It's shrouded in secrecy for the most obvious reason. The purpose built, skateable swimming pool is in the backyard of the Rea's family home. They don't need randoms showing up vying for access. They can't have the public skating and slamming on their private property... OSH would have a field day if the pool was open to everyone.

Tony 'Radar' Rea is meshed into NZ Skating lore, a legit OG. A loud and polarising character. A colourful character that skating both created and needed. Throughout his life, his unquestionable, unwavering love for skating never dwindled. Him commissioning Jason Parkes to build the Rasta pool over a decade ago. It wasn't ever a maybe, Radar would have his pool.

Radar passed 2 years ago. The 57 year old's funeral was packed with the who's who of NZ skateboarding. His best mate Shane Munden was, and is, profoundly affected by Radar's sudden death. Shane has become the lynchpin in creating an almost online entity of Radar. Over the last 2 years Shane has posted images and thoughts consistently, still hurting at the loss of his lifelong bro.

Shane; ‘The gates… walked through them many times with many skaters and of course probably the landlord the most … a character known as Radar, real name Mr Tony Rea. How do you describe him… haha. You got a few months ? The story telling alone … never let the truth get in the way of a good tale at times. Generous to a fault if such a thing exists ? Just like Lyn and Des .. Tony’s parents.
We both agreed that we had a responsibility to provide skate spots for our friends, fuck the cost, who cares. Build it and they will come. The Rastabowl is a result of that mentality. It’s not just about you and your agenda, it’s a brotherhood… put the boys up… maybe somewould pay with an eyebrow or a liberated ponytail occasionally but hey it was all in jest. HaHa.’

Marking the 2 year anniversary of Radar's passing, Shane thought it was the time to get the crew together. To have a jam in Radar's honour. Radar's partner Nykesha very kindly agreed and hosted the day. It had to be on the d-low, Shane organised it being ever respectful to the Rea's. It's a backyard, numbers had to be limited. A lot of Shane's admin was about managing who could attend and how to diplomatically keep to the numbers.

Shane; ‘There she is .. drone shot … of the Rastabowl. Thank you Radar, thank you Nykesha, thank you the Rea family. This is probably Truck’s view at times … he’s that loud seagull that won’t stop squawking… can’t stop squawking. I can hear him now… let me tell you this grommets!’

The royalty of NZ Skating was either there or had shared their apologies in not making it. Tony Hallam flying in from Melbourne. Spittle, Bevan Phillips, Ihaka, Morri, Parkesy, Squeak, Dave Austin, Jimmy Kouratouros, Byron Convey who traveled with Tony from Oz ,Greg Jarman and Eddie.

Shane; ‘ 1978 TILL INFINITY. L to R Dave Austin, aka Wiza 42…Bio…Austonovich …check out Biomag! Tony Hallam (he flew in from Melbourne with another ripper Byron Convey from Canberra.)Brett Ihaka… NLB… Skatopia, Oakura … he was there .Greg Jarman…a founding member of the original Posse Unstoppable. A select crew with tales for days, Magazine editor, my partner in crime in many adventures on boards with wheels and bindings, my G .. coerced him out of semi skate retirement recently… the fever !!! Bevan Philip aka the Beautinoy…and Mushroom if we must dig deeper ,we all had nicknames you see… there at Skatopia and Melville, Spittle’s, Lee’s ramp, Oakura, early traveler to the USA . Fellow music nut and recent go to guy to meet at gigs of consequence….Beer in hand,smiling and laughing. Don’t go changing ya good thing.’

The OG's and then some of NZ's most regarded shredders; Lizardo, Kayden, Bancroft, Cale... you'll see in the images, and the captions by the legend himself Mr Shane Munden.

