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.
New Zealand has a special magic that is sometimes hard to see from within. For Spanish-born visual storyteller Sara Guix that elixir drives her creativity and has captured her heart. Since 2015 Sara has been based in Raglan and spent her time wandering New Zealand’s coastline, in search of waves,......
In 2015 Spanish-born filmmaker Sara Guix visited New Zealand for a year. She hasn’t left. In this film the 30-year-old visual storyteller shares a heartfelt thank-you to New Zealand. Filmed from January to December 2020 Sara offers the piece as “a gift for helping me find peace in a time......
Local sunscreen brand Skinnies has partnered with Surfing New Zealand as an official supplier and with a welcome ambition to support talent development. In the freshly inked deal Skinnies will become the official sunscreen of Surfing New Zealand and support the development of emerging talent by providing the Skinnies VW......
Nixon Reardon and Ava Henderson claim first blood in the opening round of the 2021 South Island Grom Series held at Dunedin’s St Clair Beach on Saturday. With an atrocious forecast that included gale winds and an open ocean 5-6m short-period swell the decision was made early to try and......
There’s a new wave of competitive surfers coming out of Taranaki and they’re taking scalps in national events. New Zealand Surf Journal caught up with the effervescent Kalani Louis after his Under 16 Final at the 2020 National Scholastics Championships held at Kaikoura. NZSJ: Hey Kalani, congrats on a great......
Billy Lee-Pope has just dropped this sweet little edit from The King and Queen of the Point contest where Billy Stairmand and Paige Hareb were crowned. The King and Queen of the Point is final national event of 2020, concluding the shortened New Zealand Surf Series for 2020. It was......
Whangamata surfer Hunter Cooney is the guy responsible for producing Flightless Obsession – that’s the Kiwi surf film that was borne out of our Covid-19 Lockdown. New Zealand Surf Journal caught up with the young creative along the iconic shoreline of Kaikoura. NZSJ: Hello, Hunter. What are you doing standing......
Local Raglan surfer Billy Stairmand was too good for his opponents this weekend being crowned King of the Point alongside New Zealand’s most successful surfer Paige Hareb, of Taranaki, who was crowned Queen of the Point in the Women’s Division. The King and Queen of the Point, which is presented......
Since Surfing New Zealand implemented priority rules into local contests the quality of heat surfing has improved. But is there a dark side to the way we’re implementing it? Any blunder in priority rulings can effectively stop even the best surfer in their tracks. And that has happened at least......
Filmmaker Billy Lee-Pope and Kehu Butler join forces to bring this epic introduction into the life of one of New Zealand’s greatest surfers, Kehu Butler. Greetings from Te Kehukehu Mokoia Ngawhika Patara Butler, or Kehu Butler, follows the 20-year-old Māori surfer and offers a glimpse into his life. You get......