Brad Norris, contained wholly, Rottnest Island

City Beach’s Brad Norris ain’t one for the small stuff. Each year he stuffs away enough shekels as a plumber (his biz is called Enterprise Plumbing if y’need work done in the Perth metro area) so he can live for two months among the huffing and puffing of Oahu’s North Shore. Now, Perth isn’t known for its compelling waves. But just offshore there, a 40-minute ride by ski if you’ve got one and with an offshore at your back, you can be tossing yourself into the ring of genuine world-class waves. But with heavy reefs and isolation comes a small problem. Injuries. Dreadful stories of ripped apart bodies and faces. “A couple of mates had some bad injuries over there. When I was 15 (Brad’s 23 now) one of my mates tore his whole nose off hitting the bottom. Two or three have had to be flown back to the mainland. Most of the waves, the reef, which is razor sharp, is under a foot or so deep.” And then there’s the gents in the stunning grey-and-white suits. Not that it phases Brad here. “I just block it out. Once you’ve surfed a place that much and you haven’t had a scare, you forget about ‘em, at least until the day one of ‘em swims up beside ya.”