Australia Dreaming

Good day, mate! I'm Kai and I handle Indosole's production in Indonesia as well as manage distribution and logistics in Southeast Asia and Australia. I recently had the opportunity to go Down Under. It was our first time introducing Indosole to Australia, which was pretty exciting. I did a loop to meet retailers, make friends, and see the sights. Planes, trains, and automobiles... You name it, I used it.

It was great to meet up with so many special people. Two in particular, Mitch Sargent and his fiancée Alana Beales, took me in as one of their own, and Mitch expressed interest in helping Indosole grow in Australia. My thoughts were, "There's no better time than now. Let's do this!"

We started at Byron Bay, going around and seeing the shops. I was set up at Byron Market for a day and it was nice to see the market visitors stoked on Indos! I also had the chance to catch up with our friends Salt Gypsy and The Drifter Blog, and got to meet the folks behind Thrills Co. The vibe in Byron is great--it was very warm, like an extension of our community.

Next was Ballina, where I met Mitch's family who have a warehouse there, and then on to the WSL Comp at Snapper Rocks. I met with my good friend Scotty Hammonds who was shooting the comp for Surfing Magazine and he let us tag along to an interview with Josh Kerr to tour his brewery Balter. Kerr partnered with Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson & Bede Durbidge to make this Gold Coast brewery a reality and I can confidently say... the beer is good! 

Then it was on to Sydney to meet with an established sales rep named Ray Blaikie and tour the shops along the Sydney beaches, in particular Manly. There I met with some rad peeps making surfboard fins out of milk carton tops. Yet another creative solution to waste! I continued to Noosa Heads, QLD, for the Noosa Longboard Fest and then headed back to the comp for the last couple days.

All in all, it was a great trip. The sights were rad and the people even more so. I'm definitely planning on being back soon, so if you're in Australia and interested in a meeting feel free to email me directly at kai@indosole.com or contact Mitch Sargent at mitch@thegivingcollective.co. Cheers, mate!