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The Independent

FREEZE FRAME

SURFING NOVA SCOTIA – TRAVEL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

FREEZE FRAME:
SURFING NOVA SCOTIA

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Lance Moore has represented Canada three times at the World Surfing Games. ‘First time in 1992, we were like the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team. I learnt a lot,’ he says. ‘Now I can hold my own with anyone if the waves are good.’

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to write a a main travel feature exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada.

THE RESULT

Chris Nelson wove together interviews and anecdotes to produce a cover feature for the Independent Travel supplement. Photography Richie Hopson.

Supported by Destination Canada

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by The Independent to write an article exploring an ‘off the beaten track’ surf destination. Chris travelled to Nova Scotia accompanied by photographer Richie Hopson, to spend time with the local surf community, hearing tales of pioneers and adventurers, stories of exploration and adversity. Chris’s contacts and reputation allowed an unrivalled access the scene. Combining personal insights and interviews, the resulting piece ‘Freeze Frame’ was the cover feature for the weekend travel supplement. The trip was kindly supported by Destination Canada.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent

It is still dark as I struggle into my damp wetsuit. My toes are beginning to numb as I stamp my feet and breathe a warm, ghostly mist onto my pink fingers. The new block of malleable cold-water wax I’ve brought from Cornwall has protested at the drop in temperature by turning into something that resembles a lump of diamond-hard, coconut-scented flint.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent. Photography Richie  Hopson
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FREEZE FRAME

As surfers, our quest is always for the perfect wave, but the fine print has always included a warm-water clause. Over the decades we’ve scoured the Equator looking for the ultimate ride; risked leaky ferries off Bali, malaria-riddled jungles in Java, shark-infested waters off Mozambique and civil wars from Nicaragua to Sri Lanka.

They have been surfing in this Canadian province since Saturday 7 July 1962. “The amazing thing about our surf history is that we can trace it back to the very first day a Nova Scotian paddled out on a surfboard,” says first-generation surfer Jim Leadbetter. “Rod Landymore and his brother had a father who was in charge of the Eastern Fleet. An American admiral came to visit and brought them two surfboards. They caught their first waves that very day.”

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SURFING NORWAY

BRACING BREAKS IN THE NORTH – TRAVEL FEATURE – DEMI TAYLOR

BRACING BREAKS IN THE NORTH

> SURFING NORWAY <

The white noise intensified into a roar as a thousand black boulders were marshalled in and out of formation by the sea, each movement serving to sculpt the rocks into ever-more precise globes.

THE IDEA

To explore the previously unheralded surf potential of the Stavanger region of Norway for a main travel feature.

THE RESULT

Written by Demi Taylor the surfing Norway article featured in The Independent accompanied by photography by herself and Chris Nelson.

THE APPROACH

Demi was commissioned by the Independent newspaper to write a main travel feature about a surf destination that was off the beaten track. Supported by the Norwegian Tourist Board, Demi travelled to Stavanger to explore the region. Timing her visit to coincide with one of best swells to hit the region in decades, Demi’s reputation as a surf writer meant she was taken to some of the region’s closely guarded surf spots and given unrivalled access to the community. The resulting feature exploring the potential of Surfing Norway weaves together interviews, anecdotes and first hand travel insights.

Bracing Breaks in the North. Demi Taylor catches some extremely cool waves Surfing in Norway

For more than an hour, six of us traded waves. The party included Norway’s first surfer, Roar Berge, who spent the 1980’s pioneering these shores. ‘Well, that was a religious experience,’ he exclaimed as he walked back to the car park, grinning ear-to-ear. His face said it all, while his background put it into context; this really was a special day.

bracing breaks
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