How Good’s Not Barking Up The Wrong Goddamn Tree

Q’uey apostate and former World Junior Champ, Grayson Hinrichs finds inner peace in the Dez!

cinema // Oct 14, 2022

Words by Ethan Davis

Reading Time: 4 minutes

True freedom, I am told, is not being a slave to your desires, and is more accurately marked by one’s ability to say ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’ to things (e.g. going out, buying blow/beers/clothing, rooting things which you have no business rooting etc).

Enticing but not exactly soul-food.

Some interesting artworks situated in the middle of nowhere. Or as I like to say it ‘in the middle of everywhere…’ All photos and captions by Holly Murphy/Grayson Hinrichs

‘Dezzed and Confused’ makes me happy, not because the surfing, soundtrack and supporting imagery got dat Australiana charm. More because, Grayson (a good bloke, also former World Junior Champ), at the ripe age of 20, has basically found his inner peace – doing desert trips with his girlfriend, catching and cooking fish, making cool surf vids, and definitely not doing the Q.

Old ruins near Lake Eyre. Used by railway workers in the late 18th century.

We covered his previous Dez mission here, Meth Heads, Road Trains & The Spoils Of The Australian Outback In Lockdown.

Living in Uggs whilst sussing the wind and swell. Was pretty cold and onnies but there were a few ramps.

It’s one thing to have the ‘travel bug’, it’s another to love your lot. Grayson, who lives in Bondi, a busy city beach not without its share of distractions and one-way cul-de-sacs, did not follow August’s mob to Europe or Indo, but saved up and went back to a place he’d already been to several times before; The Dez!

A couple named Roux and Mia who were traveling some of the most remote parts of Australia in a Suzuki Sierra with a 30L tank and one leaking jerry, a dead head gasket and an engine that chewed oil as fast as it did fuel.. We met them at the start of the Oodnadatta Track on their way towards the NT from SA. Go the suzi.

Why? It makes him happy, clears his head, makes him be present.

A standard afternoon when the weather would hold up.

Sue him! The man’s guilty of having a good time, having real conversations, not-instagramming his meals, occasionally even, sinking grogs and being a lunatic – has the scar tissue and depth of character to show for it too (we never said being pious and celibate was the way to go).

Here’s a bunch of other reasons why chasing the CT ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. How Much Does It Cost To Do The Challenger Series? (Spoiler alert: it’s bleak).

Grayson’s words below:

“In the peak of winter (August), during the mass migration of surfers going to Indonesia, my girlfriend Holly and I packed the fourby once again with the aim to spend a couple of weeks travelling through the Australian outback. Completing the Oodnadatta track as well as visiting some iconic railway towns situated in the middle of a dust bowl. On our way back we punched it to the coastline where we were met with torrential weather systems reeking havoc on us.

Every week we would have a small window of 1-2 days where swells and winds would line up and we would punch it to wherever we thought would have a wave. We were definitely on the back burner for clips and didn’t film every session as some spots were too sensitive to shoot. However we got some super fun waves in a 3 week period and would spend the entire day surfing our brains out as we knew we had to make the most of the small windows of good conditions.

The afternoon light making the red dirt cliffs glow whilst a cheeky full moon watches over

It was incredible to meet back up with some familiar faces and have a few good blow outs on the Emu Exports and Coopers Reds with them. As usual these road trips are filled with meeting awesome like minded people. It was pretty tricky overcoming the shark factor fear due to regularly facing solo sessions. Our shark knowledge was over loaded as we met and spoke to some incredible professional fisherman working the west coast zone.”