June 24th 2014: Southern giants

There's a certain irony in the photograph below of Jimi Crooks and Leroy Rust discussing the comforts of their merino gloves. They went on to laugh about who had the best gumboots: Jimi's are far superior it is eventually decided as the pair of Dunedin surfers laugh and joke around.

Over the fence from where they stand and just a few hundred metres from the shoreline is Skeleton Reef. Far from the comforts of woollen gloves, jackets and neoprene-lined boots, this reef near Papatowai is one of the world's great big wave surf spots. Leroy is a retail worker and Jimi is a Dunedin sparky, but both have the day off work to take on a wild challenge: to paddle into the biggest waves they can find.

In the distance, tow team Nick Smart and Brad Roberts take turns flicking each other into waves. The size becomes evident and the raw swell doesn't make things easy for anyone. Nick gets a couple of long rides, pays the price on a few, but comes up stoking.

By the time Leroy and Jimi paddle out, the tide has dropped and the two defined bowls are top to bottom. It's an impossible scene to comprehend even when you are floating on a jet ski in the channel. I can't work out how they will ever paddle into these monsters. Almost as soon as they are in the zone a set comes and they each stroke into some of the biggest waves I have ever seen in real life. The waves are so big that they appear to break in slow-motion and the drop alone takes many seconds.

This wasn't the first time these two have charged this wave – Jimi was the youngest to ever surf it and both of them have paddled in on even bigger days. I admire their approach – they're in it for the thrill and the challenge – if I hadn't insisted on shooting the session they'd have been completely content with just memories of the day. That's a pretty unique attitude in the world of big wave surfing. Full respect for these guys.

At the end of the week we shot up to Central Otago for the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival and spent some time with some pretty amazing characters. More on that in our next edition!

See you at the beach ... Derek