image BRETT MCDONALD
SEA
There's still a few waves less traveled out there. Photo - Alex Brunton
DOGS BLAKE PARKER http://yeahhroy.tumblr.com/ BRETT MCDONALD http://brettmcdonald.tumblr.com/ KEEGAN CRONIN www.keegancronin.com BRENTON DE-ROOY https://www.facebook.com/BWDphotos ALEX BRUNTON http://www.alexbrunton.com/ ZACH LUCAS http://zackhlucas.tumblr.com/
It’s been a while between drinks for us here at FC-HQ. There have been numerous mountains of excuses for our lack of product, the truth is that simply FLUXCLUB has been on the back-burner for way too long now. As a result we have managed to get together a new bunch of creative minds, all bringing something new to the table. This issue is packed full to the brim of new exciting stoke to get all you rattlesnakes jiving in your seats. A massive props goes out to all those who help made this issue what it is, sorry for the long delay folks! A massive mention goes out to Blake Parker who's image from the Cook Islands landed him smack bang on the front page. If you wish to join the ranks of our scurvy ridden sea-dogs and contribute, don’t hesitate to email. fluxclubmag@gmail.com
Alex Brunton - a bloke with an awful lot of talent behind a camera. Even with his film cameras Alex is still able to capture the east-coast-stoke.
Huey turns it on Perched groms An image taker images BRETT MCDONALD
S O U P A C I F D R E A M
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H I C I N G
all images blake parker
Anyone who has spent a bit of time in any education system will be able to tell you that sometimes work placement will be needed to pass corses or obtain on-hand learning. Often these are too your local school down the road, a newspaper with a satanic editor or even to the local mechanics where they'll teach you the art of highway-robbery. A good friend of mine, Blake Parker, is an education student here in Newcastle. Blake is an honest bloke from a hard working town. You'll often see him puling the dawn patrol
looking for the best morning slab the ocean has to offer. Turns out he knows how to use the system to get something back from it. Late last year, Blake managed to somehow turn one of his large work placements for university in the Cook Islands. Gets some mates involved, pack some boards and you got yourself an ol' fashion surf trip in paradise.
Rarotonga, a volcanic speck in the middle of the South Pacific ocean, 32 km in circumference is home to amazing people, breathtaking scenery and perfect bodyboarding waves. During November and December of last year, two friends and I went over with two goals in mind; Complete our third year teaching prac, and score some ridiculous tropical pits, thankfully we were able to tick off both. During the six weeks that we called Raro our home, we met some cool Tasmanians, an alcoholic kiwi, a seemingly nomadic Frenchman and were lucky enough to get to know some of the local boogers. In between playing ping-pong, husking coconuts, chasing pigs, teaching kids, destroying the d-floor at Whatever Bar and doing burnouts on hired scooters, I managed to capture these island moments so I had more to come home with then fuzzy memories of ladyboy shows at the ReHab. Thanks to Eric Gamez at the Booghouse for showing us a good time and getting us onto a couple of waves and the rest of the crew that made the trip truly epic. Yew. Blake Parker
to know some of the local boogers. In between playing ping-pong, husking coconuts, chasing pigs, teaching kids, destroying the d-floor at Whatever Bar and doing burnouts on hired scooters, I managed to capture these island moments so I had more to come home with then fuzzy memories of lady-boy shows at the ReHab. Thanks to Eric Gamez at the Booghouse for showing us a good time and getting us onto a couple of waves and the rest of the crew that made the trip truly epic. Yew. Blake Parker
8:28pm FC so the trip wasn't just the usual surf, went to knock over some uni prac, did going over for not just surfing give a bit more of an experience than a trip solely to score waves 8:29pm Blake Parker Yeah for sure, umm. Going over to teach really connected me and my 2 mates to the local culture and people. Becoming apart of their community lead us to cool things that we may not have experienced if we weren't teaching The wedding we went to was pretty eye opening! 8:31pm FC Did you have to make any connections back from oz before heading over? A local wedding would have been a pretty rad insight! 8:31pm Blake Parker Ahh not really, we had accommodation sorted (boog house) and the schools that we were going to teach, but apart from that we went in pretty blind, except from what other people had told me. The different kinds of foods, watching local music and finding out the right places to eat and shop all added to the island life.
8:38pm FC
9:51pm FC
did any of your mates go over aswell with the inceptive to get some teaching out of the way or was that more of a solo mission
far out that sounds wacky!
