Bum Rush Tour Newcastle, Australia 2025

“I’m a surfer that does carpentry, not a carpenter that surfs," – Dom Thomas, Winner of The Bum Rush Tour, Newcastle.

The 13th installment of the Bum Rush Tour landed in Australia’s “Steel City” (Newcastle) — a blue-collar paradise located 160 kilometers north of Sydney’s central business district. On a windblown day in April, Australia’s premier aerialists plopped themselves on the beach, watched a local session intently, and handed a $5k check to the surfer they liked the best. After weeks of trying to understand a surf forecast with more fluctuations than Australian coffee orders, we washed up to Merewhether’s iconic beach on a wind-stroked Thursday morning. Julian Wilson arrived first, and declared, “I want to see the winner stretchered off the beach with a $5K check.”

The rest of the highly-qualified panel included Stab High Japan champ Hughie Vaughan, motivational speaker (and avid spinner) Milla Coco Brown, life-time Bum Rusher Caden Francis, and a lensman who’s captured generations of Australian punters, Peter ‘Bosko’ Boskovic. A little after 9 am, Hughie almost got hustled out of the $5K check by former CTer Jacko Baker, so he called Julian and Caden in from their freesurf for a quick start. The horn blew and Merewhether produced over an hour of high-flying feats. In the end, the surfer who flew closest to the sun — and to Julian’s prophecy, busted his ankle in the process — won the $5K check.

The winner, Dom Thomas — a 20-year-old carpenter from a few klicks south — impressed our judges with his aversion to pain and a barrage of full rotation attempts. Although Dom had won the $5K Bum Rush check, the panel decided he’d have to land one for a spot in Stab’s prestigious air contest. Still hobbling on one leg, Dom paddled back out for attempt #30 while our judges cheered him on — from the water, of course. Did the young Australian clinch the golden ticket? Watch the Bum Rush Tour Newcastle to find out.