November 1st 2022: Yin and Yang

I was in a daze on the first day of the recent Backdoor team shoot. I'd just driven from Taranaki and went straight to the beach to shoot with a handful of the best surfers in New Zealand. And they were ripping. But it turns out that one of them was not part of the Backdoor team. 

I hadn't seen Nixon Reardon in the water much recently. Possibly for several months. So when the young charger started to take flight numerous times while surfing a bank near to the Backdoor surfers, I just assumed that was part of the airshow – one of the team riders who I hadn't yet dialed in their style yet. It wasn't until later, while squinting at my screen editing into the early hours, that I realised that wasn't any of the team riders, but our very own Nixon.

Watching surfers progress is like watching kids grow up. You don't see them for a while and then suddenly life has conspired to give them a really good nudge in a new and better direction. Nixon was deadset ripping – to the point that I didn't recognise him. So cool.

I like to think of coincidences more as meaningful occurrences – things that happen for a reason. So it made me smile when a few months back, Keo set upon a Graham Carse-shaped Quarry Beach surfboard with a pink splodge and a black ligthning bolt on it. I never thought once about Gerry Lopez. Keo certainly didn't. But then I get an email from my mate Nick at Aotearoa Surf Film Festival about a screening of the new Gerry Lopez film: The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez. He is the man charged with bringing the lightning bolt to his way of life and surf philosophy. So, thanks to funding partner Patagonia, we get to watch this incredible story on the big screen. Details below in my PS ... see you there.

See you at the movies ... Derek

PS This Thursday Aotearoa Surf Film Festival (ASFF) and Patagonia present the much-anticipated film: The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez. The Dunedin screening takes place on November 3rd at the Playhouse Theatre.
Doors Open: 7:00pm. Start Time: 7:30pm
This is a ticketed event hosted by ASFF. $5 per ticket will be donated to ASFF's non-profit partner: The Karioi Project.
Tickets $20 +BF. Pre-book online and don't miss out!

Check out the film trailer here.