Donk Clothing is a brand that wants to make a difference. We want to tell peoples stories, and give the people that inspire us a platform tell their tales... and so the Essence Of Chill Magazine was born!

Surfing is something that we love, the whole vibe of enjoying a day in the waves or on the sand. It’s the lifestyle that surfing brings, relaxing on the beach, getting in the surf and having a beer with your family and friends! In this issue, you will discover the Ultimate Guide to Road Trips and Surf Travels by one of the best travel and lifestyle bloggers and now Youtuber, Nicole Eddy. Kyle Lionhart, a neo-folk/folk/soul artist from the east coast surfing town of Byron Bay, on growing up with surfing and music. Articles from our blog and one of our ambassadors Kyle Allgood, and one of our supported charities The Shark Trust. Followed by photo galleries from photographers Jay Kolsch and Samuel Clout.

So dream big, stay chilled, and enjoy the stories.

WELCOME TO THE ESSENCE OF CHILL

A MAGAZINE GUIDE TO IDEAS, TRAVEL AND ADVENTURES

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Nicole Eddy and I am from Cape Town, South Africa. With the privilege of living near the frosty Atlantic Ocean since I was a young girl, my main toddler hobby included playing naked in the sand catching sea snails and attempting to put everything that I found in my mouth before it was swiftly whisked away by my parents. As I got a little older, my hobbies evolved into wearing a swimming costume and following my dad and big brother to the beach every weekend to watch them surf as I played in the shallows on my brightly coloured boogie-board. As I grew even older, I wanted to fit the ‘cool’ profile and be able to say that I too could surf. After receiving my brothers hand-me-down luminous green ZERO wetsuit, I took to the white-water. After my dad had finished surfing,

I would paddle around on his old yellow board called Faith, whose foam had been replaced with water. He would push me into the waves at the only spot that I would ‘surf’, aptly named Scissors due to the waves colliding in the middle of two bays opposite each other. I wouldn’t recommend this as a place that one can learn to surf…or surf in general…or just ever! When I was twelve, I woke up on Christmas morning to a second-hand, super skinny, super short surfboard and I was in love. I would sit and wax my board for hours and admire her glossy purple fins…and so my love for surfing began.

Living in South Africa, especially Cape Town, boasts a large amount of different landscapes and scenery within a very short driving distance. If you head North West, you hug the West Coast and its white

sandy, turquoise-coloured barren beaches with quaint little fishing villages in between and jagged cliffs and rocks breaking up the coastline every now and then. Keep heading in that direction and you’ll cross over into Namibia with huge red dunes resembling mountains, barren landscapes and wildlife that have adapted to the harsh desert conditions, kilometre after kilometre of empty beach. If you’re lucky enough you might just find yourself at Skeleton Bay, home to one of the gnarliest and longest left-hand barrels in the world. Cold murky water, no-one else around for miles and plenty of seals…and we all know the large types of fish that like to eat them!

Head East and everything changes! It’s warm, welcoming water gives life to coral reefs, brightly coloured fish and is home to arguably one of the world’s best right hand point breaks…Super Tubes in Jeffrey’s Bay. Yes, that is where the video of Mick Fanning getting ‘attacked’ by a shark went viral however that is a topic for debate another time. Anyway, as I was saying, the East Coast, the place where most of my favourite road trip memories stem from and unlike the West Coast it is home to a large number of scenic big towns. The scenery is lush and green, it’s a regular footer’s favourite playground as almost every wave on the East Coast is a right hand point break and it has general smell of ‘tropical’ in the air.Since I was little, our family holidays would majority of the time take place within South Africa, or Southern Africa in more broad terms. If we weren’t set out to go inland to the bush during our school holidays, we would be heading up

Photo accreditation: Mr Ben Brown

either the East or West Coast in search of sun and surf, frequenting what used to be called the ‘Billabong Pro’ that was held in Jeffrey’s Bay each June/July holiday as part of the professional surfing tour. As my brother and I grew up, we began to do our own surfing road trips with our friends up the coast, with the main difference being that instead of staying in nice self-catering accommodation, we now stayed in backpackers, which is actually a treat if you pick the right one, and our diet changed from eating healthy snacks to eating chip rolls. All of which makes for a pretty epic adventure!