Shane; ‘Lizard… Keith Duffy … speed … power… so fucken good.. Old long in the tooth cats and shorter in the tooth crew as well know how amazing the Lizard is. Watch him at Lynfield or Parksey’s … you’ll get the picture. He couldnt give a shit about how rad he is… he’s a skate rat you see… he may never win or even enter a contest… most of us know though Keith’s the man…like Spittle said… no arguments please. Keith will argue he’s not the man and shy away from the shine. When I thought of a skater and person to flow some Swindle product to … Keith was top of the list. Not just because of his skating but for who he is… a proud Westie and family man possessed to skate… I’m drinking the Kool Aid for sure bro.
Jimmy Kouratouros… we go back decades. AKA Jimmy Bewdeeful. Skater, Surfer, Dad, Artist, ramp builder but most importantly a real good bugger. I have great memories skating Jimmy’s ramp in Onehunga back in the day, as do many of the crew, so cool to reconnect Jimmy. Let’s skate again soon. Enjoy the Port … I kinda miss those offshore days there , the reef, the cove… never say never.’

Shane; ‘ Kaiden Elliot … speed, power, don’t jump off. Make it or slam. Knew the first time I skated with this son of the mighty Waikato that it was skate and destroy. He recently camped at home as did a few of the crew, I pulled out the photo albums and his pupils dilated. Tales and captures of timeless moments and locations. He ate that shit up. Yeah Kadez … rule on.’

Shane, ‘ Kaiden … Dead set on destruction… Search and destroy…Rip it up… lyrics I think of when witnessing his all out assault on the poor terrain he must conquer at all costs… By all means necessary.’

Shane; ‘Cale Tolley … salt of the earth, a true Mount legend. Something about skaters that surf… they just make it look a little different in the salty stuff, especially in the air, it’s a bit more legit so to speak, imho anyway. Kevin Reed, Christian Fletcher, Peter Boronski, Warwick Bliss, Matt Groube, Cale Tolley. It was a given that when I was the guy repping SMP in NZ that Cale was on , I put him on another team too. Proud to call this real one my friend. Yeah Copious !!!!’

Shane; ‘ Cale didn't plan to skate Saturday. He’s off on a surf mission soon and he thought he'd take it easy. Smart thinking. I once should have done that, booked on a family trip to Fiji in a day or so … one more session at the Rastabowl… what could go wrong?
Ring Ring … Hun I’m calling from the Westpac rescue chopper… dig out those travel insurance docs… I’ll be in Waikato A&E shortly…Love you, sorry . When you have the fever burning inside you, you can’t not jump in and get buck wild when the energy and crew collide. Fish… or cut bait ? Walk up and down the beach or paddle out ? Hit the roof on a Mctwist on Unc Shane’s ramp. Hang on or bail ? I already know the answer in your case mate.’

Shane; [Shane with Bevan] ‘The stories… hahaha especially after a few tall ones. This is why you get the crew together…. Send out the smoke signals…we”re getting the band back together… we’re on a mission from God. Who’d have thought we’d all be together again all those decades later. The fire doth burn.’

Shane; ‘ Steven… Spittle told me he was en route, He vouched for him. We’d never met, Spittle vouched for him … man that’s a small group these days haha. Nice to meet you Steven. You rip and Mike was right when he said you’ll love him Shane .. the guy rules he said.’

Shane; ‘Keith shredding as per usual. Balls to the wall… go time. Just roll in and work it out from there. Speed and power will get you through ,that’s what I presume he must think. Or maybe he doesn’t think at all, it just unfolds as it happens. Either way… like hearing it or not Keith… you rip shit up.’

Shane; ‘ *Eddie.. We go back a long way too. Man … this guy has survived some serious shit… I’ll let him tell you about it if and when he*
*sees fit. He’s determined to let kids know that the darkside is there swirling around you …but guess what… it ain’t fucking pretty.*
This guy does a lot for under privileged kids … vulnerable kids in tough situations..I salute you my friend. A phoenix who has risen from the ashes… looked shit in the face head on and went on to survive what many of my other friends didn’t …so to speak … you get the picture.. Skateboarding Saves.. For real man… no fronting… the truth … you want the truth… maybe you can’t handle the truth but maybe skateboarding just might be the truth ?
*His love for skateboarding is off the richter haha … a true rat.’*

Shane; ‘I only met Leroy recently, he’s a ‘Kune boy, I was walking around ‘Kune at an ungodly hour recently and came across ramps and obstacles. Holy shit I thought… someone here has the fever… It’s Leroy and the boys work I discovered. Nice to get to know you Leroy> I wasn’t surprised to hear of your snowboarding talent from a young age, not from you of course, from crew I respect and rode with. So cool to see you fsu at Truck’s on the wooden toy. You’re in good hands with that Druncle of yours.’

