February 9th 2016: Less travelled ...

Summer crowds can get quite intense – even in the surf around Otepoti – so I've been on a mission to surf more myself (yep, actually put down the camera) and explore the coastline with a few friends to find some hidden gems. And gems we've found. But the best gem of all is rediscovering that spirit of exploration we all had as grommets – you know, that unscratchable itch and wonder at what might lie just around the corner, around that next headland and beyond that far off beach.

So this past week, together with a small bunch of mates, we drove, walked, crawled, climbed and paddled around this mighty coastline of Otepoti and the Catlins. Did we score? Of course we did. The waves ranged from pretty good to buzzy – that's similar to a 5/10 to a 9/10 if you lived in Mount Maunganui. But even on the lower end of the scale the rides were memorable for their remote location, the abundance of wildlife in and around the water and the scale and physical exertion of the trek in. And then there's that hard to quantify value of sharing the experience of taking the road less travelled with just a few good mates.

Along the way we met a few really cool farmers, whose properties backed onto long sections of coastline. They offered all sorts of insights and knowledge about the coast – and they took their roles as guardians of the land seriously. It seems the biggest threat to access to these beautiful places rests on three simple rules that every farmer throughout the country upholds:

1) Always ask permission before crossing farmland
2) Never take a dog with you
3) Always leave the gates as you found them and if you open them make sure they are latched shut securely behind you

Seems a small ask for a world of surf adventure.

See you at the beach ... Derek

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