Now would be a great time to let you in on my greatest surfing road trip that I have ever done, and it sure is going to take a lot to top it. It was 2012, my first year of university, and during our holiday 7 friends and I split into two cars and hit the road early one morning, surfboards piled up on top of the Land Rover roof, a bunch of snoozing teenagers as my passengers, bags piled high in the boot along with beach bats, towels, wetsuits, snorkels and goggles and lastly myself in the driver’s seat, coffee in hand driving in the dark to begin our three week adventure. There was just one more person that we had to collect and that job required a stop-in at a club after her ‘end-of-exam’ celebrations, needless to say we had to stop for numerous fresh air breaks!Our first stop was at a place called Plettenberg Bay which was once home to a super bank at a spot called the Look-Out, a right-hander that was so good that

everyone who surfed there was prepared to overlook the fact that a large amount of great white sharks patrolled these waters way too regularly for comfort. Unfortunately due to the banks shifting, this wave no longer exists like it used to before, probably the best in order to keep everyone’s limbs intact. After spending a couple of nights here at a friend’s holiday house, we moved onto a backpackers called Ubuntu in Jeffrey’s Bay and met up with a few more friends who were in the area.

We didn’t manage to catch Supertubes at its best, however on the way down…well, that’s a story for another day.At the last stop before we reached our final destination in the Transkei, the other car with whom we were traveling in convoy with decided that it had had enough of smelly teenagers and gave in. This luckily happened just as we had set off from a friend’s farm and so the rescue process was relatively quick. After getting it checked out, it was decided that the car would need to be taken in and everyone would have to pile into the Land Rover, resulting in us driving back to the farm and dropping off our large bags as we repacked our day bags with the essentials. Although 8 people in a Land Rover defender sounded like a nightmare at the time, it actually worked so well that after our trip, we decided that we would only take the one car next time.

Photo accreditation: Mr Ben Brown

Nicole and Tanika Hoffman enjoying the surfProfessional South African Surfer

Photo accreditation: Tanika Hoffman

After another day of endless driving along dusty bumpy roads, we finally reached our final destination, Coffee Bay in the Transkei. This part of South Africa is very rural with traditional round huts perched all over the endless rolling green hills, painted bright colours with chickens, cows and stray dogs roaming the lush fields.

I would HIGHLY recommend the backpackers that we stayed in while we were there called Coffee Shack Backpackers, but take note that you will need to book in advance due to its popularity. We spent four days exploring the area, chilling with cows on the beaches, feeling like the only people who had ever been there despite this being far from the truth and enjoying the cultural diversity at its finest, a unique aspect that forms a large part of South Africa’s rich heritage. We did hikes along the cliffs and beaches, we swam with dolphins and spent our days getting salty in the sun, we surfed when we could and spent time star-gazing under the thick black blanket of night. It truly was an unforgettable experience.

Despite experiences like these that we share with the important people who make up our close network of friends and family, surfing has an addictive quality, a drug-like chemical that keeps luring you in for more. For me, it is the thought that the wave, the one that you are dancing on top of, nature’s energy in its purest form has travelled endless miles to end up beneath your very own feet, and as it hits the shallow ocean floor, it begins to take its shape allowing us to paint our own art on its empty canvas. The connection with nature is undeniable.

As a student, I know how rough it is when the bank account runs dry and so I thought that I would share my tips with you on the most important things to budget for on a road trip:

1. Get as many of your friends in on the trip as you can. This obviously reduces fuel costs.

2. Stay at backpackers. This more than often includes a breakfast to fuel you for the day. In South Africa, you can stay at awesome back-packers for no more than R150 a night which often includes breakfast.

3. Allocate entire days to driving which results in fewer overnight stop costs, unless your friends have houses on the way up or down.

4. Allocate different groups of people (usually 2-3 people) to pay for the ingredients for one big meal each night. Our dinners mainly consisted of home-made pizzas, large healthy pasta’s, braai meat & salads (barbeque), chip rolls & fruit. These often tend to be cheapest, easiest & the most filling foods.

5. Make sure that you write a check-list for your surfing road-trip to avoid having to buy things that you forgot.

Surfing Road Trip Check List:

• Clothing

• Raincoat

• Hiking/Running Shoes

• Beanie (always bring a beanie)

• Towels (x2)

• Toiletries (Soap, toothpaste, shampoo etc.)

• Sleeping Bag

• Pillow

• Bikini/Boardshorts

• Surfboard

• Wetsuit

• Rash Vest

• Surf Wax

• Surf Comb, Fin Keys, Extra Fins & Leashes

• Camera

• Cellphone

• CD’s/iPod/Aux Cable

• Torch

• Car Chargers

Although I have been lucky enough to travel to many countries, none of have been exclusively to chase the surf, largely due to the costs involved, limited time as well as the fact that South Africa and surroundings is home to some of the finest empty waves. But the wanderlust to go overseas in the search for surf is definitely growing stronger and my list is constantly expanding with Costa Rica, Maldives and Indonesia taking top place.

Hopefully next year I can spread my surfing wings and spend some time in these incredible countries surfing and exploring new cultures and experiences, all of which you will be able to follow as l take you along with me through both my blog as well as my upcoming Travel YouTube channel!

Photo accreditation: Mr Ben Brown

Lets start with basics: For those who don’t yet know you, who are you and what do you do?

I'm a singer/songwriter that generally writes pretty sad songs, but probably lives in one of the happiest places in the world, Byron Bay. Spending my days surfing, adventuring, frolicking by the ocean, So this pretty much puts me in in a constant state of confusion with how I feel about life.

You are an extremely talented musician, where do you get your inspiration from for your music?

'Extremely talented musician'; woah there! :).

Thank you, but if I was an extremely talented musician I wouldn't play folk music :) I get my inspiration from the inadequacy & inconsistency of myself & the human race.

How do you keep focused on moving forward with your own music whilst being involved with Vernas Keep?

I get really stressed out & just start yelling at everything until I write a song about how I'm feeling, then i decide if its a VernasKeep song or a Lionhart song. Now I’ll stop with the cheeky answers.

What message do you aim to tell with your music?

I aim to remind people that we're all in it, (in different capacities) but we're all trying to deal with it, Life that is. I sing about my life, the moments & experiences that have broken me, built me & forced me into the places I am now. I know I feel comfort in people telling me

the truth & its relatable to my life, whether its bad or good; its a connection.

Lets talk surfing; who got you in to it?

I tried surfing for the first time when I was about 6 or 7, we had a family reunion at Yamba (a little beach town a couple of hours south of Byron Bay) my uncle bought his old 70's retro, single fin, gun, for me to learn how to surf on, it weighed about 40kg & had sharp fiberglass holes around the rails of the board just to guarantee that I'd have the shittiest first time experience.

After a day of being battered, cut & bruised by this beautiful but beastly board I decided that surfing wasn't my thing & I'd stick with my extreme roller blading & dabble in some body boarding. 7 years later at about the age of 13 my first few weeks of high school, I made some friends that were right into surfing, I went to one of their house's one night after school for a sleep over, we're having a classic Australian BBQ dinner that night and my mates father announces we're all on dawn patrol tomorrow morning.

Now I had no idea what this meant at the time but it sounded early so I figured he was saying "get to bed early boys, we're going surfing". Surely enough he burst in the door at first light yelling ' its a glass off boys, get up!!!' yet again I'm pretty confused. Weary eyed & still half asleep I'm chucking my stuff in the boot of an old HK Holden panel van, towel, boardies, flippers & just as I go to throw my bodyboard in my mates father stops me & says 'you're not surfing near me if you're surfing that' my mate says to his father (a little embarrassed) 'that’s all he's got Dad'.

My mates father walks out of the shed with this barely used 6'0, 29ltr, thruster, short board & says 'not anymore' & throws

it in (not the best board to learn on but I’m none the wiser). We get to Cabarita beach, paddle out too some glassy 2-3 footers & I get my own personal coach (My mates father) for a 3hr long surf, in the showers after our surf he told me that if I promise him not to get back on the Shark biscuit (body board) I could keep the board he'd lent me. After that I was hooked, only problem now was that I lived 30min away from the beach but still managed to get there almost everyday by hitching, conning mates older brothers to pick me up or doing chores around the house to get Mum to take me. So yeah, that’s who got me into surfing :)

What’s your favourite beach memory?