Shane; ‘Tony Hallam and I go way back,b ack to 79 ! He’s so in love with skateboarding it pisses out of his veins. we skated a lot together before he left NZ for Oz. Skatopia, Hamilton aka Melville, Waiuku … the memories my friend. We would cross paths occasionally in Oz at places like the Ramp Riot in Torquay in the late 80’s but didn’t really hang out or re-bond until recently.
He’s showing me a poster from Skatopia advertising prices of sessions and hire equipment I think. I love Byron Convey’s look on his face… mad dog Kiwis he’s thinking haha. So cool to reconnect with Byron, the last I saw him we were in Canberra in the early 90’s. We skated Belco, Woden, Charnwood etc. Byron went on to be one of Australia’s best vert guys. He made the trip across the ditch with Tony. So cool to see guys make such an effort to join the party. See you again soon boys… next time tack on some extra days… we’ll go on a roadie.’

Shane; ‘Mr Ihaka… a few times over the last few years I’ve reached out to Brett and said the boys are getting together. Important occasions… Radar’s service… this session… he made it work. He juggled his work schedule and showed up. Another cat I’ve known for decades, Skatopia crew, they just keep showing up when the call goes out lately, of course.’

Shane, ‘*Love this pic. What a cool capture Craig. Rory, Eddie, Cale, myself and Skinner. Laughter,smiles,stories,a few tins … what a motley crew.’*

Shane, ‘Nolan… ripping as per usual. We only run into each other every few years or so, its usually down this way at one of the glorious private facilities people like the Groube’s and Rea’s offer with open arms up to the hordes of salivating dogs I attempt to assemble at times …desperate to get some !!! I enjoy hanging out and skating with this character when we cross paths for sure.’

Shane, ‘Another candid capture by CPL . Mike, Mikey and Cale. I guess the good photogs just capture the essence of the situation. It’s not always who’s the best or who’s skating but can you capture who’s truly living and in the moment? Scott Needham aka snp5000 is another photog I’m honoured to call a friend and like Craig possesses the same talent. I first met Craig in the 80’s. We’ve crossed paths in varied locations and situations over the decades skating, surfing, punk gigs, parties … hell we even dated girls that were best friends at one point. Craig lives on the Coro now and we are getting to know each other a lot better. It’s dangerous when we get together… the convos can eat up time, we can go deep on many shared interests . We were in the same places at the same times so often it’s quite bizarre. Thanks for turning up on the day Craig and documenting the shenanigans.’

Shane; ‘Didn’t know Mike Bancroft that well. Crossed paths briefly on occasion awhile back that was about it. I saw a comment he made online about never skating the Rastabowl. Spittle said he’s an amazing skater and that he’s a funny bugger, you’ll love him.’
His skating was amazing … check the footage ,or if you saw it live ….what a sight to behold. I’ll let the footy tell the story. Hope you enjoyed yourself Mike. I’d heard you absolutely ripped and took no prisoners. Yeah… no shit bro.Rule on .’

Shane; ‘Kaiden again… going for it as as per usual. I showed him some photos I had of a few pools we drained in his hood in the 90’s. I saw the glint, I knew I’d lit a new fire under his ass. He couldn’t believe that such spots could be there in the Tron region,he sent me a msg within days showing images of possible locations with rideable concrete ponds and began reconnaissance missions. I said this is where to look and try these sorts of places… just like the N Men told me in the 90’s when I was in Sacto. Of course he did exactly that …. hahaha. You seen the kid man-handle Melville ? Sheesh… he’s gnarly.’

Shane; ‘ Monty, Morri’s protege. He’s a ripper… looks good on his board…tasteful and easy on the eye sort of stuff. Mentored by Uncle Moz who couldn’t skate on the day. Guess why? He ate shit at Mangawhai skating with the boys from Oz … playing host. I shared a vid of Nostrilagis recently. He still gives skating the big stuff a good nudge- that’s for sure. Another guy I’ve known since ‘79 or 80. We pretty much learned to skate together riding Allenby and Skatopia. There were silly names for crews bitd. We were part of the Allenby Allstars at one stage we still take the piss about that name 45 years later. Morri and I skated Spittles a lot and most of the kiwi concrete and ramp spots through the years. We surfed and snowboarded early on together too and got up to a bit of mischief together through the decades. I’ll save those stories for an upcoming project I may start working on… maybe! We traveled together to Oz in the heady 80’s, sessioned in the States in the 90’s and 2000’s. Epic spots like Chicken’s bowl, ,backyard pools, a few Vans skateparks when they were on. Morri gave it a serous nudge, he went on to turn pro and like Lee and Gregor wasn’t just there to make the cut, he was one of the guys that had the ability to match it with the best and did.’

Shane; ‘Jason Parkes- he built the Rasta Bowl . Here he is cruising through a frontal carve in one of his backyard creations, he’s made a few! I first met Parksey in the 80’s. Spittle and I heard these young fullas on the Shore had a ramp. We had no idea where or maybe a rough hint or two. No GPS but we sniffed it out. That ramp was Parksey’s he was young as, he went on to build many ramps for the crew for years and went on to building public ramps and skateparks under his brand Premium Skateparks. Mangawhai is one of Parksey’s creations; World class spot. I caught up with Jase and finally got to ride his own pool recently. That thing is pretty much a backyard pool in the true sense. Jase ripped it up of course.
Another guy I’ve shared sessions with at some epic spots like Chicken’s, Kelly Bellmar’s bowl, some epic backyarders. Thank you and a shout out to the Screaming Squeegees and PPS while I’m on the subject and ,thanks for letting me and my friends play in your glorious cement ponds. You guys were and are on another level.’

Shane; ‘Dave Austin … Bio … so cool to see you again Dave. Another Skatopia boy and lover of the wooden toy. Dave has some amazing footage and photos of the period when no one skated, we were like Aliens at the time, especially in South Auckland haha…how we survived I’ll never know. So cool whenever we catch up Dave, we go deep on the history and the culture in some mind bending conversations in amongst skating of course. Another one that answers the call when Jake and Elroy hatch a plan.’

Shane; ‘ Another CPL slice of life captured, look into their eyes… confidence,experience …we’re here for a good time not a long time sort of stuff… or at least that’s my take. Mike and Cale. A generation apart but true brothers in arms and lovers of the wooden toy. Ability in excess in many disciplines skating, art, surfing, music, jiu jitsu. 2 guys I think the world of.’

Shane…quite rightly gets the close to this web log…

OK enough from me.

Thanks to everyone involved in the day’s get together and sessions. Everyone from my wife and family to our generous hosts the Rea and Groube whanaus, friends and comrades. I wanted to show my friends in honour of Tony and of course our other fallen brothers like Carl, Jim etc that sure there’s a lot of weird shit going on in this thing we love… skateboarding sure has changed a lot lately. But the feeling of getting together to skate, talk shit and bond in an environment free from the BS swirling around us in this modern world more than compensates for the other stuff that some of us find slightly suss so to speak haha. Respect to our other fallen comdrades; Carl Marinkovich, Jim Sandford, Darren Dempsey, Black Age … Adrian and any of our crew no longer with us.

Don’t believe the hype.

It’s a Swindle.

Yes I know we have to do it all again soon , I got the memo from the crew both near and far.

Thanks and all the best.

Don’t walk … boogie.

Smundy Bear

Radar’s Day

Surf Dims Goes Live