8:40pm Blake Parker
9:51pm Blake Parker
One food I was very dubious about, but eventually came to try was sashimi - raw fish. One morning we I went with 2 other teaching mates. went fishing and between catching the One is a booger from boxy, the other tuna and filleting, adding soy sauce a stand up come booger from Forster. and wasabi was maybe 1 and a half During the 6 weeks over, two other hours. mates from Newy came for a short It was a pretty different taste but stint. We also stayed with some was kind of weirdly delicious. super cool Tassie guys and a crazy Yeah it fully surpassed my Frenchman living on King Island. expectations in every way. The uni side was so much smoother and more 9:48pm of a learning experience than I FC ever would have imagined and the photographic opportunities, both in do you think that your expectations the water and out were so good! of the cooks was exceeded by the type of trip you did; going to try 9:58pm and get some uni out of the way in FC paradise rather than just a stock standard get scenic waves mission Sounds like a pretty epic opportunity for someone such as 9:49pm yourself who has an ever-growing Blake Parker passion for photography. Keen to bail by the end or was it abit like We did all of this but I think the wanting to stay for the endless added teaching experience/connecting summer? in with the locals and the amount of time we were on the island 10:02pm accumulated into an extra ordinary Blake Parker trip. Local cuisine. Haha, Tuna Jerky Ha. So my prac went for 4 weeks, sucks! As soon as I tasted in, meaning i had 2 weeks to just chill images of salted cat food came into afterwards. A continually depleting my mind. Out of courtesy i felt bank account coupled with a couple forced to try some, but I didn't go of no surf days combined to the back for seconds! beginnings of rock fever. By the They pretty much live on a vegetable last day, I was pretty keen to get called Taro. On its own its kinda out of there but after about a week flavorless but they do some cool stuff in Newy I was wishing that I was with it. back in the tropics living the good life.
10:08pm FC you say you got some chron cabin fever by the end of things was there much to do besides surf fish and teach? 10:12pm Blake Parker There was this cool Jetty that was opened a week before we rocked up. Many afternoons were spent down on the jetty, practicing back slaps and superman flips or swimming out to the adjacent reef pass, much to the amazement of local onlookers. Apart from that, there was a lot of time spent burning rubber on the rental scooters, husking coconuts and playing ping pong 10:15pm FC haha burn through a few paddles with the pong 10:15pm Blake Parker you wouldn't believe. At least 15-20 games a night! and somehow managed to only crack one ball. 10:22pm FC epic moments to the trip? 10:23pm Blake Parker One particular afternoon really stands out above all the epic moments. The amount of perfect, large barrels that came through in the session was just stupid. And out of the whole trip, I saw the two best waves, both went unridden as they broke a bit further down the reef then the usual ones. I guess that session was the highlight. 10:41pm FC Thanks for your time man
SOAK IN THE STOKE
image BRETT MCDONALD
image BRETT MCDONALD
Stoke 1. To stir up and feed (a fire or furnace). 2. To feed fuel to and tend the fire of (a furnace). bullshit v.intr. 1. To feed or tend a furnace or fire. 2. Informal To eat steadily and in large quantities.
images BRETT MCDONALD
images BRETT MCDONALD
Wait Who? Zach Lucas Lucas is a grom from the quiet coastal town of Old Bar, a small coastal town about mid-way up the east-coast of NSW. Coming from such a small, coastal community its no wonder that Lucas has taken up interest in his natural surroundings. Lucas is a child of the digital age, being brought up on the various emerging technologies. It's no surprise that coming from the surf-haven of a town that he has, that he might end up being part of the scene one way or another. Turns out Zack's taken up reigns behind a camera lens, and with a newly purchased water housing, hes been able to show his progression with the camera from the water. Watch out because in time, if this grom keeps at it he'll have something special on his hands
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF ZACK LUCAS
Brenton de Rooy prepares for a quick early morning torpedo session out at the Nobby's bank // Newcastle
image BRETT MCDONALD
ARVO LIGHT
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KEEGAN CRONIN
image BRETT MCDONALD
images KEEGAN CRONIN
✈
images ALEX BRUNTON
THE VALUE OF LIGHT
a collection of landscapeS PHOTOGRAPHED by BRETON DE ROOY
I met Brenton just over a year ago through a good mate of mine. Introduced out in the surf, he told me how he had a passion for photography, at the time landscapes was his love. Brenton has this amazing appreciation and fascination with the bright fading colors of an afternoons sunset, and the ability to depict them in ways that make most of jealous. Here is a collection of some of his favorites from the archives.
image BRETT MCDONALD
"that wave was utter bullshit" image BRETT MCDONALD
Craig Ando - Nobby's Punt image BRETT MCDONALD
image ALEX BRUNTON
until next time...
image ALEX BRUNTON