A surf trip to the idyllic, laidback islands of Upolu, Samoa, has to rate as one of the best experiences of the South Pacific. Time it with a decent swell and you’ll be in the firing line for some of the most memorable waves of your life. Here’s our top......
We’ve just experienced a fia fia – a local carnival that welcomes guests into a village in Samoa. In our case that’s Salani village on the southern shores of Upolu, Samoa. We’re here for a group 40th – a bunch of mates using the milestone to chalk up some island......
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......
When it comes to the New Zealand surf industry there are very few long-lived brands and manufacturers beyond our cornerstone surfboard shapers. So it was a real privilege to meet Paul Zarifeh and his team at the Seventhwave Wetsuits factory in Christchurch back in the depths of winter in 2015.......
“I’ve got a local character for you,” laughs muso and surfer Shakes in the carpark at Whareakeake. “You have to meet this guy,” he smiles. “His son has a sign on the door that reads: ‘don’t worry about the dog, beware of the Cog!'” Shakes leads me over to one......
When we first saw Homa Mattingly’s crazy collection of boards we thought he must be experimenting with lots of new shapes and designs. They seemed very, very radical. On closer inspection we discovered a talented backyard shaper taking a different direction completely. Homa has been retracing a few apparent “dead-ends”......
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......
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....
For eight years I sat next to an intriguing character in a Sydney Chinatown office called Andy Wigan. He was the editor of a dirt bike magazine – I was his deputy and we both shot for the magazine. He was as confronting and testing as he was passionate, dedicated......
It’s one of those swells. Every ten minutes a pulse that gets you excited, but in between a calm pool of blue with the occasional rideable ripple. It’s been like this all week with the same crew hunting the sets on the favourable tide led by Josh Thickpenny and Luke......