Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
We're at that crazy time of year when any little reprieve from the madness is a welcome one. So when a swell looked likely on all forecasts to deliver something impressive in the Catlins it was easy to give chase. Little did we know that Buoyweather, which had recently been bought by a US juggernaut corporate, was no longer the dependable source of marine weather forecasting it once was.
The 4m swell that got us excited was closer to 2m and the 2.5m swell the following day was closer to 1.5m. That worked out okay for the kids though, who are still learning about the nuances of this incredible bay. Max Wooffindin and my boy, Keo, both took off on some well-overhead barreling waves and took a few beatings in the process. That's the only way to really figure a wave like this one out: trial and error. They both emerged unscathed and with a few more layers of understanding about where to position and just how hectic the take-off can be.
I noticed something else different about the Catlins at this time of year – even with the borders open and plenty of tourists flushing around up north, very few had made it out to our special bay. Pre-covid I reckon more than half the visitors would have been travellers. I spoke to a couple, one from France and one from Portugal, and they said the travellers they had spoken with were all aiming to hit the South Island over January.
They also said that our bay wasn't on the map they were given of camping locations when they hired their van. They found it by deviating away from the main route, they said.
I hope that part is true – I don't mind any tourists who are respectful, but those who get off on nature poos ... no thanks. I was involved in a survey over the past few years about tourist levels in New Zealand pre-Covid and the overwhelming feeling I got from that was that we had too many tourists at times. They were killing the golden goose. I hope throttled back management is in play now. It's better for everyone.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The cut-off times for sending internationally in time for Xmas are now finished. Large print orders must be in by December 16 and all other book orders and standard prints can be delivered on time if ordered by December 19. You can shop our Box of Light favourites here. Or view our entire Box of Light catalogue here.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: