Derm Would Go / October 22, 2025 by craig levers

There are times in life when you know you're 100% going in the right direction.

Before the 2015 Mega Swell Kicked, fun as Supers with Jesse and Derm presiding proceedings

Sitting behind Derm Forde's old Troopy heading to the Far North on State Highway 1, 29 June 2015, was one of those moments. Sighting Derm was instant validation the decision to pre-empt the Mega Swell was right.

In 2015 it was still cool to camp around the reef at Shippies. I found my spot, Derm and his son Finn were 50 metres west, perched above the Supertubes take off peak. The swell had yet to kick, I crowed to Derm how stoked I was he was there, how I'd seen his iconic Troopy and how much I loved it. He gave me a Troopy tour.

Despite not seeing each other for years, his conversation was, as always, like we spoke yesterday. This was the last time I'd ever have one of those chats.

Derm moved to Otago. I bought a Troopy almost identical to Derm's... VERY much influenced by Derm. The consummate surfer with the ultimate surf wagon. I actually worried that people would confuse us...not the surfing bit, the vehicle bit. That people would think I was copying the legend, I was after-all. Let's go with heavily influenced and obliged the sage-like advice.

Like anyone who has frequented Mud Bay in the last 50 years, a Derm encounter was inevitable. It usually starts with sighting a tiny dot 100 metres out from Shag Rock on a huge unsurfable West Coast day. A Derm day. My first brush was 1986, and that was the case. My good mate Crighton Bone both watched from the carpark in shock. That someone A] Even got out there, like seriously HOW. B] What did they think they were going to find out there. C] Just generally WHY.

Derm at Aramoana and to the right with Shaper and all round good bugger Steve Walker.... both images stolen from the gram... right **Maori Bay Boardriders** and left **GHS Designs**

The speck came in and up to the lonely carpark, his trusty 7'6 Col McNeill shaped Hurley under arm. We got chatting, the first of many, him explaning it was just like big Sunset [Hawaii]. You have to let the first one wash through, and the rest of the set will be cleaner. Even as competent, but still somewhat bug-eyed teens, Derm's rationale didn't hold much water. But it certainly enforced our mana for the charger.

I used writing this as an excuse to ring my old mate Mikey Phillips, Derm's old Muriwai neighbour. A fact check, but also to connect with a mate. He recanted how influential Derm had been on his surfing, long before they were neighbours. How Derm had paved the way for Mikey to charge the big. How Derm's infectious froth lead them to tackling huge Bay. Of the duo paddling out South of Shag Rock and coming in up by the creek at Muriwai. Hooting and hollering the entire sessions.

When and if you dig deeper on the socials for the outpouring of respect and loss of Derm, this is the theme. The charger that frothed on challenging himself to the wild. That loved a good carpark chat, that engaged so warmly with everyone. Nurse, Soldier, Cop, Hunter, Hell Mountain Biker, an actual deadset surfing legend. Derm aged just 63, passed at home from a heart attack 17 October. His funeral is today in Dunedin.

Hei Konei Ra -Legend, you lived a 100 mortals' lives.

Things To Know / October 14, 2025 by craig levers

Spring, it's a bit of a shit time to be a surfer in New Zealand, in the upper half anyway, ol' mate Rambo is down in the Catlins currently and he's scoring. But for the rest of us, the majority, unsettled weather patterns make for tiny doggey doors of waves. Howling onnies on the Westside, lake like vistas over East. That said one of those doggey doors looks to be opening later this week with a bout of North Easters.

In the meantime here's some things you may not know about....

That's right, buy ANYTHING on PhotoCPL.co.nz and you'll get a pack of 10 Surf Prints chucked in. Halloween is 31 October, so that seems like a fitting cut off for the deal.

And Deennn...

It's so fricken cool that the Aotearoa Surf Film Festival is gearing up for round 14. And yes, once again for the 14th year I will be watching, I will be judging. It's an honour to be a part of the Judging Panel for sure, to have played a small part in what is now an institution and has been a launching pad, or at the very least a validation for our Kiwi moving picture creatives.

