February 21st 2023: Cyclone Gabrielle

It's hard to wrap your mind around what Cyclone Gabrielle has done to the North Island. I had friends who went off the radar for days (thankfully safe) and another lost his entire house at Muriwai – along with one of his good mates, firefighter Craig Stevens. It's incredibly sad. Communities are in ruins and it feels like a long way back for all of them.

Like what we saw in Christchurch and Kaikoura after the quakes though, there is an amazing coming together of these communities and generosity of New Zealanders. They bind together and problem solve impossible predicaments – with some seriously creative solutions arising from the mud and debris.

So it was with a heavy heart that I documented the cyclone swell's arrival on our coast last Wednesday and Thursday. Instead of all the weather we just got a groomed 3.6m swell and light offshore winds for the week that turned the North Coast into a pretty mesmerising place.

Not many people surfed – the swell was large and a touch raw which made many spots too sketchy or washing through. I managed to find a few corners that handled the swell on the various tides, but Wednesday was a day for jet skis. Although a handful of paddlers braved the conditons and earned legendary status in my view.

Today's photos are a quick lap around a few well-known and some more freaky mysto spots that came to life for the peak of the swell. The full story from Cyclone Gabrielle will be published on NZ Surf Journal later this week. Enjoy ...

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS When I asked my friend about a Givealittle page he told me he'd rather see any money go to the family of his mate Craig. That brought a tear to my eye. He had lost his own house and had no contents insurance and had to even go to Winz to get some money to buy undies. For one of the hardest working people I know that is tough to do. You can help Craig's family right here. Or if you'd like to share your support even wider then we recommend our friends at NZ Herald and Red Cross who have teamed up with the New Zealand Disaster Fund ... and they already have a cool five million in donations thanks to you awesome Kiwis.