April 29th 2025: Grey skies

I don't normally swim with the water housing on grey days. The images can be bleak and lack the sort of punch a bit of sunshine or backlight delivers in spades. But the other day, up on the North Coast, was a bit different. The waves were so clean and of such good quality that a swim was irresistible.

It took me more than 30 minutes to swim out. That was quite a marathon and even when I got out to the lineup the odd set would push me way back into the impact zone again. I even had a few hold downs – a couple that were very nearly two-wave hold downs. Or, alternatively, a rip would start up and send me 100m beyond the lineup. Trying to line up with a surfer was not easy but when it happened I knew I was capturing something special.

On these days you naturally fall into a rhythm with a small selection of surfers. Jai Wallis and James Charlesworth were always on the barrelling ones and we shot a heap of cool images. Lee Morris was often on the bigger sets and Ché Bliss scored a few deeper ones, too. It was cool to see my nephew Reuben Morrison snag a heap of the better waves as well as Keo's mate Flint Sherborne-France. Keo sat on a separate bank altogether so I didn't get one shot with him, but he reckons he got some great waves.

A highlight for me was seeing the legendary local ripper Felix Dickson paddle out and straight into a big lefthand barrel in front of me. He makes it all look so easy and he does it all with a big smile. He and Danny Carse are two of the best surfers to ever come out of Dunedin, so I always enjoy seeing him in the lineup.

I accidentally swum for four hours (felt like two) and wore a hole in my ankle from my fins. But great training for me ahead of Indo in a few week's time. And, anyway, I kind of like the soft pastel colours of a grey day ...

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS Want a nice print for your home or workplace? We are hanging them for free for all artworks sold from now until spring (September 1, Otago locations only). You can check out some of our favourite images right here. We also have plenty of our new coffee-table book: New Zealand's Best Gourmet Pies, and you can buy a signed copy right here.