"They underestimated us as a bunch of dumb surfers…"
Malolo is a volcanic island in the Mamanuca chain ’bout 40 minutes by speedboat from the main Island and that again out to Cloudbreak- pretty rough ride into the trades.
After staying there in 2015, I count it paradise on Earth, the Tavarua for the working gal.
You’ve seen it.
The land mass in the background of all those dreamy Restuarants lineup shots is Malolo. Nav Fox and pals got a lease on a patch of dirt along with a local man in 2015 and have now found themselves, as you know, in a nasty beef with a Chinese developer ironically named Freesoul, who’s henchmen make up for in aggression and exuberance what they lack in size.
Nav’s an Angourie local sired by noted underground shaper Albert Fox, part of a small but thriving cottage industry set up in sheds on Angourie Road which includes foam smiths like Luke Short, Rodney Dahlberg, Thornton Fallander and a bevy of skilled sander/glassers.
Nav is handy with a planer, makes a few on the side for family and friends but earns his main crust as a designer for homes and renos. Good gig to have in the Australian economy. If you’ve spent any-time at Angas you’ve seen him in the water. Friendly guy who rips with a classic Pointbreak style.
What Derek Hynd would call a fabric keeper. Papa to two kids.
What’s the background to the Fiji stoush, Nav?
Me and two other mates got a lease on the land in 2015, it looks straight out on Tavurua and Namotu; it’s got a beautiful aspect.
What was your vision for it?
We just fell in love with Fiji, an opportunity came up where I was talking to a boat driver and came back to Australia and my mate went on a separate trip at almost the same time. We crossed over paths but didn’t talk to each other. He came back and said I was talking to a boat driver he reckons we can get land and I said “so was I” It was the same guy! (laughs) So we hooked up with him and did it all together. Which is what we did. We had a vision of putting a few bures on there and just enjoying the place for what it was. Letting friends and family come over and use it and have a bit of a creative space and a relaxing getaway.
Have you got anything built on there at the moment?
No we don’t. We are surfers, so we don’t move the fastest.
You can’t set up a tent and stay there?
Oh, you could stay there but have you seen the video of the hostility from next door? You wouldn’t want to stay there, it’s pretty full on. It’s not a nice environment to take your kids and your family.
When did you find out about Freesoul taking over?
We heard rumours that the Chinese were looking at the land next door to us and didn’t think much of it. It’s all mangrove and swampy kind of area with no access, we’ve got the only land with a natural access. You basically have to go through our land to get access. We heard about that a year and a half ago. They move quick, they’re businessmen. They’re in for the dollar, they don’t love Fiji. They got excavators in, chainsaws and just started cutting down our land straight away.
Did you know what they had in mind regarding the scale of the development?
Nah, nothing like that. To be really honest, I went to the guy and said, “You’re on our land, what the fuck is going on? If you want our land that bad let’s get an appraisal and you can buy it for market value.” I just thought, I don’t want to be next to someone who’s a developer. Over the phone he was just “Nup, I’m just taking it”. That’s when I jumped on a plane and got over there and saw that within a couple of weeks they’d just dug up huge amounts of reef straight in front of our beach and extinguishing the beach. It was pretty confronting.
What’s happening now?
It’s in front of the courts in Fiji right now over the environmental desecration of the land and their lack of respect for the Fijian laws. They keep breaking all these stop work orders and injunctions. Either they know someone I don’t or they’re really silly. We just got an injunction on them two days ago. There’s two or three injunctions on them now until a trial is over to see if they are responsible enough to keep the land.
Lawyers ain’t cheap, is that coming out of your pocket?
Yeah, yeah. It’s come out of our pocket. At the start it was more “Fuck you guys.” I think they underestimated us as a bunch of dumb surfers, but I think they forgot we were about three years ahead of them in purchasing the land. It’s cost us a lot of money to date, but I feel like it’s worth fighting for now, more than ever, as an issue of what they are doing to the reef. We all talk the talk about keeping the reefs alive and this is something happening in front of my front yard. It’s somethingI feel I need to stand up for. Not just myself. Woody Jack and Jonah. Have a go at trying to do what’s right.
What about the Malolo Island locals?
It’s in dispute at the moment because one group have sold the land to the Chinese but I don’t know if they are the traditional land owners. The actual traditional land owners are really disappointed with what they’ve done. Just their lack of respect for the laws. There are environmental impact assessments and the Chinese have just completely disregarded those and just gone for it. The Fijians are really concerned for their generations to come.
Tell me about the little Chinese man who manhandled you, where’d he come from?
I’d never seen him before. It’s what we’ve come to expect when we rock up.
