Post-Quake Christchurch, New Zealand ...

Well what can I say ... it's been a long break (not a surf joke) from this blog. I have returned from travelling overseas and am once again living in Christchurch, earthquake city of the New Zealand. Man, the landscape has changed significantly. Central Christchurch is destroyed, roads are munted and houses and buildings are being pulled down everywhere.

And in case you are interested I think I still hold the trophy of being the world's worst surfer. I am struggling to stand up on my short board which sucks. Recently, I have been out to South Beach, New Brighton, North Beach and Waimairi Beach for a few sessions. These beaches are all very close to one another.

With summer approaching the water has warmed slightly and there have been some great conditions. Today, Sunday 11 November, 2012, was brilliant. There were a lot of  experienced surfers out and about. I sneaked to a more quiet part of South New Brighton - out of the public eye. I can't wait to get my longboard out of storage and give surfing a proper go again.


Although, not a lot of media attention has been paid to beaches and the coast line post earthquake, it is amazing how all beaches have significantly changed. Shorelines are much smaller now. It does illustrate how important the sand dunes are. It is cool to see the North Beach Surf Club has been painted and is looking in good shape. It is great to see that people care. Sadly, the New Brighton shops don't look so good - the area is very depressed. There is still a pretty good community vibe with some exciting temporary projects happening. I hope local and national governments will assist in revitalising this part of Christchurch.

Well, more posts to come. Just wanted to say I am pleased to be back in Christchurch waters and the City in general despite many people asking why I returned. My goal this summer is to become a far better surfer. Even getting my wetsuit to do up has been a recent challenge .... haha (I may need to lose a few kilos too)

Well happy surfing everyone!

Kiwi conquers Tahiti’s Teahupo'o!

Checking news from back home in New Zealand I saw Doug Young and Sam Hawke surfed Tahiti’s Teahupo'o, one of the biggest, dangerous breaks in the world. How awesome to conquer that on St Patrick’s Day!

Check out Young and Hawke's great tale, that screened on TVNZ, and how Sam 'commandeered' his mum’s car to get him and his mate to the airport to get the only plane to Tahiti. The image for this post was snapped by Josh Humbert and taken from Surf.co.nz

Woohoo, go Kiwis!

Don’t sit and watch life disappear

After a lot of thought and consideration I have decided to bite the bullet and head to the UK for a year. It seems a good idea to follow the sun. Hopefully, England’s warming up as New Zealand’s summer draws to an end. With a bit of luck there will be a chance to try some UK surfing.

I have undertaken a lot of thinking about this move. Thoughts have swirled through my head for months like violent waves. I have been weighing up what I will miss, whilst what I could potentially gain. Friends and family will be sorely missed. Emailing and Skyping will be handy. My local beach will always be here to come home to. I am almost certain I will come to love it more. I do hope to explore new beaches on my travels.

I don’t want to look back with regret at not doing an overseas experience (OE). I think the whole cruisy, carefree lifestyle is a myth. It seems to me everyone does need some sort of a plan. Perhaps, you can cruise after you have achieved in life and completed major goals like world travel or had a successful good occupation. I will stop rambling here ...

On Saturday there was a messy 3 metre swell out at Waimairi Beach, Christchurch. There was no gap between the breaking waves. Paddling out was hard work. The waves really taught me I must learn to duck dive. I got pummelled out there. After 2 hours I slunk back to the car with my surfboard. The fact that there were no other surfers indicated that it wasn’t ideal conditions but perseverance wins on the day. I am determined to get better at this sport. I also need to surf as much as I can at the moment as am leaving for the UK next week.

Dunedin's stunning beaches

This week I have head south to Dunedin to visit family. Dunedin, situated on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand is a Scottish settlement. It is a popular student centre and is the second largest city in the South Island.

It has been absolutely fantastic beach weather down here the last couple of days. I visited St Clair, a well known surfing beach, and it was packed with people sun bathing. The surf was flat but there were still a small group of surfers just cooling off on their boards. If, I had had my board with me I would have been out there too. There was a longboarding event held at St Clair in the weekend.

I walked from St Clair Beach to neighbouring St Kilda, a short walk. St Kilda is another renowned surfing beach in Dunedin and is surrounded by dunes. There was a couple of surfers out there paddling around. St Kilda has been described as one of New Zealand’s best beaches. I would have to agree with this.

I will definitely be back to surf both these beaches in the future. I recommend you grab your surfboard or an ice cream and get along and join me. Both, these beaches are truly stunning. The pictures for this post were taken tonight from the St Clair esplanade. It was a cracker of a night, really warm.

Surf, surf you have gone away. Please come back another day!

Today, I went surfing with a mate out at Waimari Beach, Christchurch. Unfortunately, the waves weren’t great. They were small and really choppy meaning there wasn't a lot of opportunities to stand. The poor conditions explained why there were only a couple of surfers out there. The few good waves were again breaking really close to shore so you had to be careful when abandoning your board in the shallow water as you could easily injure yourself when you hit the ocean floor. It was still a couple of hours of good fun. What better way is there to spend a Saturday evening? The small waves definitely suited longboarding.


