January 6th 2015: Wild things

How nice is it when the stars align and the holiday season coincides with some of the best weather we've had in a long time? We saw the highs slotting into place and made a beeline straight to one of the most beautiful beaches on Earth: Purakaunui Bay in the Catlins. By a stroke of luck we also managed to set up camp on the point overlooking the waves – I hardly even had to leave the tent to shoot photos for this edition.

This part of the Catlins is wildly beautiful and brimming with wildlife. On one dusk session I had a young New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) come up beneath me, spin around a few times, swim just under the surface showing off his teeth and lunging at me. He was just playing so I held my nerve and acted boring and he eventually cruised off. But I didn't expect what happened next. The sea lion returned with a friend and the pair of juveniles egged each other on until they were brushing boards and legropes as they worked their way through the lineup freaking everyone out. I had visions of these boisterous 120kg-plus mammals grabbing an end each as they toyed with a surfer like a couple of dogs fighting over a bone. But after trying everyone out for a game of chase they moved in between us and proceeded to play fight with each other right in front of our eyes.

It made a fun surf even more special. But the next day was even funnier when the juveniles came through the estuary clearing the kids out of the water in record time. One of them then proceeded to play chase with a kayaker and an inflatable boat. The whole campground emerged for the show.

Time flies when you slip back into that zone of wildness that comes with camping. It's over too quickly and you're left with a blur of memories of surfing remote point breaks, smoky campfires, brilliant sunrises, a stray barrel ride or two and a kaleidoscope of beautiful vistas. I hope your past week was similar.

See you at the beach ... Derek