Who’s he? Just a random stooge?
Yeah. I’m not going to start anything, you know what I mean. I wasn’t there to fight.
Must have been tempting to at least grab his spectacles, rip them off and stomp on them?
I was tempted to grab more than that. I’m 45, I’ve been around for a while, I know fighting doesn’t get you anywhere. I’d rather stand the higher ground and be a man.
Would have been detrimental to your cause, but jeezus, he came in hard didn’t he, even on your own land he was trying to grab you.
That just shows the amount of respect they’ve got for us. We’ve done nothing wrong, we’ve broken no laws. It’s pretty confronting. And disappointing. I don’t know anywhere else in the world where this stuff goes on. Fiji have got laws for this stuff, I hope they can use them.
In terms of the bigger picture a lot of people are looking at this and wondering if this is the way the Chinese are going to do business in the Pacific. Just ride roughshod over everything.
Exactly. That’s how I feel. Me and Woody have been in this for a year now and we’ve joked that this might be an example of how the Chinese are going to do business in the Pacific. I feel like we are in the middle of it.
You might be on the frontlines of something a whole lot bigger than surfing.
Maybe, if this is the way they are going to do business it needs to be sorted out. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do stuff. Lets all get on the right side and respect the Earth and the people.
Any epic CB sessions? Were you there last year for that massive swell?
Yeah. It was a bit big for me, I know my boundaries.
Was Laurie T with you?
Yeah Laurie stayed with us and Dan Ross. They took it apart, which was awesome. It was nuts. Just watching those guys prepare themselves to do what they do was exciting. We’ve had some good sessions there for sure, I’d like to be having a few more but my money’s getting sunk into court’s fees and lawyers fees at the moment.
Put out a GoFundMe, I’m sure every surfer in Australia would be happy to chuck a gold coin your way.
Well if there’s anyone out there who knows how to do it, we’d love ’em to start one for us because we’re not the kind of guys to do that.0
well, correct if i’m wrong but isn’t to those poor, tired, refused, homeless, huddled masses, “opressed peoples of the world” in sum, that that giant green bitch you rigtheous yanks have for epitome of idol claim to be welcoming?! or said liberty is not for all to be granted indeed? i,m confused…
ah, and nobody cares for what the dark epitome of a bitch has to say too…
Well… ok then… as you were.
You drank the coolaid buddy, civil war wasn’t about slavery.
An aussie claiming ‘his’ land. Best aboriginal joke yet. FU back to england if you want ‘your’ land.
The surprise on his face: this can’t be happening to me, I’m white, I normally own the land!
So this is the feeling of being effed dry in the asshole by pure unaldurated landgrabbing greed. Usually
a thing haoles reserved for brown people the last 500 years or so. THIS IS PURE GOLD!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Guess you folks have not put much consideration into the impact of foreign ownership and investment into Bali and the totally fucked impact on the local population, yep those villas you own or rent used to be fields where local families lived and thrived …fuck all you selfish surfing wankers
I do a lot of work in Papua New Guinea and been to several corporate piss ups with government officials all the way to the PNG PM Peter Oneill, and if you think thats bad, you should see whats going on just 150kms above Australia.
Corruption from China is rampant.
When you have land owners driving around in Maseratis with Tag Heuer watches, you know that wealth aint being shared down the line with the local people actually living on that land.
They get gently moved on by D9 bulldozers.
Until you actually see how the Chineses deal and then watch them work, you have no idea how scary quick they make shit happen.
Government officials who do speak up get gagged with cash. They simmer down real fast.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
At appraised market value (see: profit).
This is the base issue. Corporations own congress and call the shots via lobbying/election support leverage. The government is deep in debt to China due to corporate influence/oversight. Democrat vs Republican is a false narrative to keep folks divided and feeling like they have a stake in something when in fact, they are just along for the ride. The next battle for survival is not the citizens vs government, it’s citizens vs corporate overlords.
I too am 45, been around awhile. And sometimes a fight at the right time will get you somewhere.
It will definitely answer some questions.
i just read that GM is a Chinese company basically..lol.. but Nascar fans keep buying them Chevy’s..
‘Merica!
‘murica! lol…
I have difficulty believing that they only intended to build a “few bures” for friends and family.
Only kind of
That’s a relief!
He’s not totally wrong.
Fuckn’ good times chillin’ with the bros
Mum kept her fabric
In the spare room where I would
Often sow wild oats
Hahaha custom flog rags?
Bet they regret being cunts about it now.
Part Three – the voices have been heard. Lets hope things stay this way and they are actually forced to rehabilitate – or at least try – the reef and surrounds.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Those ladies in the pic at the top look like they represent some really sweet people who are getting completely brushed aside in all of this.
That’s right Pete
But it’s OK for Aussies to go and inhabit their land, then come home and protest Australia day
Its very confusing
leasehold with local partner, who makes a living from boating surfers to CB.
Sounds pretty mutually beneficial to me.
Who’s to say the China thing in the end won’t shove some kava into the locals
It might in normal circumstances, just looks like this crowd set out from the beginning to be fuckers, for starters why didn’t they just buy a block with ocean frontage?
All sides of story should be investigated before judgement
I’m on the side of those Fijian ladies.
It’s called debt-trap diplomacy.
While US aid was significant in Southeast Asia, it has conditions that are political. But no one likes the big mean US of A telling everyone around the world what to do, they’d rather just take the aid. The US is not down for that.
China is wanting to rebuild the Silk Road. It needs a buffer zone to do that and maintain control over maritime approaches. China has out into play their Belt and Road Initiative. Lend money to poor island nations WITHOUT political conditions. Debt-trap diplomacy. Poor island can’t pay back loan to China and collateral is surrendered. In this case power, not necessarily right, to develop land. China is doing the same thing with ports.
The US won’t allow China to fuck with Guam. But everything else is open season for China to expand their BRI and rebuild their Silk Road. The loans are too enticing to these poor nations to pass on. No conditions. But there is collateral.
This all has a very isolating consequence for Australia and it’s maritime approaches. As before, during WWII, power over the shipping lanes can be a wcary, isolating thing for Australia. You all best figure your shit out on this before it’s too late. Call if you need us.
What shits me more than China is the kneejerkers on here slamming them.
ALL your exotic lifestyles, yes exotic, flying around the globe for pleasure is exotic, has only become your reality by means of exploitation of others. Ive got Hippy telling me to read a book on how fucked the US is while I’m on a jet to a third world country purely for pleasure.
That shit Dosent happen by accident. But no, fuck China for doing what we have always done, am I dealing with educated people here?
Long tom is trying to sell me on think in a couple of guys who must be good blokes cause they rip, are being fucked over, guys who fuken live at Angourie NEED an exotic holiday spot…
Are you fucking kiiiiddiiing meeee?
Bring it China, teach these treasonous fucks a lesson,
Oh the West is evil, they fuked the planet, poor little poor cunts, it’s our fault, should we go to the Ments for a month or Three. I’m getting a fuken Tesla cause Trumps ruining my life.
Kill us China please now cause we suck balls
Exotic lifestyles? I guess, although I’ve only been outside of ‘Merica on a boat, sailin’ the seven seas. Treasonous fucks tho, what do you mean-the U.S.? The West? BeachGrit commenteriat? Every country on this planet has some hinky shit they need to cop to, and the bigger the country, the more hinky the shit gets.
I dunno
Its just a rant
Mic drop.
What shits me more than China is people who tell me I’m a bad Western man because I drive a car and take the occasional flight. And get water from a fucking tap.
You’ll live.
https://www.nytimes.com/201…
You seem like a smart person. I enjoy your contributions to this comments section.
Thanks Braddah. We got a good crew here at BeachGrit.
Remember the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Aussie would be speaking Japanese if it wasn’t for Uncle Sam.
Damn was just reading about Sri Lanka. Gave them a port for debt relief!
It’s dumbfounding the pace at which China has accomplished their push into various countries. Unprecedented.
I’m on the Fijian ladies side.
You’re my favourite kind of right winger Bexy. You’ve got a sense of humor and seem humble and self deprecating, charming in my book. Can I propose we don’t use the word liberal anymore? Aussie and yanks have made their meanings opposite. You have a lot of valid points and so do we.
PS I liked your ode to cb.
No no I love the confusion!
Ok ya lefty lib
I’ve voted Labor when they were
Labor
Now they’re just an overgrown bunchof spoiled uni students or trade union fuckwitswith a guilt fetish and sexual confusion
Don’t forget their suffering an endless or perhaps their perception of suffering a limitless array of “micro-aggressions.” My how those poor chaps and females have been victimized. If only the angry surfer lady “from” Venice, California could relocate down under and become their new leader/messiah and free them from the White scourge.
$$$$$$$$$, Pete.
I encourage you all to have a fly over Malolo. Maps or Google Earth ….
I’ve never been to Malolo. Interesting.
It’s been no stranger to diggers on the reef.
I’ve been trying to upload a pic but disqus has gone septic AGAIN so you’ll have to look for yourselves.
difficult situation for you…angourie local and fijian local. you’re at the heart of everything!
Sounds like they preferred if before the dodgy development began construction and fucking it up.