Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
This time last week, we piled into the Salty Slug and set a bearing for Gisborne via the Mahia Peninsula. That was more than 1300km ago – a journey that has blurred into a lot of driving, ridiculously hot days (and nights) and plenty of side missions.
Sadly, we didn’t get to surf at Kaikoura – a usual highlight stop for us on this trip – and so our first waves were at Mahia – a small pulse in an even smaller underlying swell. Mahia is always a welcome stop – just a real quintessential New Zealand coast town.
With the forecast for Gizzy looking equally dismal, we pulled up at a beach near Okitu. We found some fun waist-high waves – better suited to the longboarders, but good practise for Keo and his cousin Reuben ahead of the nationals this week. Maz Quinn was out one morning and made a one-foot wave look completely shreddable. He is the best around here, and he, his brother Jay, and sister Holly, will be favourites for national titles.
The small swell did mean my good mate Andy Sutherland could show me a part of a reef system where he had a fridge fully stocked with crayfish. We selected one beauty and shared that with some sundowners – a magic way of life up here in this beautiful tropical town.
Keo and Reuben surf their first heats on Wednesday, and so we’ve shot up the coast to a forgotten beach on the East Cape for a bit of downtime. Plus, it is a swell magnet, so we should be surfing all day. The forecast improves for Gizzy from here on in. Bring it on...
See you at the beach, Derek
PS In between surf contests and missions, I’m spending a lot of time with stingrays while doing a photo essay for The Guardian. I’ll share that once it comes out, but I can say this has been a real education, and I will never fear stingrays again. In fact, up here they’re a bit like our sea lions back home – misunderstood, but actually very intelligent, and they each have a unique personality.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: