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.
Flightless Obsession features New Zealand’s elite surfers such as provisional Olympic qualifiers Billy Stairmand and Ella Williams along with dozens of the country’s best surfers in a scrapbook-style edit. It is the first crowd-sourced surf movie that Surfing New Zealand has embarked upon to showcase local talent. It has been......
New Zealand Surf Journal catches up with Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings to discuss broken backs, new constitutions, the Olympic pathway and to find out what he’d do if he had full control of the sport and no resource limitations. The top role at Surfing New Zealand is certainly not......
Paige Alms and Eli Olson win Biggest Wave Paddle-In Award at the World Surf League 2020 Red Bull Big Wave Awards. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year’s Big Wave Awards (BWA) honour the best in big wave surfing from the past 12 months, from big-wave breaks throughout the world. Justine......
Maya Gabeira sets a new Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed by a female as she wins XXL Biggest Wave Award. Gabeira’s record-setting wave measured 73.5 feet, besting her own previous World Record of 68 feet. She broke the record at the infamous big-wave surf break, Praia......
World Surf League bridges the competition abyss caused by Covid-19 with its pre-season Countdown events. Upcoming competitions will take place in Australia, France, Portugal and Brazil, with nothing on the cards yet for New Zealand’s World Qualifying Series surfers. The idea of these WSL contests is to bring world-class competitive......
Truckie turned radio host, Owen Rooney, sits down with New Zealand Surf Journal founder Derek Morrison to discuss Covid-19, business and how his new Toyota Highlander is helping drive the brand through uncertain times. This interview first appeared in a live broad cast on Owen Rooney’s Radio Dunedin breakfast show.......
New Zealand Surf Journal lands a tidy new Toyota Highlander and $10,000 media package through the Toyota and Mediaworks Small Business Driver promotion. Designed to help businesses who suffered as Covid-19 took its grip on New Zealand in March and April, the Small Business Driver was created by Mediaworks and......
Take up one super talented filmmaker. Team them up with one of Australia’s most exciting pro surfers. Send them on a lap of the World Tour together and this is what you get: the epic visual story of Indigenous Australian surfer Soli Bailey. 10 years ago, an Australian surf magazine......
Surfing will make its debut at Tokyo 2020 on July 25, 2021 when the first competition window opens in Japan. In one year’s time the best surfers in the world are set to become the sport’s first Olympians. The International Surfing Association (ISA) celebrated the occasion by announcing the technical......
Filmmaker Morgan Maassen teams up with South Africa’s Jordy Smith to bring this insight into one of the World Surf League’s most stylish surfers. “My longstanding attraction to surfing has always been through the elegance of style,” offers Morgan. “Watching the way someone can navigate a wave, connecting moves, making......
