New Zealand
You don’t need to leave New Zealand to have an adventure. Explore the backyard with our featured stories on some of New Zealand’s best surf towns and coastlines.
Pro surfer Paige Hareb visits the South Island in the middle of winter to explore the southern waves between snowfalls in the mountains around Queenstown. Paige also takes some time to pass on some of her knowledge to the Queen’s High School Surf Academy girls. Along with a lot of......
There is no question that surfing has special properties that few of us can fully grasp … or thrive without. It just is what it is. Immersion in the brine. The rise and fall of the ocean’s surface and real moments of intensity, fear, power and vulnerability. For Gisborne surfer,......
Choice is a short film that takes you on a journey through the wilderness of New Zealand in search of perfect waves. Along the way filmmaker Jean Pierre Guillotin explores the stunning scenery and landscapes that define New Zealand. “This was my first short film,” explains photographer Jean Pierre. “It......
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......
Despite an increase in shark sightings and one fatality this summer in New Zealand, the future of our shark populations has long had marine scientists concerned. Now, the results of a new Nature study show just how grim things really are. Marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez, also known as the......
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......
They can rattle even the most hardcore surfer with their lunges and antics, but according to Department of Conservation Coastal Otago ranger Jim Fyfe, we’re reading them all wrong. Jim explains how we can co-exist in the waves … In this short film (see below) Jim Fyfe shares his wisdom......
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......
In Bask, 19-year-old filmmaker, Isaac Haki Chadwick, captures the essence of life as a student and young surfer set among the raw and tumultuous whims of the southern ocean. It’s rawness is equaled by its honesty, offering a window into something few would otherwise get to see. We caught up......