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Rowan
Rowan Klevstul has been documenting and writing about surfing in New Zealand since 2000. If you're after a piece of eclectic surf photography, contact Rowan on 021 252 7970 or at rjklevstul@clear.net.nz.
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Auckland West
The West coast was maxing and wind was howling gale force. It seemed like half of Auckland's surfing community battled it out for waves at this semi well know spot.
How to score a perfect 10
Whilst flicking through the 25th anniversary issue of New Zealand Surfing Magazine to up the stoke-levels after a decidedly spring-like sesh up North with my older brother, he happened to ask me who I thought the best surfer in New Zealand at the moment is.
Outside of the Box
Living without a TV is akin, at times, to living minus one of your senses. There's a scary thought - that television has become an expected extension of ones' eyesight. Sharing a leaking beach flat with peeling paint, single-glazing and a Buddhist-vegetarian girlfriend on a strict budget, unplugging from visual stimulation has become a necessary evil.
The Light of Day
History. What's come before. Surely the past must maintain an absolute presence in the here-and-now of our surfing lives? And yet, no matter how good it was yesterday, I still wanna surf again today! It takes a long long draft of surf to quench that need, quell the imp's desires and get all responsible n' shit.
Eyes Front
Surfing lends itself to so many analogies and, dare I say it, lessons in life. Time and again facts are driven home with the fluidity of a finely executed figure eight - Climbing the ladder? Stroke confidently into the lineup and hold your position. Things getting heavy? Stay calm, don't fight, flow. And staying up with the play is often a very simple equation - you gotta go where the action is.
Winter Blues
You hurt the ones you love, bad mouth them behind their backs. Getting close draws high emotion, dark words free to be misconstrued. Take yesterday - I was a few hundred words into this very blog, all riled up about the sheer averageness of my home break.
Episode 7: A Thousand Clams
A solid week of onshore winds finally switched through to blessed west, early morning waves woke and scrubbed clean their junked-up faces, as the low tide drained tubes across the only bank with form enough to hold the swell.
Episode 6: Rowan Aish
My buddy Rowan is a pro surfer. How cool is that?! Adding to the obvious benefits of sharing a talented namesake, the guy is unflappably upbeat, gets free product in the latest range of colours, dates a hot Swiss girl he rescued single-handedly from traction (and the Waimea Bay shorebreak) yet still finds time to pleutonically teach other young women to surf, is built like He-man, and for ten months of the year travels the world chasing great waves and prizemoney.
Episode 5 : Escape Plan
I have an escape plan. It leads almost directly west of here, although sometimes it deviates north. Survival often depends on having one of these foolproof plans, a well rehearsed exit strategy to get out as quickly as possible when it goes down. And you've gotta practice. Lots. Dude, you gotta drill.
Episode 4: PhotoCPL
I've just closed the back cover on the most comprehensive, enthralling piece of modern New Zealand surf history I've ever come across and realised that I've lost two hours. Or, to be more precise, been lost for two hours. Lost in the myriad of colour, athleticism and authentic kiwi personalities that make up the newly released photographic book by Craig 'CPL' Levers, aptly named '”PHOTOCPL.”
Episode 3: Surf Into Summer
Surfers of a certain vintage may recognise that quote from Billabong's 1986 surf video 'Surf into Summer' (remember VHS kids?) It featured other timeless classics like “if you wanna dance, you've gotta pay the band” and “the best surfer in the world is the guy having the most fun,” along with an epic post-punk rock soundtrack featuring legend bands like TSOL, The Johnny's, Social Distortion, and Bill Lincoln and his surf guitar... in retrospect, Bill wasn't really all that punk.
Episode 2: Te Arai Point
It was with a collective sigh of relief that 09 surfers recently received the news that the Auckland Regional Council had purchased a significant chunk of coastline surrounding two of the better surf spots within striking distance of NZ's biggest city.
Episode 1: Checking Nowhere
It's pretty easy to get caught up in the sensationalism of the media these days. This winter has been a classic example, it seems that every weather system that drops below 1000hpa has a string of news footage attached. That said, there has been some quite apocalyptic storms roll through lately and, watching the six o'clock bulletin one evening a few weeks back, the (usually unnecessary) current flavour of the month live-feeds from one of our coastal cities more than captured my attention.