I think some of my fondest memories have been my more resent ones, frolicking & adventuring around the beaches/breaks that I fell in love with as a teen and sharing the special unique parts about these breaks with my children.

Ask me this question again in about 10yrs, I think ill have fonder memories when I’m able to go on surf trips with them :)

What is it about the beach lifestyle that keeps you going back for more?

Surfing or hanging out by the sea is like wearing a sombrero and a colourful poncho; its impossible to be sad whilst doing it.

Who did you look up to growing up with so many passions?

I never really idealised any surfers, I was pretty out of touch with the competitive

seen as it was never really a passion of my to make anything of surfing, I just loved doing it but music I think my father was subtly the person I lookup to most with my music & I've only just realised this recently.

What’s one piece of advice that you would give a young surfer, musician etc. wanting to make a difference?

Don't go on a talent show (i.e. X-factor, The Voice) Be kind, be patient, always build your knowledge & understanding, don't be afraid of doing what you love because your Mother, Teacher, Society tells you that you need to make a 'living'.

And finally: What is your Essence of Chill?

Writing music & singing would have to be where I find the most contentment :)

Jay Kolsch began photographing professionally in 2014 and continues to refine his portfolio and push his boundaries in adventure. He feels most at peace exhausted, dirty and far from home. When he’s not in the backcountry you can find him in Brooklyn complaining about how hip his neighborhood has become.

The surf story displayed here was photographed last January. The images are from deal beach in NJ and from Rockaway beach in NY.

Traveling is one of the most incredible experiences on the planet.

Although I haven't had the chance to go to many different locations, it’s still one of my favourite things to do. Having travelled around parts of the UK and a few other countries, I have witnessed some incredible things, from spectacular sunsets to just people spreading happiness; those are memories that will stay with me forever.

My name is Kyle Allgood I am a landscape photographer based in Cambridgeshire UK. My favourite type of photography is actually silhouettes. For me, silhouettes are so powerful and yet so simple. There are no facial expressions or such to distract you from the main focal point of the photo. Through my own experience, photography is about having the passion and desire to exceed all expectations. You really need to have the vision to create an image that people perhaps haven't seen before or

be willing to try and change an image that has been taken many times and really try to make it your own.

I am often asked what camera I have and also what lenses, and other equipment I use. I currently have a Canon EOS 600d, which is just a basic starter camera with only a cropped sensor. It’s a brilliant starter camera and one I would definitely recommend to anyone starting out in the world of photography, The camera has some fantastic features and its super easy to use, so is greater for learning and devloping your skills.

Currently I have 3 lenses I am working with; the first being a 18-55mm Canon Sense. The second is a 75-300mm Canon Sense, and the third is a 10-22mm wide angle Canon S.

“ Photography to me is about having the passion and desire to exceed all expectations”

Photo accreditation: Kyle Allgood

Who wears Donk Clothing? Well now you know!

talking to people about the seas and, more than anything else, about sharks – hearing their stories, dealing with differing attitudes, handling misconceptions. This experience leaves you with a definite sense of divided opinions. Sharks, it seems, are the Marmite of the natural world, loved by some, loathed and feared by others. But love them or hate them they are vital ingredients in the ocean soup and their future is inextricably linked with our own. It sometimes feels like sharks would be much more popular if they just existed in photos, videos or even aquariums – it’s when they turn up in the sea, our sea, that opinions start to shift.

Set up a Google alert using the search term “shark” and after a couple of weeks its easy to form three impressions: a) the US show Shark Tank have an impressive PR team, b) most sharks in the sea are Great White’s and c) their main interest is in targetting and attacking surfers. Shark Trust patron Monty Halls puts it beautifully “Sharks are on the wrong end of a 2000 year bad PR campaign!"

Don’t get me wrong; some sharks in some circumstances do present a risk. Sharks almost never “attack” but there are occasions when they bite humans and this can obviously have tragic consequences.

Paul Cox, Director of the Shark Trust, talks about his life and experiences with sharks, and why he got involved with the charity.