Film submissions are OPEN HERE

NZ & International submissions open  Entries close 1 December 2025.... seriously, send it in, have a go, here's what happened this year;

2025 AWARDS CATEGORIES, PRIZES & WINNERS

‘Best Kiwi Film': 'They Call Me Wazza ' Dir Jonathan Smit
Award: $1,000 NZD Cash, Brand New Custom Verdure Surf Board, GoPro Hero 13 Package

‘Most Environmentally Conscious Film’ supported by Patagonia:
'Aldan Okkar Allra', Dir Steve Wall & Berglind Johannsdottir.
Award: $1000 Patagonia voucher (NZD value) and $500 NZD cash towards the environmental cause / social enterprise highlighted by winning film

Yeti Presents: ASFF People's Choice Award: 'They Call Me Wazza ' Dir Jonathan Smit.
Award: Massive Yeti Prizepack

‘Best Sound Track, supported by Sawmill’: ‘Now You Have’ Dir Cam Haylock.
Award: Three-month Sawmill Subscription

And Speaking Of

Wāhine Waveriders is a film project that is going to be submitted, from what I've seen it is going to be really cool. It documents 3 generations of the Pou surfing wahine. There is a crowd funding page in place HERE for the post production.

Keita, the youngest of the generational Southland legends, the other week at the National Scholastics

Yvonne, Marama and Keita.... Wahine Waveriders, defo a film to support and hopefully be viewing soon

Schoolies Week / October 7, 2025 by craig levers

A brief respite Tuesday morning, Fitzroy Beach

Schoolies! ….no, no, not the weird Aussie tradition of high school kids getting maggot on the Goldie. Nah this is a far more noble venture. The New Zealand National Scholastics. The comp has been going since 1989, spearheaded by the late greats, Mary Davie and Carol Cranch. You can’t help but think the legends are looking down with a warm grin of satisfaction, maybe even a bit of smug ’told you so’ at the magnitude and reach that the Nat Schols has now. Literally, teams representing regions from the Deep South to the Far North. So f@cking good.

Gizzy's Te Wai and Raglan's Daniel Kereopa

This year Taranaki hosted the 5 action packed days, thanks to GC’s, the OG’s at Fitzroy Boardriders. It’s no small feat to gather up all your club members that are able to volunteer time midweek to do all the stuff that has to happen behind the scenes. Then there’s the coaches of each team, scarily, just about every single one of them is a past competitor themselves, Damon Gunness, Ben Kennings, Daniel Kereopa, Dion Adhern, Jess Terryll, Liv Haysom, to name just a few.

Damon Gunness in a full circle situ for the Gizzy Team

Kapiti Coast's Dion Adhern, been too long grommet!!

This is not a contest report, you can go over the Surfing New Zealand to read those HERE.

Northland’s Indi Lee-Ruddell…are you kidding me!

The week was brutal, it’s a tough call to have 5 days of goodness in the Naki, in Spring. It was never, ever going to be anything other than pack your raincoats and your Redbands. Every evening blast the motor-camp cabin heaters to dry out the gear… rinse and repeat, grindy comp head stuff. The sort of stuff that does season up any aspiring comp head. A daily lesson in be prepared for sun, torrential horizontal storm fronts, thunder and even a few wisps of offhores. Three days at Fitzy, then 2 days at the Jewel in the Crown, Stent Road. Wait, not a contest report.

Stent, you bewty, what a canvas for the grubs

Ok, here’s some of my favourite images from the week as the Official Shooter. In full disclosure, I did this one smart; I deployed the minions with a camera to capture the colour…aka the lifestyle images. Special thanks to Waikato Team Member Theo Morse for stepping up and taking some great images over the week. As did Arianna Walker, Sage Fritchley, India Kennings, Te Waiotu Fairlie and a bunch more, you guys nailed the brief.

Some mythical camera doodle, Xander Banks, Jakey Haines and Ethan Kirk-Orman- pic Theo

Ohh yes, we had Prawns, Hot Dogs, Chickens, Batman and Lizardy things...as the week progressed so too the $2 Shop mascots

Sol Fritchley on his way to clenching the 2025 U16 National Scholastics title

Gizzy’s Jaxon Pardoe on his way to U14 greatness

Piha's Poppy Arkle clenched the U18's for Team Aucks

As did fellow Piharian Sev Tolhurst in the U18 lads

The Fritchley sib's Sol and Sage- pic Arianna Walker...who, between camera duties took out the U16 Girls Title, bt -dub

Ahhh yes the aforementioned Arianna with fellow BOP members Zade Pitkethly and Zen Mouldey- Photo Sage

Zade was on fire in his semi-final, but just couldn't find the linkers in the last heat of the day

