MINING GOLD – GALLERY

On the first day of winter, we chartered a helicopter and set off in search of new waves in one of the most remote regions of Western Australia. Originally a surf-oriented mission, the trip soon became more about documenting and celebrating the natural beauty of this region. Check out the gallery below and if you haven’t already, don’t miss the video from the same trip (here).

Photos and words by Chris Gurney.

The view from inside the cabin. Our pilot was David Adamson from Specialist Helicopters; widely regarded as one of the very best in his field. Whatever we demanded the chopper do, he delivered.

Our team sizing up one of the first waves of the morning. We arrived and quickly realised the forecast had betrayed us. Wind, tide and swell were all out of rhythm and it didn’t look very surfable. Even across a crackly two-way radio channel, it was easy to tell the boys weren’t exactly keen to give it a dig.

With the wind blowing, tide dropping and fuel evaporating, Brad Norris stepped up to throw his hat into the ring. One out of every ten set waves was makeable, but it was now or never. This was the first and only wave ridden. Brad got pushed straight into reef, bruising his ribs, hip and back.

Brad pops up waving his arms in the impact zone as we come to the (perhaps inevitable) conclusion that the surfing aspect of this mission is well and truly over. Luckily, there were no serious injuries.

After the morning session finished, we went into shore and waited to shoot some golden afternoon empty waves. When we headed back out, we travelled past an incredible island that had a huge cave opening out to sea.

The wide angle lens doesn’t do justice to the size of this wave, but it helps illustrate the amount of water covering the reef. Choose the wrong wave or take a bad line and the odds are firmly against you popping up unscathed.

This was one of the best waves that came through all day. It combined with the best light of the afternoon and gave me one of my favourite images.

A rare chipshot wedge that almost looks playful but most certainly isn’t.

The great thing about being in the helicopter is seeing things that are normally overlooked. A prime example is the explosions after the wave has broken which can be hard to photograph from the water.

A lump with plenty of weight behind it.

Distant islands compete with a golden peak for dominance in this scene. The dramatic landscape in this region often steals your attention away from the waves.

At this point there was hardly any light left and we only had time to shoot a handful of waves. We hovered directly over the reef and watched as this set threw out beneath us.

Just enough time to shoot this island and rainbow on the way back home.