It’s nearly 20 years since my first face-to-face encounter with a shark. It actually wasn’t one but three reef sharks that decided to check me out while snorkeling. They circled me several times before losing interest and swimming away. In those few slow seconds in the water’s off the North West Cape in Western Australia my life shifted slightly, leading me on a path that ends with me here, writing an article for Donk Clothing about sharks. Having given up one career on a whim, I was starting to waver; did I really want to be a student at 30 and start at the bottom of the ladder in a very uncertain field? But by the time I was back on dry land my restless mind solidified on the plan: become a marine biologist and do as much as I can for ocean conservation. And, yes, find out a lot, lot more about these awesome creatures that are circling around me – thrilling, fascinating and, for the time being, just a little but scary.

Most of the intervening years have been spent on the frontline of people’s engagement with marine life, working at a major public aquarium. I’ve spent years

©Shark Trust

The numbers of biting incidents are usually less than 100 per year so, statistically, the chances of it happening are very, very small. There are numerous statistics bandied around about things more likely to kill you than a shark - like bees and toasters. These do make an important point about risk but I’m not sure are all that helpful when people are nervous about what they read in the paper. Fear doesn’t always listen to reason so trying to allay fear with statistics isn’t necessarily the answer.

Last year’s incident involving Mick Fanning makes a very important point that the sensationalist press largely failed to recognise in their rush to generate exciting headlines. Firstly, he had a very close encounter with a shark and there was no hint of the shark attempting to bite him. More importantly, this is a man that has spent most of his life in the waters off the Australian coast, sharing the environment with sharks and this was the very first time he’d encountered one in this way. And there is so much more to sharks than the occasional “exploratory bite”, the images of which sear themselves so strongly onto our consciousness and cloud our view of the bigger picture.

There are around 440 species of shark and probably 1250 species of the wider group that includes skates and rays – they are large, small, fat, slim, fast and sluggish. One species has even learnt to walk. I’m lucky enough to have shared the water with many different species of sharks and every time I see one I have nothing but admiration for their sleekness and elegance.

For a shark lover I’m not sure if I have the best or the worst job in the world.

But what’s so great? Being involved with genuinely making a difference. We get to dedicate our working lives to sharks, skates and rays, to sharing knowledge and to making our best efforts to safeguard their future. Our small team occupying an office unit in Plymouth is actually having a bearing on what will be in the sea in 20 or 50 years time. That’s both humbling and uplifting, it gets you up for work in the morning and it keeps you going when things get tough.

But every day we deal with “man’s inhumanity to sharks”, the short-sightedness of unmanaged fisheries and the illogical and wasteful practice of finning. We are slowly but surely pushing some species to the brink – approximately a quarter of all species are currently considered threatened with extinction. The effort required to push through change does make you wonder about the bigger picture and how we are ever going to live in sympathy with the natural world.

©Shark Trust

It’s also a tough job because drumming up support for sharks is a constant challenge. There are so many good causes tripping over each other to gain your support, to take your money and, more importantly perhaps, your compassion and care. With all those good causes, with so much happening in the world, who can find space for sharks?

The irony is that despite the significant challenges posed to shark populations, despite the fact that we could easily start to see major extinctions in our lifetime, the solutions are well within our grasp. We can save sharks but the window of opportunity is closing rapidly.

The world of shark conservation is a complex place, shark conservation interplays with environmental, economic and cultural factors. Simple solutions to complex problems are few and far between. There are many organisations out there working for sharks – all having similar end goals but often going about it in different ways. I believe that by working together, being targeted, fighting for science-based catch limits, pushing for responsible trade, we can ensure that sharks have a long-term plan. We all have a part to play, as everyone can do something for sharks.

Underlying all of this is the simple fact that sharks, skates and rays just are. They are wonderful animals in a variety of forms, endlessly fascinating in their adaptations and behaviours. Take away the bad press, the shark nets, the closed beaches and focus on the bigger picture. Let’s give sharks a break.

To find out more about sharks and how you can join the Trust and get involved visit www.sharktrust.org.

©Shark Trust ©Shark Trust

©Shark Trust ©Shark Trust