The Kalbarri Kid. The Craike-dog. And owner of the best forehand fin-throw in the biz, according to King Kelly Slater.Not a bad rap. Craikey, who has lived most of his life on the edge of the dustbowl up in the Great North-West of WA, is synonomous with fast, electrifying, state-of-the-art surfing.

It almost seems as if the ol’ Quiksilver Airshows, the speciality events that helped re-define surfing as entertainment in the 90s, were somehow conjured up by Craike himself … back when he was an unknown teenager, doing the best surfing anyone had ever seen at Jakes Point, the closest break to the family home up there on the edge of the dustbowl.

‘Cause when Craikey showed up and pulled on the competition singlet, he promptly began winning the things. Four in total, including the Australasian final and World Airshow Final. Plus fistfuls of money, enough at least to help kickstart a career.

Ever since, Craikey has been one of the most loved and most watched surfers on Quiksilver’s global team. Maybe it’s the country kid thing – easy to get along with, buggar all cares in the world and simple passions to keep him focussed, like surfing, fishing and hanging with ya’ mates.

There’s a few basic facts about Craikey that most people have heard:
- he started surfing as a natural footer, but because all the good waves around his place were lefts, his dad, John, made him switch and surf as a goofy-footer.
- his dad, John, is a mad surfer too. He and Craike junior make an awesome tow-team, logging countless hours with the jet-ski. What better way to hone your barrel riding and air-time than by catching a zillion waves thanks to the use of a jet-ski?
- he’s got a pretty fu$ked up tattoo on his foot that simply says “Go Bert”. He got it during a wild night in Las Vegas with his good mate, Kerby Brown.

- and the rest is all about fishing, surfing and travelling non-stop …

Craikey’s got too many video parts and awesome stories to name and talk about, but definitely check out “Campaign 2”, “Stranger Than Fiction”, Quiksilver’s Young Guns I, II & III, and his new bio film “There’s No ‘I’ in Go Ry!”

Do pro surfers have it easy we ask Craikey?
“Hmm, well … it’s definitely a sick lifestyle, but some times all the airports can get pretty annoying,” he says.