Ideas Archives - New Zealand Surf Journal

From Waste Plastic To Surfboards: Three Kiwis Lead The Way

Derek MorrisonNov 28, 2019November 28, 20190

Momentum for the environment may be building painstakingly slowly within the surf industry, but not for the three New Zealanders driving Spooked Kooks recycled surfboards out of Bondi. It was during a morning session at Sandy Bay, that I had my first encounter with a Dead Hippy. It was under...

Watch: Laurie Towner Finds The Simple Life Of WA

Derek MorrisonNov 14, 2019November 13, 20190

Life on the edge of a desert is simple living. Especially on Western Australia’s remote coastline when a swell begins pushing across the reefs and points. Laurie Towner reminds us all of the importance of the simple life. A renowned big wave surfer, the very laidback Towner, steals a chance...

Sustainability And Innovation Key Drivers At Seventhwave Wetsuits

Derek MorrisonOct 10, 2019October 11, 20190

Lying on a table in Seventhwave’s Ferrymead factory in Christchurch is a fluffy orange wetsuit that doesn’t look anything like the wetsuit manufacturer’s flagship Yamamoto suits. Sarah smiles, she lifts the wetsuit up and explains the prototype to me. “I haven’t surfed in this one yet,” she admits with a...

Review: Need Essentials Thermal 4:3 Steamer

Derek MorrisonAug 13, 2019July 2, 20200

We were blown away by the value for money with our Need Essentials steamer produced by a company that prides itself on stripping away the costs of traditional surf wetsuit production. By minimising packaging, branding, expensive advertising campaigns and retail markups, Need Essentials is able to deliver a high-end adult...

Luxury Oceanwear Range Driven To Clean Up Oceans With Kiwi At The Helm

Derek MorrisonApr 30, 2019May 3, 20190

They say this is the era of the fierce female. If that’s true then Janaya Wilkins, with her new sustainable oceanwear range, nails it. Born in New Zealand, designed in London and made in Italy, SLO active has a global purpose: to clean up and protect our oceans. Wilkins grew...

Vege Power: How One Surfer Owned His Wave-Miles Guilt

Derek MorrisonOct 15, 2018October 15, 20180

It’s 10:30am on a Tuesday and Matt Jenks is pulling up outside Japanese restaurant Jitsu in lower Stuart Street, Dunedin, parking his bike and heading inside with a 20-litre container to drain the kitchen of its used vegetable oil. It’s a 10-minute side-trip on his way to work at Dunedin...

The Ephemeral Art Of Ian Ross

Derek MorrisonSep 12, 2018October 24, 20181

Ian Ross makes art that has a lifespan as long as a tide. And that doesn’t faze the talented surfer and nearly 40-year-old Californian artist. Sand art, as he describes it, is a series of shapes etched with a rake into the intertidal sand zone. Ian is a master of...

Ziggy Alberts Shrugs Off The Sleet To Score The Barrel Of His Life In New Zealand

Derek MorrisonAug 29, 2018March 1, 20190

The forecast promised 5m at 13 seconds. Thoughts of it possessed me so I retreated to a favourite Catlins haunt only to stumble across an incredible session – not only for the waves, but for the quality of the characters chasing the peaks. One blonde-haired 20-year-old Aussie from Byron Bay...

Can Fashion Lead Social And Business Change? Bede Carmine Thinks So.

Derek MorrisonAug 29, 2018August 29, 20180

How a business idea to sell one T-shirt and give another one to those in need, chartered a socially responsible business model in fashion. Bede Carmine's Smile, may just be what the future needs.

Take Three For The Sea

Derek MorrisonJul 27, 2018March 1, 20190

Even though it is a city beach, Seconds in Dunedin is always an adventurous spot to get to, with a fence to scale, a landslip to slither over and a rockface to clamber down to get to the kelp-covered jump rock. This is the easy bit, the final hurdle before...