Team Coro, Koby Cox and unofficial captain Harrison Biddle

Auckland were super unlucky not to secure the repeat overall winners, Piha's Poppy Arkle [left] and Ella Rebolledo-Withers [middle] both winning their divisions, along with Sev. BOP edging out the incumbent champs with U16 boys, U16 girls, Boys Longboard and then more finalists across the divisions. It was close.... not a contest report

Two of Piha's most colourful grubs... and there's no shortage of competition in that regard... the Zeke and Zac show...epic

So Judgey.... some bloody legends right there, warm and dry for once aye lads!

and the lad himself, Theo Morse, photog extraordinaire, U18 semi finalist, NZ Team representative - thanks bro!

And DEEEN....

Sure, you could buy a hoodie from a surf shop, but think of the admin, finding a carpark, having to engage with a shop assistant whose life mission is to stitch you into buying a wetsuit or a new board as well. Far safer staying right here, keyboard side. Just buy one of these instead. It'll actually save you money.

Digging Deep / September 24, 2025 by craig levers

There's a tipping point for photographers. The realisation that some images are timeless... weeeeeelll, that's a bit verbose, it's more the moment where you realise images can have an emotional value and even monetary value past the instant they were captured. I've always bought heavily into this concept.

Shot in 1991, sure, there was a realisation at the time that the day was special, that the surf was epic. But never, ever was there an inkling that this frame would still be relevant 30 years later. In fact you could argue it has become better with age.

A huge part of my fascination with capturing moments has always been this. That moment can never happen again, that hopefully it's been recorded faithfully. More accurately, recorded as the photographer perceived the scene. In turn, archiving images has been important to me. I'm stoked I still have most of my negatives from the early '90's in fancy rice paper holders. There may be soothsayer, sensei like photogs out there that just know, know at the moment of capture they have a classic. Not this guy, I mean sure, there are times where you've put yourself in the right place for something special, and known something pretty damn cool is happening. But most of the time I have no idea what will resonate, it all gets saved.

*This moment was definitely one of those ones where you knew something special is unfolding*

Where I'm going with all this is, value your photos, if you're a budding surf photog, or just shoot a lot of the family on the phone. For images to become classics, you have to keep them.

A few weeks back Braedon Williams from Whanga Surf Shop reached out about this sequence of his Dad, Deano taken in 2007 [18 June 2007 at 4:04 PM....to be accurate]. Did I have it still? And could they use it in the shop ....

Couply hours shifting through 20 Terabytes of folders- easy peasy, there it is...

Neither Dean or I really love that the photo is already 20 years old. BUT it's fricken pretty darn wonderful to be able to draw on a photo library spanning a long time.

And DEEEN....

Sure, you could buy a Whanga Surf Shop Hoodie, but then you have to go into the shop and see Ella, Braedon, Dean or Brooke and they'll totally stitch you up into buying a wetsuit or a new board as well. Far safer staying right here, keyboard side. Just buy one of these instead. It'll actually save you money.

Hipster Vibes / September 18, 2025 by craig levers

Digga finding a right when everyone else went left on the last photo session before the op

I've done it again aye. Had a great run of continuity with these posts, then went AWOL. I have the best excuse, I finally had my Hip Op, it's a big deal for me. Over the last 7 years I've been managing a deteriorating joint. At the start it was ok, I could surf for 4 days straight, but then I'd have to stop. That worked well being a surf photog; get my fill of stoke, then shoot. But the key word in that sentence was deteroirating. My last surf was May 2024, it was bad, bad enough to cease. The year leading up to that wasn't pretty either. It's no fun competing for the peak, then having your hip lock, sending your over the falls in front of all on lookers. I have dear friends that have stopped surfing altogether because an injury stops them from surfing at the level they want to. More grimly they have a perception that other surfers will judge them, and that's accurate, we can be absolute judgey wankers. It's part of the dog eat dog of any line-up, we all do it; assess who's good, who to avoid 'cos they may run you over, AND who may not make that fast section, especially if you push down that section. It fricken sucks knowing someone's made THAT assessment of you. This is WHY old salties are grumpy, we know what you're thinking, we've been running the numbers since you were in nappies, you ‘lil shit.

