Travel Archives - New Zealand Surf Journal

COVID-19 Lockdown: New Zealand Surfers Asked To Help In Crisis

Derek MorrisonMarch 26, 2020

by Derek MorrisonMarch 26, 20200

New Zealand’s surfing communities have been asked to stay out of the water for at least the next four weeks to play their role in curbing the transmission of Coronavirus COVID-19. While it’s a hard pill to swallow and certainly not a well-communicated component of the lockdown, leading surfing communities......

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Piha Pro: A Spectator’s Guide

Derek MorrisonFebruary 17, 2020February 17, 2020

by Derek MorrisonFebruary 17, 2020February 17, 20200

Here’s the cheat sheet on how you can best soak up the atmosphere of the Corona Piha Pro when it rolls into Piha from March 15-22. Firstly, there is a Piha Pro Junior that takes place on March 14 for the men and women. It’s stop number 7 on the......

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Kelly Slater Confirmed For Piha Pro

Derek MorrisonFebruary 10, 2020

by Derek MorrisonFebruary 10, 20201

Eleven-time World Champion Kelly Slater has confirmed he will launch his 2020 season in New Zealand this March at the 2020 Corona Piha Pro. The Goat, as he is known, is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all-time, with comfortably the most title victories, 11, and no less......

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Westport Pumps For South Island Grom Series

Derek MorrisonJanuary 21, 2020January 21, 2020

by Derek MorrisonJanuary 21, 2020January 21, 20200

When the West Coast of the South Island is becalmed by an enormous high there is no better place to be than Westport’s Tauranga Bay. With a 1 to 1.4m long-period swell pulsing through and a grom comp about to unleash on the T Bay Superbank, there’s a lot to......

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Super Heat: Inside The 2020 New Zealand Surf Open (Unofficial)

Derek MorrisonJanuary 10, 2020January 13, 2020

by Derek MorrisonJanuary 13, 2020January 13, 20201

The 2020 New Zealand Surf Open (Unofficial) is the impulsive gathering of New Zealand’s best surfers at a break that is completely pumping. It is unscripted. It has no rules. It has no timeframes. And no parameters. Just 40, or so, of the best surfers in New Zealand over a......

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Photo Essay: Summer Roadie With A Twist Of East Swell

Derek MorrisonJanuary 7, 2020

by Derek MorrisonJanuary 7, 20200

Mount Maunganui-based surfer and ocean photographer Lou Burton mixes Xmas and New Year with a little pulsing east swell for the perfect summer tonic. Together with her mates she proves the great Kiwi summer surfing roadie is alive and well … with an occasional shark scare thrown in. Christmas came......

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Iconic Kiwi Surfboard Shaper To Close Factory, Move To Japan

Grant DysonDecember 19, 2019December 19, 2019

by Grant DysonDecember 19, 2019December 19, 20190

Renowned Mount Maunganui-based shaper Andy Jordan will soon bow to a strong call from the Land of the Rising Sun and move to a “forgotten” Japanese island to live. The veteran shaper has crafted an extraordinary 7330-plus “AJ” boards – short, long, twin fins and all the rest, over about......

Ricardo Christie Ends Filipe Toledo’s World Title Race At Pipe

Derek MorrisonDecember 17, 2019

by Derek MorrisonDecember 17, 20190

Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie has saved his best for last in the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour, despatching World Title hopeful, Felipe Toledo in the Round of 32 at the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons. It was a thrilling Round of 32 at Pipeline, Hawaii, that......

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Watch: Laurie Towner Finds The Simple Life Of WA

Derek MorrisonNovember 14, 2019November 13, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 13, 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......

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Fiji, As Seen From A Kiwi Photographer’s Perspective

Hayden CampbellNovember 13, 2019

by Hayden CampbellNovember 13, 20190

Southern surf photographer, Hayden Campbell, ditches his hood, steamer and booties in favour of some Pacific Island charm in the form of the crystal blue waters of Cloudbreak. Camera in tow, here’s his first story for New Zealand Surf Journal, directly from the coral heads of one of our most......