December 11th 2018: Land of the long white left

I missed a nice north swell last week, but can't complain with a few days in Raglan instead. The Tasman was a raw kind of wintery ocean state for the first few days and it was pretty much empty and doing its best washing machine impression at times. An underlying long-period swell didn't outlast the 35kmh onshore winds. By the time the Tasman cleaned up the swell was dropping fast.

That kind of suited me this week as I was there to film a story with local shaper and Raglan Surf Co guru Luke Hughes and his family. I also managed to get some time with contemporary carver Aaron Kereopa. He's one of my favourite artists and mainly because when I started surfing it was him and his mates that held the balance of power at the points. If they caught a wave then I backed off and gave them space. That's how I learnt the value of respect in the lineup. We laughed about it and he was a little unsure if he was the aggressor in that memory. I assured him he was not.

Back then he was just starting out carving – about the same time I embarked on a career in photography.

Like me, he struggled at first and we laughed about the fact his first sale was for a box of beers. His next one went for $150 and he had some semblance of a career ahead of him. About 20 years later and you won't get much change out of $20,000 for one and they're in demand. So they should be. They're fascinating works – sculpted out of old surfboards and new blanks, painted and full of stories. He's an inspiring human, and completely down to earth and fun to spend time with. I'll link you in when his story goes live, but in the meantime, here's a peek at what my week looked like.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS The lovely Lana is taking care of the Box of Light Gallery between 10am and 3pm each day from now (I head to the Sub-Antarctic tomorrow) and Christmas. We have a bunch of books, prints and some beautiful new framed work on the walls. Drop in and grab the perfect gift for your loved ones. We also have gift vouchers if you're not sure what they'd choose.