Good from far, but actually far from good, cameras are deceiving little boxes

This is quite divergent aye. The point being, I had the hip operation. I'm so frothed on even going through the remedial process of getting back on the horse [ie surfboard]. The reason the posts went dark was simple, post op, I just couldn't sit at the desk for enough time. I had planned great administrative conquests, overhaul the website, sort out the archive, rebrand....none of it happened. I did get to the end of the interweb and Netflix though. It's been a long 6 weeks.

These photos were from the week before the hip op. Had a plan, had content, then realised sitting at the computer wasn't happening. To be honest I'm OK with it, stoked to have done the recovery right instead of having some false sense of duty to the keyboard.

Paul Biddle finding the good ones in the rip bowl

Paul's neighbour Glenn Smith sending buckets

The legend, the frother, the Rat. Our WSL World Masters Champion Iain Ratso Buchanan, the day before flying out to Fiji for the WSL finals, then on to El Salvador for his priority Judge commitments

And his brother Daniel eventually joined us after a nap in the truck

And Digga finally came to his senses and went left

....and this guy also happened a few days prior to the Hip Op. I sat on it for a month, wait lay on it, laid it off? I couldn't sit on it. Anyway, bad puns aside, I'm very stoked to have added this one to the Elements Gallery **HERE**

OK. I'm back... sort of. See ya next week.

Bingin Gets The Bash / July 31, 2025 by craig levers

Swell on the Eastside and not allowed to surf! Tsunami warnings in place.

Damon Gunness around 2002 and the legendary Bingin warungs

Over the last week beloved Bingin on Bali's Bukit Peninsula has been making news for all the wrong reasons. The fabled, albeit short, lefthand barrel has been a firm favourite for Kiwi surfers since the '70's. The dreaded cliff track, the warm welcomes of the Warung [local cafes] owners.

Me ol' partner in crime Rueben Noble shot on film around 2004

Then the wave itself. Mechanical to a fault; deceptively easy and tight take off into a perfect barrel. While it does clamp at anything over 4 foot, after the tube there time for a quick turn before the evil Greedies section, where the reef goes dry. Every set the same.

...and Chris Speedy from the same roll of 36 exposure film

What the wave at Bingin lacks in intensity compared to it's big brothers further up the Bukit, it more than made up in vibe. The warungs set into the cliff above the high tide zone were perfect grandstands between sessions. Chill in the shade with an icey cold raspberry Fanta and a Mie Goerang. For me, since 1991, Bingin was a naughty pleasure. Yes, Padang or the Peak would have been bigger, there was the chance of the more intense tube. But Bingin was fun, cruisier, more relaxing. It was also the best access and exit to Impossibles, another guilty pleasure. Other surfers would use the keyhole and then paddle right to the Bingin peak . Veering left would place you very nicely at the bottom of Impossibles. So many sessions roaming up and down that stretch of coral finding links as the tide moved.

Like shooting fish in a barrel; Luke Cederman circa 2003

For a water photographer Bingin is ridiculously fun. There's a coral head, easily recognisable that you position yourself over or inside of. At the risk of sounding like a spoilt brat, Bingin is/was too easy to swim. Back in the day, the yeild from just a couple of shoots at Bingin would be so high, we wouldn't caption the location. The warungs in every background were the giveaway.

Jos Kennings 2003 on his way down to Greedies

The poor warungs. Last week the government commenced demolition of all of them. The contention is the families that have built and run the establishments for decades don't own the land. Effectively they are squatting. There's no doubt the sanitation was questionable at best. There's no doubt the buildings at Bingin got out of hand. But we are losing something special, hence the worldwide gnashing of teeth.

Here's a good summary from a non-surfer's perspective; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-22/bali-crackdown-on-bingin-beach-tourist-villas-restaurants/105558256

….And Deeeeeeen…

These guys are going great, even had to get more Whanga ones screened up! 400gsm, oversized and available in any colour…as long as it’s black.

Buy either a Piha Hoodie or a Whanga Hoodie using those hyperlinks just back there.

Admin Week / July 23, 2025 by craig levers

Troopy, room on wheels with a damn ok view

Admin week. Even surf photographers...slash book publishers... have to have them. You may think I'm ever poised for a swell like the nice one that rolled through Raglan's Points this week. Jump in the Troopy and wake up to an Instagram Reel like moment. Sunrise kissing the fabled Waikato left hand faces. Sipping on a steaming stove-top expresso perched on the bumper of said Troopy deciding which Point to hit.... yep, probs should've.

