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The Darwin Experience by James Sakker.

September saw me winging my way up to Darwin for my first ever top end experience. The only reasonably timed flight was with Jetstar which filled me with trepidation due to past experiences. The check in process went smoothly however I forgot to ask for an exit row and ended up stuck between two middle aged ladies with my knees wedged under my chin.

MONSTER BLUE FIN! Text by Sterling Wilson, Images by Rob Torelli.

10,478. The number of kilometers separating my college apartment in Los Angeles from the icy water I was bobbing in off the West Coast of New Zealand. My head pushes out of the water and into the sunshine to see my friends cheering from the boat, seals diving down the bungee line, a bird pecking at Rob’s head as he films the excitement. Suddenly, the bungee in my hands goes taught and I crash back below the waves into the cold. It’s been nearly 30 minutes since I stuck the monster bluefin Tuna with a close-range shot from my five band Andre Spear Gun and it still shows no signs of slowing down.

Hows my Luck by Jaco Blignaut.

The morning started out great; a perfect sunrise coming up over the calm ocean. The water looked good and all I wanted to do was launch as quickly as possible and get out into the blue. The plan was to start out in the deeper waters to look for one of my favourite fish the Daga Salmon. I just love the challenge of spearfishing these fish! Spearing Daga often presents a serious challenge with both shooting and landing the fish. The wrecks and pipelines where the good shoals are found are in water 28 – 40 meters deep, so you really have to dive deep to get a chance on one of these fish. Shooting them is only half the battle won! I’ve been busted up on wrecks with some of these monsters, more often than I would like to remember .

“Going wide” by Waren Hughes.

I was like a junky at rehab. It was a difficult week at work. The winds were less than five knots! Each day painfully meant that I was one day closer to my next fix. It was as if everything was torturing me. As I walked out of the house, it was deafly still, and cool. The air had that smell it gets when it’s been a crisp night - my toes are wet from the due on the grass. I look at the trees and not a leaf is moving apart from where a bird has just flown from. I get on my bike and ride down the street on my way to work.

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