October 24th 2017: King of the Cove

Every surf break has one – a snarling, short-tempered local who truly believes they own the wave. I met one up the peninsula this past Labour weekend who I'd managed to avoid for many years. He's the self-appointed King of the Cove. A dark-haired monster who claims the Cove as his domain and terrorises any who dare paddle out.

For the handful of us, doing our best to pick off waves in one of those dream sessions where every wave is perfect, hollow and air-brushed, the King was here to ruin the party.

He took ownership of the peak and slowly shepherded the crowd down the line to the end section, taking each surfer aside for a few minutes each for a lesson in intimidation. Trying to turn a blind eye to a 200kg beast that is intent on rushing you from beneath and flashing a set of unbrushed yellow canines at you at close proximity is a tough ask. And if you dare turn to paddle for a wave then the King will relish the opportunity to escort you all the way to the beach.

And so we floated 50m off the peak watching one of the best waves on the planet firing in all its glory – as perfect as it gets. Incredible barrels rolling through at a super-manageable pace, but just out of reach as we were held to ransom by the King.

And that's what I love about surfing around this coastline. Not only do the swell, wind and tide elements need to align, but you've also got to hope the local wildlife is also in a good mood – and that's not a playful one, or an aggressive one – a sleepy mood is prime.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS The New Zealand sea lion is the world's rarest and there are estimated to be about 150 now living on the mainland of New Zealand and they're breeding here also. The males get quite boisterous from September into December as they defend their territories. Department of Conservation ranger Jim Fyfe has been working to help increase pup survival rates around coastal Otago. Check out Jim's story here.