Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
On my very first trip to Dunedin, back in the late 1990s, I was shown around the surf spots by a group of very talented locals. I will never forget the week I spent surfing different locations every day. Most of those surfs had the adventure dial turned right up. They were missions.
One of them involved a very long walk down a very long beach – quite a feat in a wetsuit and with 20kg of camera gear. That wasn't the end of it either. Then I had to swim across an estuary and out a channel (which had a full-grown elephant seal in it) to get to the break. Back then everyone used to chatter about KZ7, a great white shark that patrolled the breaks, and how once you saw his dorsal fin you immediately recognised why he was called KZ7. That thought did little to ease my sense of discomfort.
They were freaky surfs and even freakier swims with the camera (and back then I had 36 shots to nail a keeper).
This past week I had a chance to introduce Keo to that wave. It nearly didn't happen as the surge in swell kept the tide in. It looked rubbish most of the time, but every now and then a gem came through. So we decided to head out. We're glad we did. The bank was shallow and the swell was raw making it far from perfect. But those good ones were worth the wait and worth the constant scramble around the washing machine currents.
Jack McLeod was leading the charge and took off on some very heavy waves. Then he called Keo into a beauty. You're really supposed to just bottom turn into the barrel, but Keo decided a top turn was in order. I missed the shot – I got the wave on the head instead and dragged across the bank – but I could tell as Keo kicked out that he had experienced a pretty awesome first wave out there.
This place is hard to get out of your head – especially after a session like that.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Dunedin City Council has put up an online "wall" for people to make comments ahead of the looming 10-year plan. The wall will be up until October 31. This is your chance to have your say on where DCC should spend its money and energy. I've already suggested we enhance five of our best surf breaks with hot showers, toilets and rubbish bins. And I'd love to see a shared coastal pathway from Smaill's Beach to Brighton – I added that too! Jump on and like those ones to bring them to the top and add your own ideas. The link is here. Thanks for the chance to do this DCC.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: