Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Secretly, I wanted the Wallabies to bring their A-Game – the one we got a glimpse of in their 28-14 surge over the All Blacks in the back nine of that first Bledisloe test held in Sydney a week earlier. When the Aussies get a sniff they can turn it into magic – take a small win and escalate it into something special. I believe that was the spectacle that we got to see in Dunedin on Saturday night. Two of the very best teams in the world determined to play some of the most exciting rugby on the planet. And one team with nothing to lose. Sure, there were a lot of horrendous errors from both sides, but perhaps that was just a symptom of this style of fast, open, running play. Few could argue that it was one of the most thrilling games of rugby at this level in recent history. Certainly a game that the late, great Sir Colin Meads would have wrung his giant hands over as the pendulum swung from one side to the other. And he would have erupted into a smile in the 77th minute when the team executed a precision set of phases to land the ball in the magic hands of Beauden Barrett, who scored the winning try. New Zealand took a collective sigh of relief at that moment and then the celebrations began.
Those celebrations must have taken their toll. The new swell that filled in overnight hardly had a taker. I managed to get a swim in right on dark at St Clair Point with only a handful of people out. Homa, of Seer Surfcraft, was dominating on his big red mal. The sets were packing a punch thanks to the 17-second period and I got pinned to the bottom a couple of times and counted more than 10 waves in one set – I wore each of them on the head. But this wave, a complex, section-riddled, kelp fringed pointbreak, is one of my favourite waves when it breaks like this. Just a short paddle from the café and restaurant hustle and bustle of the Esplanade, but a world away.
That swell is going to linger into the week and there is another from the east ... get amongst it.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS We often get asked about printing the images you see in this report and if they can enlarge nicely. The answer is, yes! We can print most of our images up to 2m wide quite easily and some even larger. If you visit the gallery we're happy to show you the image at full-resolution – we have to make these ones small so they fit in your inbox every Tuesday at 10:30am. But rest assured if you want something beautiful for your office space, or home, then we're happy to help. Here's a link to some of our favourites.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: