Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Tropical Cyclone Alfred sent some of the best swell Australia has ever seen into Queensland's east coast this past week. Most of the fabled points from Noosa to Kirra and down to Angourie fired for at least a few days before the weather system made landfall and turned the coast into a sand-stripping washing machine.
Even Fiji's Cloudbreak scored some off the back of the cyclone's mid-Tasman u-turn. While the cyclone was hovering up around Fiji swell-mapping pundits were calling for a sizeable swell to make its way to our shores here in Otago. That's a 3175km journey so you could expect a fair bit of decay, but even still the hype was real.
If it was from Alfred, then it was short-lived and mostly missed our north coast points. That concentrated attention on Aramoana which went through a fun tide cycle of 3-4 foot with a large crowd in attendance. I shot a few frames before joining the circus for a few myself. I immediately felt guilty as the wind died right off and the light turned the waves into dreamy gold-plated walls and tubes. To make matters worse Jimi Crooks took off on two of the best waves I have seen up there and rode inside the barrel for the entire wave before being spat out on the shoulder. They were some of the best backhand barrel rides I have seen up there in years. But no photos, sorry.
By the next morning, it was all but gone. It was a fleeting visit, but worth every set.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS You may have seen a few shots of a pretty cool electric bike we've been riding lately. That's the Vallkree Mech 24 – a super cool electric cruiser bike that's been winning over musos and actors – P Diggs and Jason Momoa both rock around on them. Tom Carroll does, too. We've reviewed it over on New Zealand Surf Journal – you can check that out right here.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: