Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
What do you get when you take seven completely frothing surfer girl groms and mix them in with New Zealand's most succesful ever pro surfer, Paige Hareb? A lot of noise, unbridled excitement and some serious hero worship. Luckily we had a mixture of waves to wear them all out.
The four-day adventure was part of a winter trip Paige decided to make to Dunedin as an addition to some time in the mountains (she's also a talented skier and snowboarder). That created an opportunity for the Queen's High School Surf Academy girls to learn from one of the very best.
Along with a lot of surfing (including some wild and testing surf conditions) Paige showed the team how to master their paddle technique at the University of Otago's Physed School Aquatic Flume. While there we hooked Paige up for what we think might be a world first VO2 Max test attempt for a paddling surfer. That alone was a pretty amazing moment and opened our eyes to just how cool the sport science experts are at the university.
We also spent some time with The Recovery Room's Claire Hepperlin who is mates with Paige from their school days in the Naki. The two discussed Paige's training regime and how she maintains it on the road when travelling for World Surf League events. It was insightful stuff and followed by a loud training session that was punctuated by a lot of laughter and handstand competitions.
After four days I was exhausted ... the girls just wanted to go surfing again. Having a professional surfer and incredible role model like Paige spending time with the academy girls is so valuable. She's a complete athlete and you quickly get to see why she is our best ever.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Thanks to our awesome partners, advertisers and support from Dunedin NZ we are making a series of short films that follow Paige's time in Dunedin. As soon as they are released we'll let you know ...
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: