Latest Articles - New Zealand Surf Journal

Five Minutes With 15-Year-Old National Champion Maya Mateja

40 Frames: NZ Surf Nats The Grand Finale

Five Minutes With National Champion Daniel Farr

The Physiology Of Life & Death

Dr Will AllenAug 5, 2021August 31, 20210

The raw story behind the Taieri Mouth drowning tragedy of April 2021 and the team of surfing doctors who discovered the fateful capsize. Doctor Will Allen takes us back to a day that still haunts him – but a day that has inspired him to teach other surfers to save...

Emerson’s Search For New Zealand’s Underground Chargers

Derek MorrisonJan 25, 2021February 25, 20210

New Zealand Surf Journal is excited to launch our nationwide Search For New Zealand’s Underground Chargers … powered by Emerson’s Brewery, of course. Yep, you read that right. We’re on the hunt for those surfers in New Zealand who drop tools when the swell starts maxing out. We’re talking big-wave...

Special Feature: The Ratso Story

Derek MorrisonJul 27, 2020July 28, 20200

I’m standing in the garage with him as he sniffles back the taps and shuffles through a rack full of surfboards, his long hair hanging flat. He pulls one after another out and they’ve all got stories: he’s made a bunch of them, rode others to world titles and has...

Shaper Profile: Pete Anderson

Derek MorrisonApr 24, 2020July 2, 20200

With more than 36 years experience shaping surfboards out of Whangamata, Pete Anderson is one of the most humble and well-respected surfboard manufacturers in New Zealand. In this film he shares his journey from growing up in the heyday of Whangamata’s board-building industry to his insights, his hopes and most...

Artist Profile: Aaron Kereopa

Derek MorrisonMar 8, 2019August 12, 20190

Raglan surfer and artist Aaron Te Whanatangi Kereopa chats about his journey, following his mischief, taking the risky road and how his talent has guided him into an incredible place in his art and life. Since that first day he picked up a knife and surfboard more than 20 years...

We Rank The 10 Best Surfers In New Zealand Right Now

Derek MorrisonFeb 27, 2019July 2, 20200

New Zealand Surf Journal asks the New Zealand surfing industry to rank our 10 best surfers. The concept is simple: include not just the best competitors, but also our very best free surfers and underground chargers. This is who they came up with. THE CRITERIA Surfers are assessed based on...

Unruly Caverns: Chasing Slabs In The Deepest South

Derek MorrisonOct 15, 2018March 1, 20190

A late-season swell offers one last roll of the dice for New Zealand’s big-wave riders and the stakes are high. As the winds swing through the ideal bearing the focus falls on a reef on a remote corner of coastline. Four teams of surfers get the session of a lifetime....

Five Minutes With 15-Year-Old National Champion Maya Mateja

Derek MorrisonFeb 28, 2024March 25, 20240

At 15, Maya Mateja became one of the youngest surfers to win the Open Women’s title when she won the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Championships. We catch up with the Raglan-based phenom to find out how she did it and why she won’t be surfing for Team New Zealand. With...

40 Frames: NZ Surf Nats The Grand Finale

Derek MorrisonFeb 28, 20240

Finals Day for the Open Men and Women goes down to the wire at the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs. No one in the packed crowd on the steps of St Clair Beach could have predicted the Open Men’s Final would boil down to a tie break between defending Champion...

Five Minutes With National Champion Daniel Farr

Derek MorrisonFeb 3, 20240

Hot on the heels of his 2024 New Zealand Surfing Championship we catch up with Taranaki’s Daniel Farr to find out how it feels to win his second Open title … and the moment he knew he had won it. Daniel Farr wasn’t on the radar for the 2024 National...

40 Frames: NZ Surf Nats Day Of Groms

Derek MorrisonJan 17, 2024April 9, 20240

Finals Day for the Under 18s, 16s and 14s at the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs reveals an historic moment. This is the sharp end of the contest for the juniors, made even more incisive by the fact a win here gives you automatic entry into the New Zealand surfing...

40 Frames: NZ Surf Nats St Clair Shakedown

Derek MorrisonJan 14, 2024April 9, 20240

Day Five of the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs sees a shakedown of the premier divisions as the circus moves back to the St Clair Esplanade. Day Five saw the contest move back to the comfort of St Clair with light winds and a new north east swell promising some...

Daniel Farr and Maya Mateja Win 2024 Surf Nats

Derek MorrisonJan 14, 2024April 9, 20240

Taranaki’s Daniel Farr and Raglan 15-year-old Maya Mateja win the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs held in Dunedin over the past week. An explosive final day of the 2024 National Surfing Championships has seen Taranaki surfer Daniel Farr claim his second national title by the closest margin in the history...

40 Frames: NZ Surf Nats … The Free Surf Sessions

Derek MorrisonJan 11, 2024March 25, 20240

The 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs is underway in Dunedin right now with a challenging forecast keeping organisers on their toes. There’s always a lot more to a surf comp than meets the eye. Especially when the swell, wind and tide combination is in a typical summer mode, with swirling...

Business Insight: The C-Skins New Zealand Story

Derek MorrisonJan 5, 2024April 9, 20240

Bringing a new wetsuit brand into New Zealand was never going to be easy, but that didn’t deter Simon Clowes and Cian Sullivan – the duo behind C-Skins here in New Zealand. Simon jokes that he and Cian could be father and son. While there is a 25-year gap between...

Watch: Calypte

Derek MorrisonJan 2, 20240

When Torren Martyn and Aiyana Powell borrowed the 35ft sailing boat ‘Calypte’ and departed from the east coast of Thailand in early 2022, they had a combined sailing experience of only a few days. Ishka Folkwell documented that journey. The one requirement of their charter was to eventually deliver the...

Oscar Hetherington Wins International Surf Photography Award

Derek MorrisonNov 15, 2023November 17, 20230

New Zealand’s Oscar Hetherington has won the world’s most prestigious surf photography contest, when it was announced that he had won the Follow The Light Surf Photography Grant award a few days ago at Laguna Beach, California. The awards are held each year to honour the late Larry “Flame Moore,...