Lauren Hill and Dave Rastovich are truly Water People to the absolute core. You might say they are marine mammals impersonating themselves in human suits. While they almost live "off grid" in some respects they are totally in touch with todays goings on and have a confident voice of reason that empowers the local community by acting in honour of their environmental habitat and beliefs especially around the ocean environment.

Many of us know Lauren and Dave surf on a super human level, which is completely mind blowing and inspiring but its their voice, challenging of the status quo, actions and sharing of knowledge (and homegrown vegetables he he) to make the world a better place that inspires me the most.

I met Dave Rastovich many moons ago as a junior professional surfer when he represented Arnette optics, which I managed in Australia in the 90's. After this Dave was one of our original free surf ambassadors with my previous sunglass brand Electric Visual. We have shared many adventures together including visiting the Canary Islands representing the NGO he founded Surfers For Cetaceans on a mission to stop whaling in the area. Dave loves to observe, marvel and immerse himself in nature, particularly the ocean where he is considered a fish or dolphin himself. His extraordinary ocean connection and surfing ability to read waves is legendary. Dave today is a surf ambassador for Patagonia and continues to speak or act on behalf of nature and the environment. He is a natural community leader, due to his actions and informed articulate voice of reason. Dave has a wicked sense of humour so when you chat to Dave there is always a good laugh but you come away with a profound, poignant piece of wisdom to embed into your daily life. 

About 12 years ago, through Dave I met his amazing partner Lauren Hill who helped me by producing and submitting outstanding eco travel journalism pieces for my previous media platform Summersite. Lauren is also a professional free surfer, an eco-feminist, Mother and author who is also profoundly wise and naturally lighthearted. I follow Lauren on her socials @theseakin and am always in awe of her ability to challenge the status quo by asking topical questions that raise awareness on women's surfing, prejudice, social and environmental issues in a lighthearted but provocative manner that develops healthy and sometimes fierce discussion. 

While Lauren and Dave have many life experiences to share they also love to live out of the spotlight with their beautiful boy Minnow. Lucky for us they have many water people connections from around the world who love to visit their home in the NSW north coast Bundjalung region to surf, yarn and share incredible life experiences. Naturally it made a lot of sense to interview, record and share some of these wild Water People stories in a podcast to inspire and raise awareness.

These are absolutely fascinating stories from the Water People including Alby Falzon, Jon Florence, Tom Carroll, Annie Ford, Sally Parkin, Pauline Menzcer, Felicity Palmateer, Karina Petroni, Jack Johnson, Jock Sutherland, Josie Prendergast, Steph Gilmore, Brett Burcher, Torren Martyn and many more.
Listen to Water People Episodes here  

I find the insight gained from the Water People very powerful, delivered in a candid light hearted and easy listening tone that is always articulate, often very funny and extremely witty. The Water People catch your attention and take you on a journey through the some heavy seas and many that are overcome by the unwavering connection with the ocean. At the end of each episode I feel really freaking inspired to get out there and take on the world by living more simply and accepting the moment.

Last Friday I dropped by McTavish Surfboards to see an event, as part of the Byron Surf Festival and to my surprise Dave and Lauren were doing a live podcast with the man himself Bob Mctavish. It was absolutely iconic to see and listen to three core Water People discussing surfing heritage, folklore and the joy and wonder that the ocean brings people daily. This conversation was an absolutely ripper with a living legend in Bob Mctavish that makes you just wanna go surf right now.
You can listen to this live Podcast with Lauren, Dave and Bob on You Tube here 

Water People is now in its 6th season.
"We launched the podcast 5 years ago as a way to recreate those post-surf, fireside storytelling sessions that always captured our hearts and minds.

We wanted an inclusive place to share stories from all kinds of waterfolk – to make sense of the myriad ways that our aquatic experiences shape who we become back on land.

Welcome to The Waterpeople Podcast, a gathering for our global ocean community to dive into the critical conversations of our culture – through storytelling.

Please don't hesitate to be in touch, especially to recommend a guest. We'd love to know which waterpeople inspire you?"

Sign up and Join the Water People here and get a recommendation of 50 books that shape the lives of water people based on recommendations from guests on the podcast

At Childe we are absolutely honoured that Lauren and Dave invited us to support the Water People as a brand and community. We look forward to listening and sharing the stoke and adventures through the Water People community.