It was cool to see a mum and her older daughter out having a go. Mum was boogie boarding and her daughter was surfing. They appeared to be having fun too. It made me think how awesome it would be to have come from a surfing family. I wish others in my family surfed. Other than us beginners floundering in these poor waves there were no other surfers. Hopefully, the surf will improve in the next couple of weeks, especially before summer disappears. Even, in these mild conditions, it amazes me how tiring surfing is on your body. I felt so sleepy once home. Also, it wasn’t great rolling my ankle when I came off my board. Hmm, I really am a bad surfer.

New Brighton, Christchurch, New Zealand

These pictures were taken last week at New Brighton, Christchurch, New Zealand. It is amazing how deceptive a photo can be! You would think the surf was good. Unfortunately, the only waves were breaking on to the beach. You could also easily make the mistake of thinking it was tropical by the colour of the water. I wish the water was warmer. One day, I will get round to buying those booties. The third picture is a derelict gymnasium on Marine Parade. It is a real shame that a property in such a wonderful location isn't being used.

Hopefully, better surf this week!

Desserted Beach! What's that about?

Today, was a great summer’s day down here in Christchurch, New ZeaIand. It was warm and sticky. I headed to Waimairi Beach with surfboard in toe. Unfortunately, the waves were flat which meant no surfing. There were a couple of keen guys still having a go. I had my camera with me so thought this was a pretty good back up plan.

When I was messing around with my camera it kept crossing my mind just how under-utilized beaches are in New Zealand. Every time I have visited this summer I have noticed under usage. There was hardly a man and his dog to be seen which is pretty sad. Who knows?, I may feel differently if the beach was packed chock-a-block with people. But, you would think there would be some Kiwis out trying to tan up their milk bottle legs … hehe. It just can't be warm enough for them.

Even if the waves had been pumping there wouldn’t have been a lot of surfers. One advantage of this when surfing is that dropping-in is never a problem. It sounds like this can be a real issue among surfers at other beaches, particularly overseas. This wave theft can lead to arguments and even violence.

With the warmer weather we are currently experiencing, local Kiwis should put their play stations down, stop sitting on the Internet or in front of the tele and get along to the beach. International surfers and tourists are of course welcome too.

Here are a few photos taken at Waimairi Beach -

Whale Strandings

For me personally there is nothing more heart breaking in nature than seeing a whale stranded. It is so sad to see these mystical creatures lose their way and end up beached on shores all over the world. With New Zealand having a large coast line we have our fair share. A multiple stranding is particularly devastating.

While, there are different theories for beaching, the question of why remains uncertain. Social cohesion of some species is thought to be a cause. If one whale is in trouble, its distress calls may prompt the rest of the pod to follow resulting in a mass beaching. Stranding has been attributed to natural and environmental causes, including weather, illness, birthing issues and navigation errors.

Project Jonah in New Zealand, a registered charity, performs an amazing job in which volunteers help whales, dolphins and seals. The organisation has pioneered whale rescue techniques that they have shared globally. Volunteers can complete a course to become a marine mammal medic to assist whales that become stranded.

Fingers crossed that in 2010 there will be minimal strandings across the world. Why not train to help these beautiful creatures that we share the ocean with or help in a beach cleanup. I also recommend you say NO to whaling!

New Zealand Surfing Guide

If you are learning to surf or are experienced, a local Kiwi or a tourist, you will find the jam packed New Zealand Surfing Guide very handy. This 550 page guide contains 470 detailed break maps. There are also 80 line up pictures and a 16 page colour gallery. This guide is perfect for planning a surfing road trip.

Two years of work went into compiling this guide - a lot of passion and love for surfing. Local surfers assisted in providing detailed information on the listed spots. The surfing community are lucky to have been given such great knowledge and insight.

Clever icons give detailed information for each spot and a stoke metre rates each break on a scale of 1 to 10. The guide also shows surfers how to learn to read the weather and predict swells. There are over 60 local area synoptic charts featured in the book.

Author, Peter Morse, acknowledges how complex New Zealand’s volcanic and reef lined coastline is and how much of it is still largely unexplored.

This gold bar sized guide book is just that gold. It is a perfect size for the car glove box or your carry bag where you can swat up on your next surfing adventure when you have a spare moment.

Greetings everyone!

Right, let's do this! This blog is all about surfing . As you may gather from its title I am a really, really bad surfer. In just a few months I have had a sprained neck, gashed head and a countless number of bruises. However, I love the sport / hobby. As long as you are having fun who cares how good or bad you are. I am a Kiwi and have been surfing for a couple of years now. My local beaches are New Brighton, North Beach & Waimari in Christchurch, New Zealand.

This blog is for everyone - the global surfing community, beginners to advanced, short and long boarders. Everything surfing and surfing related will be discussed. Please feel free to contribute and offer advice to this poor surfer. Enjoy the waves, Brendon