It has been 24 years since I have been to Shipwreck Bay in Northland ... and it hasn't changed a bit. Well, the sand has moved around, but not much else has changed and I'm pretty stoked about that.
Even with a small swell wrapping into the bay there are plenty of options to surf, but the most striking thing is the number of families making the trek around the corner, when the tide permits, or walking in along the nooks and crannies of the coastline. There are groms everywhere. Nine and 10-year-old boys and girls filling up the lineups.
It seems there is a similar explosion happening throughout the country as first generation surfers from the '90s surfing boom share surfing with their children. Here in Ahipara, Northland, its pretty exciting. Only a few years ahead of them are local surfers Ben Moretti (15) and Karn Godfrey (14). They're like country kids set loose in the ocean and they bring with their boundless energy for the surf a contagious happy and calm charm.
I hung with Ben and Karn for three days while shooting for an upcoming book project and they never got out of their wetsuits. Apart from very short breaks to down some water or eat a sandwich, they surfed from dawn until dusk each day. When the high tide turned the lineup at Muke 1 to mush, they surfed an impossible shorebreak, laughed and pushed each other. It's an idyllic and enviable lifestyle. Two great mates sharing waves in a land that is dictated by tides and the shifting sands of the giant dune system that casts its shadow across the waves as each day comes to an end. Just like it always has. A real treasure.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Next week we head to Sandy Bay on the Tutukaka Coast ... one of our favourite places in New Zealand. It is home to more national surfing champions than you might expect to find in a laidback surf community that thrives on small clean waves peeling into pohutukawa-lined bays. Beautiful. See you there.
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