New Zealand's Halcyon Days n every way, the formative period of the 60s and early 70s was the genesis of this book. This was the start of surf exploration and discovery in New Zealand. It’s hard not to daydream of what it must have been like for surfers like Raglan pioneer Campbell Ross to negotiate Manu Bay’s rocks for the first time; to see water draw off the Ledge at low tide for the first time; to see Indicators and wonder if it’s do-able; hell, to name Indicators Indicators. Imagine the excitement that must have surged through Mike Gardiner in 1963 and ‘64 as he discovered all the
Sandy Bay, Northland, 1967 doesn't look like it's changed one bit. ARCHIVES NEW ZEALAND
rocky points around Opunake, south Taranaki, and during his subsequent eightmonth surfari to Great Barrier Island. The Surfari has been an integral part of New Zealand surf culture since those early days, in part due to the development of smaller, lighter boards but also due to some quirks of New Zealand’s geography. Very simply put, most of our population bases are around harbours: we may live near the sea, but it’s the inner seas. Kiwi surfers had to travel to the surf beaches anyway, so why not go just that little bit further?
Master shaper and multiple national champion, Wayne Parkes, before his trademark mop of hair grew in. KENNINGS COLLECTION
Mike Court at Manu Bay, riding high in the curl.
Taff Kennings in the late 1960s - boards had started to shrink down to size.
KENNINGS COLLECTION
KENNINGS COLLECTION
Wayne Parkes, Des Culpan, Robbie Bambery and Dave Carter at Whangamata's main beach carpark. KENNINGS COLLECTION
he Winterless North”, is a well-worn catchcry that was probably first dreamed up by a clever copywriter for Northland Tourism. For New Zealand surfers, the Far North conjures up daydreams of long west coast lefts and fond memories of camping under Pohutukawa trees with A-frame east swells cracking onto pure white sand. Northland is the skinniest part of New Zealand, with east, west and north coasts all on offer and in places only minutes' drive apart. Diversity is the big allure; the variety of coasts are open to a host of swell angles and there are quality beach breaks and reefs on both sides. The mighty Tauroa The mighty Tauroa Peninsular, aka Shipwreck Bay or ‘Shippies’, Peninsular, aka ‘Shippies’, is the jewel in the crown, but is the jewel in the crown, Northland is wave-drenched and a surf adventurer’s dream. Bring your but Northland is wave tent, Four-wheel drive and a good drenched and a surf pair of shoes… and remember to ask very, very nicely at the gate. adventurer’s dream.
Shippies. Steeped in ancient Māori lore and more recent European misadventure, Ahipara is now a New Zealand surfing icon.
On any given tide there will be long, walling lefts on one of the many reefs. The idea (and very real possibility) of being able to ride a wave for over a knee-buckling kilometre would be enough, but Shippies offers so much more: the locals’ rusty reef wagons, the seaweed pickers’, kai moana harvesting at low tide, camping out in the pines and locals on horseback are just some of the things that make the Shippies sojourn a rich experience. ROWAN KLEVSTUL
This area's wave potential has been well-known for decades, but only a select few ever get a key to the gate.
RAMBO ESTRADA
In recent years access issues have been circumvented by the use of PWC’s, though its exact location is still kept largely SILAS HANSEN under wraps. Not that it's a wave for everyone, especially not the faint-hearted or undistinguished.
Kare Kare. The ever-shifting iron sands of Auckland's west coast need anomalies to form them into banks, things like headlands and rocks that create rips and deposit sand in the leigh of these formations. West coast surfers might not have perfect point breaks or reefs due to the nature of the rock composition, but they do have spots that are consistent for opportunity. SILAS HANSEN
There are a handful of small nooks between Kare Kare and Bethells, and on the odd day they offer power-packed waves. Scott Bell at one such venue. SILAS HANSEN
Raglan Bar. If you can brave the arm-jelling paddle, the strong rip tides and handle the freight-train walls, you could be sampling one of New Zealand's most elusively excellent waves.
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A classic Island moment - the boat out the back and the perfect A-frame.
RAMBO ESTRADA
Maz Quinn reveling in quality Puni's Farm, so called to throw non-locals off the scent when images from the Island started to get published. RAMBO ESTRADA
A couple of Coromandel nuggets pitch on the golden sands of Whiritoa.
DIGGA
Just north of Wainui is Makorori Beach.
STRIKE
Makorori Point is often regarded as a fat wave, but in the right swell...
STRIKE
Mahia Pennisula is just a 45-minute drive south of Gisborne, SILAS HANSEN and it's home to some of New Zealand’s best waves.
Local Richard Christie at home at Boat
Harbour.
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Graveyard Lefts and Rights in full flight.
CPL
he Hawkes Bay stays largely off the surf media's radar, and that’s just the way the local crew like it. A host of spots just south of the district’s capital, Napier, offer quality waves in the right conditions. Back in town, the Port of Napier was in part created on the bones of one of New Zealand’s longest right-handers: Harding Road. It now lays dormant, put to sleep by port’s break-walls with only the biggest of swells sneaking through. As you travel south past Waimarama and into the Wairarapa, the surf potential increases. The Wairarapa coast is buffeted by high winds and the landscape is rugged and wild. Only the hardy thrives here and even then it’s side-ways. The Wairarapa has long been the target of surfaris for Wellington surfers and others from further afield, with a vast array of rocky reefs and shingle bar breaks. Spots like The Spit, The Gap, Seconds, Tora Tora have become synonymous with adventure. The only limiting factor is that damn norwester that will cut a swell to shreds. Those stories of boards being lost and blown out to sea that you thought were dreamed up by locals trying to put you off? They aren't fictitious.
Tora Point, long paddles and long walls.
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Between Kaikoura and the region’s capital, Christchurch, the coast largely hides
its gems, but they are there.
WARREN HAWKE
The pier at Christchurch’s surfing suburb New
Brighton creates consistent banks.
RYAN ISHERWOOD
One of New Zealand’s premier beach breaks, Aramoana
Spit.
SILAS HANSEN
S
ecret
In recent years, Dunedin’s core body-boarders have lead the charge in surfing isolated spots around Otago.
CHRIS GARDEN
Little wonder New Zealand surfers flock to the Catlins in the summer months.
CHRIS GARDEN
C
The allure of Otago’s quiet coasts has to be the opportunity to explore the SILAS HANSEN path less walked.
atlins forest
Canadian surfer Noah Cohen, not surprisingly at home in Southland’s frigid waters.
SILAS HANSEN
Westland remains New Zealand’s least-surfed coast. Population density or lack thereof, access and weather keep the crowds to a minimum.
CHRIS GARDEN
Shipwrecks, savages & surf. New Zealand lays claim to being the World's most southern surfing community - next stop the South Pole. Battered by storms and swell driven up from Antarctica, our island nation is never lacking waves. This book is a celebration of some of the many world-class surf breaks that make up New Zealand's rich and varied coastlines.Â