This past week has been a whirlwind of chasing down different people and places for a series of assignments in the aftermath of Crankworx. My travels have taken me to the moto and MTB hub of Crown Kiwi Enterprises in New Plymouth to interview Shayne King and his family.
The Taranaki beach breaks were firing and the unusually warm water encouraged the crowds to make the most of them. When it's on Taranaki's coastline is among the best surf coasts in the world. While in the Naki I bumped into another of their fine athletes: Wyn Masters. Wyn is one of New Zealand's great downhill racers now racing for the GT Factory Racing team in World Cups in 2016. He is a prolific media personality and runs his own channel: Wyn TV, which brings his unique sense of style and classic Kiwi attitude to the world (and they can't get enough of it). He has one of the biggest fan bases of any Kiwi rider and has carved himself a great niche in the sport.
From the Taranaki beachies I headed north to check out Te Henga (Bethells Beach) on the outskirts of Auckland and the location for my Canon Collective Beach Culture Photography Workshop on April 9 (still a few spaces left, book here). Despite its proximity to 1.5 million people the peaks, including a slabbing left, remained unmolested. Pretty crazy to imagine that is possible given the busyness of Piha and Raglan these days.
My last stop was Raglan, where locals took great delight in telling me "I should have been here yesterday". But my Raglan trip was about celebating a friend's 40th and house warming on a balmy autumn night with a bunch of good friends – some who I hadn't seen for many years. Good times and a great way to bookend a busy week.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS There are still a few spots left on my upcoming Canon Collective Beach Culture Photography Workshop at the beautiful Bethells Beach and we'd love to have you along. Click here to join us on April 9, 2016.
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