An adventure of two close mates born in Byron, Nick Colbey and Marlo Dadd, meeting up with brothers and friends, surfing and exploring through South America. Treks to ruins, riding down death roads, and finding empty surfing pointbreaks. Venturing from South to North and discover that there is still so much to find in a crowded world.
And to top it all off… the boys have made a film about their experiences… “South of God” will premier in Byron Bay on Thursday 22nd December 2011 at the Byron Bay Community Centre (7:30pm). You can get your tickets HERE.
We got the good word from the boys….
Tell us about “the two mates” doing the travelling?
Myself (Nick Colbey), 22, and Marlo Dadd, 23, grew up together in Suffolk Park since as long as I can remember, we surfed every day before and after school for all of our teenage lives. School was a common grounding for us to just surf all the time, run a muck in Byron and just have fun. But as we got older we both got that travellers itch and I went off to places like Mexico and Indo’ and he (Marlo) ended up in Europe travelling and then working on super yachts in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean Seas for the last 4 years.. So we are best of mates but this is the first time we’ve actually had the chance to travel together.
What inspired the “South of God” concept?
I think just the fact that we’d heard all these amazing stories about empty point-breaks, ancient ruins and danger inspired the title…The boys from Parkway Drive just did a motorbike trip here (South America) before me and the told me all these cool stories of adventure and wild set ups in the desert. It seems like, when you’re not here, that South America really is a long..long way away; from the rest of the world. And all the stories are true except the danger part, everyone is so friendly and helpful, sure you have to watch your back in the cities but the people are really beautiful here! Last year was a really intense year for me personally and also Marlo so I guess to we both wanted to get away and explore not only a new continent but take some time to reflect on things.
You are both from Byron Bay, is it a good place to come back to after all the travel?
It sure is! To be honest growing up there (Byron) you do get caught in a bubble sometimes, because life really is cruisy and you spend most of your days surfing and hanging out with your friends, that’s also why everyone loves living there. But I haven’t been home for Christmas in two years and Marlo hasn’t been there in 7 years! So we are excited to be home for summer to show the movie and we’re also planning a fundraising kayak trip from Sydney to Byron in January to raise money for the Uncle Project  in Byron Bay and another charity.
Can you tell us one crazy story from your travels?
In Bolivia you can do this death road biking trip were you ride 70 kilometres down this crazy road were some parts of the cliff are a 500 metre drop, I saw my little brother come real close to skidding of the edge and I nearly had an epic crash, about 300 people use to die on it a year when it was a public road. It was crazy, my brother loved it, but I think I’ll stick to surfing!
The premier is in December, can you tell us what to expect?
So far we’ve had some really cool feedback from everyone so it should be great- I hope. On the other hand it’s our debut film so I don’t really know what to expect, as long as my friends and family are there and we inspire at least one person to get on the road and explore the world, then I’ll be happy with that.
South of God, premiering in Byron Bay on Thursday 22nd December 2011 at the Byron Bay Community Centre (7:30pm). You can get your tickets HERE.