Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Gisborne is a great remedy for post-Indo blues. This past week Keo and I have been indulging in the fun waves of Wainui and Makarori around the periphery of the 2022 New Zealand Primary School Championships. That contest, made possible thanks to Skullcandy and Sticky Johnson, is where most of our best surfers have emerged from over the years. You can read about the event right here. It was Keo's first comp back from a broken arm so we were a little more focused on finding some fun waves.
We arrived a few days early and got stuck right in with some help from my mate Andy Savage. By the time the comp rolled around the North Island was under siege from a very slow moving rain storm. Another friend, who was visiting for their first time was quite surprised to see Gisborne itself seemed to hardly embrace its surf culture and of course she expected sunshine and perfect peaks everywhere.
Gisborne certainly is renowned for its amazing sunsets and sunrises, and beautiful beaches, so to encounter a lot of rain – well it doesn't really line up with the postcards. But without those systems we wouldn't get the smorgasboard of conditions this past week dished up. We did chase our tail a lot as the wind swung through the compass like a pendulum. I'm sure later this week there will be something special to behold along this coast.
By the time you're reading this we will be on our way home – just a stack of good memories from one of my favourite places in New Zealand.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Apologies this week but I surfed the best days with my boy and shot just a few sessions when I could ... one session included former pro surfer Ricardo Christie – yep, he's still ripping. So to make up for it we've interspersed some more Indo goodness for you ... enjoy.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: