Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
This past week, I have been working on an exciting campaign to share the story of New Zealand motocross. This is a reconnection to my youth and my early career.
As a teenager, growing up on a sheep and beef farm in the Waikato, dirt bikes were a big thing. When we were forced to sell the family farm in the crash of '87 (banks were gnarly calling in rural debt), my dreams of taking over the farm went up in smoke.
We ended up moving to a smaller farm near Cambridge, which just happened to be a hotbed for motocross. I didn't take the move well, but dirt bikes and racing motocross filled the void. Through my teenage years, I dedicated everything to motocross, trained nearly every day, raced every weekend and soaked up every magazine I could lay my hands on. Motocross set me on such a good, healthy path in life and eventually led to me working on the biggest dirt bike magazine in Australasia.
This campaign revolves around some of the fastest motocrossers in New Zealand and profiling their lead into the 2026 Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships, which will see two rounds in the South Island this November and then two rounds in the Bay of Plenty in February 2026.
It has been rewarding to meet the current crop of motocross riders and to learn that they are real characters on and off the bike. Take Maximus Purvis, for example, he's the current MX1 (450cc Class) champion in New Zealand with the Altherm JCR Yamaha Team. He's also a mad keen hunter and runs one of the best dread mullets I've ever seen. A good motocrosser has to have equal parts determination and mongrel. Maximus has both in spades.
Then I got to meet Josiah Natzke, who has spent a lot of time chasing the moto dream internationally and is now attracted back to a new challenge – namely, to knock Maximus off his perch. His wife, Tayla, is due to give birth to their first baby any day. So a lot of adventures lie ahead for Josiah, and he's completely prepared for them all.
In the next few days, I get to meet some of the top South Island riders who are gunning to take the top step when the 2026 Yamaha New Zealand Motocross Championships kick off at Invercargill's infamous Sandpit track on November 16. A week later, the South Otago Motorcycle Club hosts round two in Balclutha, on November 22.
New Zealand motocross is filled with legendary stories and feats across the years. We've had multiple distinct eras of grandeur and, I have to admit, it feels a lot like we're about to see another surge forward in the sport.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The gallery has been busy these past few months with a few of our best prints nearing the end of their edition run of 10. One of our favourites, Ragged mountains near Terrace Peak, is almost complete, and our newest artwork of the Kea in Flight in the snow is proving to be very popular as well. There is a bit of lead time with producing these, so if you are eyeing one up for Xmas, don't leave your run too late. We can also ship all our limited edition prints nationwide – even framed – for a reasonable cost.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: