Border crossings. Broken pavement. Dirt roads to roping righthanders. Desert settlements that look like Star Wars sets. Must be a Baja trip—in this case, Raph Bruhwiler heading due south for some Mexican perfection. Thanks to Adam Dewolfe of gotsurf.ca for the link.

In honour of Robbie Burns Day, here's a look at how good the surf can get on the north coast of Scotland. Thurso East has to be high on the list of the best cold water waves in the world. Plus, you can combine your forays there with whisky drinking on Islay and, if you're lucky, an afternoon in the stands at an Old Firm derby.

P.S. Don't know who Robbie Burns was? You should.

"Epic days have been few here on the East Coast," Nico Manos told us today in an email from his place in Lawrencetown, N.S. "But the consistency this winter has been worth it." Here's a short clip of Manos test-driving a brand-new JS Blak Box—looks like that one's a keeper, eh?

David Maurice Smith moved from Canada to Australia a few years back, where he settled near the water in Sydney. "I was living in Whistler for a long time," he mentioned in a recent email, "and was in a bit of a photographic rut. Despite being such an amazing place in so many ways, there just weren't opportunities to chase the type of photography I was after. I grew up in Vancouver and didn't really feel like that would be the change I was needing either. So in a fairly spur of the moment decision, we decided to pack up and move to Sydney. There's a vibrant photographic industry here and I've been able to mentor with some amazing photographers right off the bat. When you go somewhere new it's like a fresh start, you really get to reinvent. And then, of course, there was the prospect of surfing more regularly—we're a hundred metres from the closest break, so that makes it pretty easy to get wet. I'm really lucky to be able to sprint to the beach for a quick rip when I need it."

The black-and-whites in the slideshow above are examples of Smith's beautiful work—in this case, depicting fellow photographer Murray Fraser, who runs the nifty Sydney surf photo site Sprout Daily.

More of Smith's work is online here.

Ah, summer. Remember when you couldn't find a spot in the Long Beach parking lot and a head-high wave seemed like a rare gift from the gods? This clip will take you back, featuring surfing by Isaac Raddysh, Frazer Mayor and Kye and Janek Peladeau. For more from these fellas, check out subjecttoholdups.blogspot.com.