As a kid I remember trying to devise ways to catch sparrows, blackbirds and wax-eyes. I settled on an open space with lots of bread and seeds as bait, but I recall how hopeless I felt when faced with so many birds all going in different directions. It was extremely frustrating. There were 100s of birds on the family farm, but catching just one would prove to take me years to master. It was that feeling of being so close to so many, but so far away that overwhelmed me each time. Eventually I came to the realisation that focusing on just one bird among the many would increase my chances significantly. So I zeroed in and could have filled an aviary within months – especially once I repurposed our old hinaki.
Last week that feeling of hopelessness in the face of abundance came flooding back. The coasline around Dunedin was pinging all around with ground swell, tides and winds swirling through favourable several times a day. I fell into the trap and chased swell and wind all around the coast, but never quite landed perfection. It seemed that whenever I zagged the waves would zig, whenever I rolled the dice, I rolled out. The worst part – I drove past lots of almost perfect surf breaks all week, chasing that one that might be "just a bit better".
So this is a collection of the surf spots that weren't so perfect last week. And I have to admit, even with less than perfect conditions, this place is still pretty cool ...
Here's your hinaki for the coming week.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS At the end of the week we ran into a crew of surfers from Australia over here doing a story for DGZ Magazine and Surf Stitch ... we'll be bringing you their story next week.
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