"Looking back to my time in Teahupoo, its the most magical place on Earth, so raw, so spiritual, the land, the wave all of it. Its something else. 

I had set my sights on surfing Teauhpoo for a while, but COVID had prevented me from getting there until Winter 2022. I managed to get from Hawaii to Tahiti on the first flight back in after they reopened to tourism for this first swell of the season too. I was there for a couple of months, just getting used to the place, taking my time to learn the wave, doing dawnies with the local crew and doing my time there. 

This particular swell in the photo was probably the most significant wave I’ve ever had at that point and was my first break. I remember there was so much talk and hype around this swell, saying it was gnarly and so west it would make most the barrels non-makeable. The night before I hardly slept, I was so amped. I knew I had put in the work but I didn't really know what to expect.

I was sitting on the boat out there watching and was talking myself in and out of if I was gonna give it a crack, definitely getting inside my own head a bit. I remember this guy on the boat turning around to me saying, "Mate I been watching you surf this for a while, this is what your here for, you have the talent now pack your balls and go show the world what you got!” …so I grabbed my board and jumped off the boat. I think I owe him for that ha ha.

The line up was pretty intimidating, all the older pro big wave surfers out there, Lucus & Joao Chumbo, Nate & Ivan Florence, plus some other crew. I had just been sitting in the line up, trying to watch and learn and there were a few waves that come through no one looked at. Then this bigger one came through and a couple of guys looked at it but I was deeper and I knew it was now or never. So I put my head down, paddled as hard as I could. I got to my feet and held my line and scored the best wave of my life at the time. I'll never forget it!. Everyone is super nice in the way but everyone stills wants that ‘one’ wave out there so it makes it all a little bit more special.