We sold through the first print of Unbound Vol 1. Thank you. It's quite a deal to sell that many units in a handful of months. There was the temptation to drop the mic. Go, super successful project, we out, it's a limited edition, aren't you lucky you got in. But commercial sensibilities kicked in.

Books have a long tail. It's cool that they do. Books like The Big Little Beach Book are in their third print. We did three print runs of The South Seas and still get email requests on where to find it.
So no photos this week, despite an itchy trigger finger and some severe FOMO.

One Day / July 16, 2025 by craig levers

Well, that was a treat of a swell aye! While the peak of that last east swell coincided perfectly with a weekend, there were still waves eastside until Tuesday evening. Here's the images from the zenith of the activity....

Jay Tingle back from 5 glorious weeks in Krui and feeling the cold

Jay again, dealing ok with his tropical wax

Unidentified trooper absolutely owning the wide peak

Harrison Biddle taking heed of the photographers mandate; do full turns don't look for the barrel

Didn't talk to this guy, but he clearly got the memo

So did Jeff King, throwing buckets and he didn't even stand up

The carpark perspective - defo a get out there buddy, moment

Former magazine cover model Matt Honeycomb, not bad for a 50 year old grom

Darren Celliers and a pretty nice 30 shot sequence

Dan Davie on his new 8'6" $130 Trademe purchase

...AND DEEEEEEN.....

Yessss... the gentle prod... Have you checked out the PhotoCPL Piha Hoodie yet? They are ticking over really quite nicely

..and so has the PhotoCPL Whanga Hoodie not nervous about having 5 big boxes of these guys sitting in the office one bit... no not at all.

Introspective / July 9, 2025 by craig levers

Have a mentioned I worked at a surf mag for 15 years? A dream job for a surfer, sort of. The catch was to shoot great surf and surfing you’re not actually surfing yourself. And after standing on the beach behind the tripod getting sizzled in the harsh Kiwi sun all you wanna do is get some shade. Yep, first world problems.

Two legends on covers there; Mikey Phillips and a grommet Ric Christie

I’m so grateful to David Hall for taking a punt on me in 1993 to start at the mag. It was daunting and amazing to be thrown into that world. Life changing stuff. The revolving team and I got to endure the tough times of putting ink on paper and be readied for the halcyon era of surf print media. 15 years is a long time at any job and the roles evolved over that time. I ended up running the magazine, had a fancy title; Editorial Director/Senior Photographer. Kind of code for the buck stops here, the jack of all, really it was being the foreman.

Speaking of foreman, this guy; Mike Spence, was a huge mentor on all things magazine and photographic, he was the mag Ed 1990-1993 and recommended me for the gig

But what happens when it stops? When you have to step off the perceived gravy train? PhotoCPL Media was started. My printer, Harley Davidson enthusiast, Paul Grey came up with the name. I liked it enough, it was vague to cover all the things. Freelance photography, photo print sales, writing, making books, merch, websites.

learning how to create big panos like **Piha Layers,** that would be robust enough to handle wall murals like this one at Auckland Hospital

I relearnt photography. As weird, to me at least, at that sounds I threw myself into becoming a better rounded photographer. Shooting surf action is so specialised and somewhat formulaic, my landscape and product shooting sucked. I found out I actually love learning, love challenging myself to master different camera formats. There was a very quick realisation that becoming proficient in other photographic mediums dovetailed into be a better surf photographer. Guilty of always hind sighting; the content of the mag could have been so much better if the step out of the formula had been sooner.

Where is all this going? Fuck knows, it’s a web log, it can go anywhere it wanders.

Today's grommets won't get a centrefold like this one of Jay Papworth

I’ve been away from magazine life longer than I was in. Sadly there is no surf magazine in NZ anymore, I would have loved to see the magazine thrive and build on the foundation we had created. To mature into a reflection of our rich NZ Surfing culture and heritage. These are conversations had a lot with peers and fellow surfers of a similar vintage. That the kids don’t get to have centrefolds on their bedroom walls, that they don’t get cover shots or profiles. It kind of sucks.

Maz Quinn on the cover of the first book, PhotoCPL

In a way creating the surf books that Photo CPL Media has, partly filled the gap of reflecting and celebrating our NZ Surf community. The first one Photo CPL was a way of clearing the decks. Then the South Seas and Revised Edition books, the 4 Warren Hawke NZ Surf series and now Rambo Estrada’s Unbound Vol 1 collectively provide a good snapshot into the Kiwi way of surfing.

