Latest Articles - New Zealand Surf Journal

Standouts: Reuben Morrison From Across The Ditch

Watch: Deadman’s 2025: Chaos & Carnage

Review: Vallkree Mechanism 24 Beach Cruiser

The Physiology Of Life & Death

Dr Will AllenAug 5, 2021August 31, 20210

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...

Emerson’s Search For New Zealand’s Underground Chargers

Derek MorrisonJan 25, 2021July 25, 20240

New Zealand Surf Journal is excited to launch our nationwide Search For New Zealand’s Underground Chargers … powered by Emerson’s Brewery, of course. Yep, you read that right. We’re on the hunt for those surfers in New Zealand who drop tools when the swell starts maxing out. We’re talking big-wave...

Special Feature: The Ratso Story

Derek MorrisonJul 27, 2020July 25, 20240

I’m standing in the garage with him as he sniffles back the taps and shuffles through a rack full of surfboards, his long hair hanging flat. He pulls one after another out and they’ve all got stories: he’s made a bunch of them, rode others to world titles and has...

Shaper Profile: Pete Anderson

Derek MorrisonApr 24, 2020July 25, 20240

With more than 36 years experience shaping surfboards out of Whangamata, Pete Anderson is one of the most humble and well-respected surfboard manufacturers in New Zealand. In this film he shares his journey from growing up in the heyday of Whangamata’s board-building industry to his insights, his hopes and most...

Artist Profile: Aaron Kereopa

Derek MorrisonMar 8, 2019August 12, 20190

Raglan surfer and artist Aaron Te Whanatangi Kereopa chats about his journey, following his mischief, taking the risky road and how his talent has guided him into an incredible place in his art and life. Since that first day he picked up a knife and surfboard more than 20 years...

Unruly Caverns: Chasing Slabs In The Deepest South

Derek MorrisonOct 15, 2018March 1, 20190

A late-season swell offers one last roll of the dice for New Zealand’s big-wave riders and the stakes are high. As the winds swing through the ideal bearing the focus falls on a reef on a remote corner of coastline. Four teams of surfers get the session of a lifetime....

Standouts: Reuben Morrison From Across The Ditch

Derek MorrisonApr 9, 20250

Ever wonder how you’d be at surfing if you’d grown up in the surfing hotbed of North Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches? If 17-year-old Reuben Morrison is anything to go by then you’d certainly have an air game. We sat down with Reuben after his first ever New Zealand Surfing...

Watch: Deadman’s 2025: Chaos & Carnage

Derek MorrisonApr 4, 20250

Thrills and Spillz bring us Chapter 1 – the first installment of Deadman’s Rising – capturing the giant April 1, 2025 swell that saw monster sets sweep through Sydney’s beaches. Deadman’s is one of the most insane slab breaks in Australia and must be seen to be believed. Footage was...

Review: Vallkree Mechanism 24 Beach Cruiser

Derek MorrisonMar 12, 2025March 12, 20250

Vallkree’s beach-styled electric bikes are taking root in New Zealand and bringing their goal for sustainable and simple travel, and endless charm, to surfers everywhere. They let us loose with the dual-motor Mechanism 24, complete with seating for two, a surfboard rack and absolutely no rules. We like that …...

Standouts: Alani Morse Is On A Mission

Derek MorrisonMar 12, 2025March 12, 20250

She is one of the fiercest competitors to emerge through the grom ranks, but what makes 14-year-old Alani Morse such a force to be reckoned with? We sat down with Alani on the heels of her 2025 New Zealand Surfing Championship campaign. In Taranaki for the 2025 Nationals Alani Morse...

Nats 2025: The Free Surf Sessions

Derek MorrisonFeb 14, 20250

If contests are the buttoned down sports version of surfing then the free surf sessions that take place around the heats are the creative opposite. There is no pressure, no judges, no decisions, just free-flowing moments when the tide hits the banks just right. Even with a below-par swell running...

Alexis Owen Takes Down Billy, Wins National Title

Derek MorrisonFeb 6, 2025February 6, 20250

One of the most promising rising stars in New Zealand, 16-year-old Alexis Owen, peaks in the 2025 New Zealand Surfing Championship Open Men’s final to pull the rug out from eight-time national champion Billy Stairmand and two-time national and defending champion Daniel Farr. Billy Stairmand knows what it takes to...

Ava Henderson Wins Second National Title

Derek MorrisonJan 31, 2025February 6, 20250

Ava’s road to her second national title was a convoluted one … she nearly didn’t get there … but the likeable, laidback surfer from Christchurch soon found her feet in Stent Road’s lefts and rights to take the top gong. In 2020 Ava Henderson won her first Open Women’s title...

Into The Fire: A QS Rookie’s Journey

Derek MorrisonDec 24, 2024December 24, 20240

George Roberts’ move to Australia to give the World Qualifying Series a crack in 2024 reveals just how brutal they can be, but also how those first round knockouts fuel his drive. Surfing competitively in New Zealand is a pathway fraught with potholes. While the junior ranks are relatively well-catered...

Watch: The War on Style

Derek MorrisonDec 19, 2024December 19, 20240

After competing on the Freeride World Tour, and transitioning into a new career in nursing, Hank Bilous brings us an exposé into the relationship between different passions, the skill sets behind them, and the self-expression that mastery of them allows. In his directorial and producing debut, Hank adds another qualification...

Watch: Days Between

Derek MorrisonNov 27, 2024November 27, 20240

Filmmaker Damon Meade brings us his latest gem of a film Days Between a New Zealand surfing showcase featuring a talented crew in action at some of the finest locations the country has to offer. Damon, who brought us Under the Weather in 2013 and the Maz Quinn-centered The Beaten...