Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Yes, we are missing in action. Well, with some luck we should be well aware of where we are. Right now, as you are reading this we will be leaving Camp 5 on our seven-day Waiau-toa (Clarence River) rafting trip. By now we will have forgotten what sound a telephone makes, the ding of an email arriving, the snarl of traffic and our watches will be replaced by two big events each day: sunrise and sunset – they're both really underrated. The children will be feral. My brother would have reverted to a wildman – no fish will be safe from his casts, Remi would have gone dingo on us and my wife will be wishing this river would never reach the ocean.
Without the trappings of modern day society I am unable to post pictures of our jouney so far, so instead I have reverted back to where my insatiable quest for adventure first began: a motley bunch of surfers loosely brought together by the promise of a better life with a tertiary education from Massey University some 24 years ago.
All of us got that better life, but we also discovered that surf tripping was a guaranteed way to harness adventure. Being at the most landlocked university in New Zealand didn't dampen our spirits. Two or three times a week we would venture three hours to the Southern Taranaki reefs or three hours across to the Wairarapa Coast. We'd sleep on our boardbags, in the dunes or find a building if it was raining, or drive all night and not sleep at all. We'd surf amazing point breaks and reefs and have them mostly to ourselves. Whiterock was always a favourite and we'd often be so keen to surf The Gap at Castlepoint that we'd bog our car down in the soft sand on the beach. We'd surf first, then try to pull the car out with the rising tide nipping at our heels. Whoever owned the car would be stressing, but for the rest of us it was nothing short of brilliant post-surf entertainment.
I remember one trip travelling to Whiterock after a large night and I was running behind and had no money, so opted to live off the land instead of taking any food. That didn't work out too well – especially for my mate Doug who had brought an irresistable tub of hazlenut yoghurt along. It sustained me for six surfs and two days until we reached a fish and chip shop in Masterton on the way home that agreed to cook me a meat patty for the 50c I had won in a bet.
The Wairarapa coastline was quite unforgiving and our cars would breakdown, mufflers would get ripped off and that was all before we tackled the constantly eroding slipface that led over to the hunter's cabin at Whiterock. We usually walked that bit with the bravest driver having a crack, seatbelt off and door open in case it went pear-shaped. It was a very long way to the bottom. We came very close more times than I care to recall.
On flat days we'd fish and explore the coast and the mountains – we were always on the move, always on a mission and always laughing. Most of us are still on that very same trajectory today – living that ultimate adventure surf lifestyle. And it's not a bad way to be.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS I meant to link to this film in last week's report about how you set priorities in life and the importance of those special places. A bit of inspiration and a beautiful film to watch ahead of our Clarence River journey.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: