Inspiration - New Zealand Surf Journal

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: 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...

Photo Essay: Inside The Hīkoi

Morgan TahapehiNov 26, 2024November 26, 20240

Surfer and surf photographer Morgan Tahapehi is renowned for her body of work: Surfers of Aotearoa. Morgan has whakapapa to Tainui, but the reason she decided to hīkoi was to document the voices of New Zealand using her gift as a photographer. This is her story. Ko Tainui tōku waka...

Verdure Surf: The Future Of Flex

Taira BlakelyNov 1, 20240

Jack Candlish and team at Verdure Surf just might be the future of surfboard manufacturing. Operating on the cutting edge of sustainable surfboard development, they seem to have found accessible solutions to the environmental flaws plaguing the surf manufacturing industry. They’ve already won over top surfers and shapers, and they...

In Bloom Festival Launches Online Surf Contest

Derek MorrisonOct 16, 2024November 26, 20240

Organisers of Tauranga’s favorite music festival, In Bloom, have announced the launch of In Bloom TV. A union of their love of music and surfing, In Bloom TV is an all-new online surfing competition. “As planning commenced for the fifth year of In Bloom the crew behind the music event...

Surfing Australia Lands $1 Million In Federal Funding To Boost Women’s Surfing

Derek MorrisonOct 3, 2024November 26, 20240

Surfing Australia has been awarded $1 million in federal funding to develop the “New Wave of Female Boardriders” project. In an announcement made this morning at the Hyundai HPC by local MP Justine Elliot, alongside key females from Australia’s surf community, the grant will be delivered over the next three...