony was loads of fun and I got to stand under some champagne showers as the boys celebrated their results. Such a beautiful day watching the world's best do their thing on Ballito waves. I already can't wait for next year! 

 (Yours truly in the green shorts on the far left)

Congrats to Jordy and Julian!

{All pictures from the Mr Price Pro website}

Spotted on 'Guy With Camera' Blog

Last week some friends of mine and I went cycling/skating along the Durban beachfront promenade (blogpost and pics soon to follow), and I distinctly remember a guy standing with an SLR taking some shots of us as we rode past. You know those times when a rando takes a photo of you and 1) you wonder what the heck that picture will look like, and 2) wonder where the heck it will show up. Well, a friend sent me a link on Facebook to the 'Guy With Camera' blog telling me to check it out because I showed up in one of the featured photos. 'Twas a nice little surprise. 
I so loved the entire blog post that the Guy With Camera did about my hometown Durban, that I thought I'd share it along with some of the beautiful photos that accompanied it.


As seen on www.guywithcamera.co.za:
Durban
While growing up in Natal, Durban always had the feeling of a dated city. Like retro theme park or a sticky swimming pool flooded with flashbacks in beach mosaic and the smell of suncream SPFs. A summer nostalgia for South Africans who used to swarm in from middle country. The vaal flocks of GP numberplates. “Are those all doctors?” But slowly the city seems to be shedding it’s past prime plastic and reinventing itself. It still keeps that warm retro charm but after walking the new promenade, exploring brave new coffee shops in industrial umbilo and seeing rooftop gardens on downtown city blocks, you get the feeling the city is becoming alive again. Durban doesn’t have a large network of creative types supported by advertising and media houses like in Cape Town or Joburg who are normally the fuel behind interesting city concepts. A lot of Durbanites migrate to Cape Town craving creative stimulation. But many of these new Durban projects are started by people who’ve studied art in Barcelona or have had a software company in San Fransisco making apps for Apple. And they’ve realised that there’s nothing wrong with applying new ideas in your home town while surfing in boardshorts over your lunch break.

Durban, isn't it pretty?