Inspiration
Meet the people who weave life into the fabric of surfing. We profile interesting characters with an amazing story and an obsession with the ocean. Read about up and coming surfers and crusty old locals who smell like billy goats and ride single fins. If they have a story to tell, you’ll find them in here. Come and be inspired by artists, business gurus and thought leaders in our well of inspiration.
Kehu Butler and Billy Stairmand bow out of the 2023 Challenger Series with narrow Round of 64 exits at the final stop of the tour, the Saquarema Pro held in Brazil. More and more the Challenger Series is looking way closer to the Championship Tour than it is to any......
A self-described “Average Joe”, Leigh Sullivan, shares his journey from Burleigh Heads to Mount Maunganui as a pre-teen, and his exacting discovery of surfing, which led him around the world and eventually to the Mentawais 45 years later. I was 11 years old when we moved from Burleigh Heads in......
Very few surfers have had the weight of expectation heaped upon their shoulders quite like Taylor Hutchison. At 26, he’s come to terms with being born into a hard-working, surfing devoted family. We caught up with Taylor during one of his recent “work trips” to the Otago coastline. Back in......
Mount Maunganui-based Billie Scott has just come away with a record-equaling third place finish at the 2023 ISA World SUP & Paddleboarding Championship amidst a stacked field. NZSJ’s Isaac Chadwick caught up with her to see how she was feeling after a whirlwind few days. It was a tough road......
World Surf League announces the schedule for the 2024 Championship Tour (CT), with J-Bay and Surf Ranch dropped to make room for the Olympics, while Cloudbreak, Fiji, makes a welcome return. The calendar will continue to showcase a combined women’s and men’s schedule featuring nine regular-season events, with the mid-season......
Taranaki’s Paige Hareb has yet again shown her mettle with an outstanding performance at the 2023 Nias Pro QS5000, finishing second to her good friend, Phillipa Anderson. The defending event winner Paige opened her Nias Pro campaign on Day 3 in Lagundri Bay with a statement-making 8.50 with a critical......
At the start of winter Taranaki surfers Tom Butland and Jarred Hancox made their way south to compete in the O’Neill Coldwater Classic being held at Kaikoura. They went 1-2 and decided to stay on. Wellington photographer Belinda Brown decided to see the swell out with them. Traveling together, Tom......
Jack Tyro has been handed a wildcard entry into the 2023 Bells Beach Longboard Classic after winning the trials event at Bells Beach. This is stop number two on the World Longboard Tour … the big leagues. Competition has been called on today at the inaugural Bioglan Bells Beach Longboard......
Roxies is a fun little righthander in a picturesque bay that is filled with turtles, occasionally crocodiles and, at times, a boatload of Brazilians (until our skipper evicted them). Going right with just our crew out was a welcome change of pace after two days at busy Macaronis. Like magic......
He’s shepherded more Kiwi surfers into world-class waves than you imagine, and he’s tasted the product throughout his 20 years in the game. Island Holidays’ front man and travel guru Pete Head shares some of his travel wisdom with NZSJ. Pete, now 49, is a born and bred West Auckland......