Issue 593 features a compelling look at the lives of five Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) surfers, who earn big coin in the mines and then follow the scent of salt air, and swell in their time between swings. Whatever your views on the mining industry may be, our new mag features a little glimpse into the mind-bending, bi-polar reality of a FIFO surfer. Below is Matt Dunsmore’s take on how we juggles his obsession with surfing and having a profession in the mines.
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Matt Dunsmore
“With every boss I’ve ever had, I’ve had that chat with them.
The one where I’ve said: ‘look, I want a job, I’ll never come to work hungover, I’ll never lie to you, I’ll happily do overtime, whatever you want. But, when the surf’s big, I’m gone. I can give you a few days notice as a heads-up, but then I’m off’.
Surprisingly, it’s always worked.
I’m big on planning for the future, but also know I gotta enjoy living in the now, there’s a balance to be struck when it comes to the financials there. Surfing trips don’t cost much in my eyes: you just have to secure a plane ticket, grab your boards, buy a few beers and catch waves. With forecasting getting so accurate, most of the time you’ll score anyway.
I work hard when the swells aren’t there, but as soon as it gets good, you best believe I’m packing my s*** and going. I actually packed up within a single hour when a swell hit Tahiti. I caught a red eye straight through New Zealand, arrived at 2am, and by 6am I was in the water. Surfed straight for three or four days, then made the laborious trip straight back to site. As quickly as I had set off, I was back at work in the middle of the night, getting into it just a few hours later.
I’ve embraced the smart trick of skipping my inductions, which means I- purposely can’t get access to site yet. When I saw a massive swell hitting Shippies, I skipped my induction, it gave me a few days to play around with and afforded me the opportunity to drop everything for that swell. It was huge, it was wild, not a single soul was around.
Every single one of my trips is frantic and last minute. Anytime I see my off coming up, I’m seeing where the waves are, I don’t care how near or far, I’m dropping every-thing and going. Living off that FIFO dream.”
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