Stab Magazine | Surfer's Strange Hobbies: Asher Pacey The Beekeeping Crystal Collector

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

861 Views

Surfer’s Strange Hobbies: Asher Pacey The Beekeeping Crystal Collector

“I want to dig as much as I want to surf these days [laughs]”

style // Jan 27, 2019
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 4 minutes

We’ve all got hobbies. For many of us, it’s probably just surfing. For some, it’s surfing, maybe a team sport, and some added stagnant activity like that video game Fortnite. Then there’s those of who know their hobby is a bit more, you know, peculiar. 

An activity you wouldn’t flick into your Tinder bio. Something which divides an extended family’s conversation over Christmas lunch. Perhaps it’s collecting coins, hunting animals, or maybe it’s something better left for the darker parts of the web’s less ventured forums.  

Surfer’s are the same. Although surfing doesn’t count as a hobby for them. I’m pretty reluctant to call surfing a sport, but if you’re getting paid, it’s work, and work is the antonym of a hobby. Trust me, I googled it.  

In this new series of sorts, we get some of our favourite surfers and hassle them about their most intriguing side projects. Not what they do to make ends meet, but what they fill their leisure time with – permitting it’s obscure enough to warrant a catchy title and image.

First up is Asher Pacey. A much loved gent and surfer around the Stab office, but a man who offers more than smoothly drawn lines and windshield wiping floaters. In case you haven’t seen, AP is a beekeeping, crystal collecting fanatic. 

Not the sort of choker donning, chino rolling chick who keeps crystals to relieve her life problems, but a true fossil finder who’s acquired decades of knowledge and goes bush bashing in undisclosed locations. Before we dig any deeper though – pun obviously intended – let’s catch up on his sugar swapping hobby that is beekeeping.

“I’m super new. It’s only been like six months.” Asher told Stab. “My family has always been really into honey, well we use it as opposed to sugar anyway. And living on a farm it just makes sense to house bees.”

Becoming a beekeeper isn’t as simple as buying the box, bees, and suit. “It was a steep learning curve just putting the box together – it was like an intense Ikea set up. I had to build this before I could even think about the bees. 

“Even before this I did an introduction to beekeeping down the road. That’s actually sort of what got me into it. I learned about their life cycle, how to look after them, and what allows them to thrive.”

Pace’s main reason for housing the bees is just a hobby; a leisurely activity that provides a pot of gooey natural glucose on the side. But he’s also applied his newfound skill to transplanting feral colonies off of fellow farmers properties. 

“Heard it wasn’t too hard, gave it a crack, and yeah, I got it [laughs]. I’ve got my bee suit on and then have a smoker which sedates them. You know when they’re aggressive when they start buzzing really loud and charging into your suit, but these ones were relaxed. 

“The temperament of the queen dictates the behaviour of the colony. Thankfully I had a mellow queen for this one [laughs].” 

Aside from a plentiful honey supply, and near endless Instagram content, bees are also a requisite for any and every ecosystem. Most animal product harvesting occurs to the detriment of the animal’s welfare and immediate environment (e.g., cattle requires ample space, water, food, and is responsible for large amounts of carbon based pollution), bees, however, are different. As far as the environment is concerned, the more the merrier. 

“It’s insane how crucial bees are to life in general.” Asher continued. “I think 60-70% of our food sources depend on bee pollination. I look and bees differently now and realise how integral they are. Every time I see one in the garden I’m like, ‘go you little good thing’. 

But what about Asher’s crystal collecting obsession. That’s what you’re really here for. Is he plugging them in his board, curing illnesses with their healing powers, or does he just like digging around in the dirt?

“I was pretty much born into it. My dad and his mates were into digging rocks and stuff, then he got my brother and I into it.” Asher told Stab about his crystal collecting. “I don’t do it for money, I’ve never sold a rock in my life. It’s just about getting out in the bush.

“These rocks have taken untold amounts of time to form. A scale of time that’s hard to fathom and each rock is unique. It’s quite addictive collecting them [laughs].

“I want to dig as much as I want to surf these days [laughs]. They’re all unique to each area too, but that area can be tiny. Sometimes 50 metres away you’ll find a completely different type of stone or gem.”

Asher Pacey isn’t the sort of bloke to take the easy route and pop into Byron to buy a couple of gems either. It’s less about the collective appeal and more about the hunt itself. 

“I have my little zones. But I’m reluctant to give up the spots. I have guys asking me all the time to take them on hunts, but like surfing, it’s not in my best interest to tell everyone where I go. Part of the reason I enjoy it is getting away from people.

“You prefer to surf on your own, it’s the same with digging crystals.”

In saying that, Asher gave away a few little tips for any aspiring crystal collectors. 

“There’s a saying out there, ‘just keep digging’ [laughs]

“You have to look for indicators. Nine times out of ten it’s something shiny, but generally you’re just looking for signs of crystallisation on the surface. If you see something, just keep digging. It’s hard work though, they don’t exactly jump out of the ground at you.”

Asher did however dig up a 27kg stone few months ago.

“It took about an hour and a half to dig it out of the ground, then I had to carry it over a kilometre out of the bush.” 

What about the spiritual side? We all know a born again hippie, or chick going through a quarter-life crisis whose turned to the gem stone to solve their issues. Does Asher too take solace in the healing power of the earthly stone. 

“Look, I don’t discount any of that stuff, but I definitely don’t take a deep interest in that. I just like them for what they are.

“It is proven though that crystals have a capacity to store energy and information. Quartz is used in computers, there’s quartz watches, quartz radios, and there’s definitely some interesting qualities they posses. They’ve been used for thousands of years for healing, but I can’t give any personal accounts.”

And just to be sure, Asher assured us he hasn’t plugged any into his boards over the years. Although he wasn’t averse to the idea.

In case you forgot what this online magazine was about, Asher also surfs. Watch below. 

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025
Advertisement