Somewhat a sidebar; while feedback was welcomed and sought from the peer about surf mag issues, it was learnt early on that numbers mattered. The mag was a commercial entity, we were highly accountable to the publisher David Hall to make issues that sold. Hypothetically peer feedback and sales should go hand in glove. But they often didn’t. Becoming my own boss, this ethos was first and foremost, make something that sells. And NZ surfers are a very discerning bunch when it comes to parting with their fun dockets. The money talks, bullshit walks. There’s a good amount of satisfaction that every single book project has been a commercial success, in fact right now Rambo and I are waiting for the shipment of the Unbound reprint.

Books; tick.

Making an E-Photo Gallery and Freelance Photography

It’s been a long standing dream to open a bricks and mortar Surf Gallery. It wouldn’t be a shrine to Photo CPL images or an ego stroke. It would be a venue where established and up’n’coming surf photographers and artists could showcase their wares. Monthly exhibitions and openings, swap meets, residencies and workshops. Create a venue that becomes the default hub for surf creatives. That commercial sensibility always kicks it in the guts; location, commercial rent, staffing and being tied to retail hours; all too tougher hurdles.

**Whanga Bar Mono** rolling off the printer, this one went to Melbourne this week

The e-photo galleries on PhotoCPL.co.nz serve as the stop gap. But viewing pixels online doesn’t compare in any way to seeing a large format print. It’s a big ask to hope a client can visualise what a screen grab will look like on their lounge wall. I get caught all the time, stuck screen side looking at line-up pixels, then finally seeing a large test print, it’s quite shocking how good prints are- this is not a sales pitch- legit I get a wonderful shock at how much detail there is in a printed image. That relearning of the craft kicks in here too, I needed every image available for print on PhotoCPL.co.nz to be technically robust to handle any usage.

**Supertubes Dune**, shot on Velvia 100 asa film on the 617 Panoramic camera

Same day but different angle and set shot on the digital camera and used around the world and the the books Big Little Beach Book and The South Seas

It’s a very strange transition going from being a salaried photographer to free agent. Instead of being paid a wage, you flip to paying it forward. This photo, Supertubes Dune, is a good case study of that; in 2015 I was standing on top of the Shippies Dunes as the much documented Mega Swell started to roll through Ahipara’s iconic points. I’d been camping for a few days at Supertubes waiting for the swell to hit, it was one of the last years that camping around the reef was still tolerated. There I am, alone, gasping for gas after lugging way too many cameras up the sand, and absolutely in the happy place. Frothing over the swell, relieved that I hadn’t had a cardiac arrest and about to burn through rolls of hyper expensive medium format film. Images from that tedious climb and beautiful swell were used all around the world, online and in print [including the South Seas and Big Little Beach books]. In fact just this week The ASB Kaitaia Branch had this installed as a full wall mural.

Sorry, iPhone squished photos, but you get the gist, fricken love that graphic in the sky, thanks to the legend Jimmy Phillips for championing the commission

I may have hoped, but would never expect the self funded drive from Piha to Shippies, the wonderful days of waiting with crew like Jesse Peters, Lindsay Butler and Luke Crouch, the excitement of being in the moment shooting, then the very real cost of processing the film would yield pay days. Probably for a photographer that’s always been freelance it’s easier to jump in the wagon and go.

That hindsight thing again; what would be done differently, shoot more, surf more, be where the waves are good more.

....AND DEEEEEEN.....

Yessss... the gentle prod... Have you checked out the PhotoCPL Piha Hoodie yet? They are ticking over really quite nicely

…and so has the PhotoCPL Whanga Hoodie not nervous about having 5 big boxes of these guys sitting in the office one bit... no not at all.

Cooly and Cooler / July 2, 2025 by craig levers

Me and the gorgeous Ange have just come back from a very cool week on the Gold Coast. It wasn't a surf trip, honest, we were there for a niece's wedding. Our days were filled with pre-wedding brunches, Staggies and hen's, cocktail evenings, oh an actual wedding and then post wedding brunches. The wedding was up the Nerang River in the Hinterlands, an amazing venue and of course great times with whanau. We tapped on a few days extra to chase surf and explore. Well reminisce somewhat, when I was 18 I moved to Kirra and did two winters on the Goldie, it was life shaping stuff and I believe those years set me in the direction I took...aurgably down the wrong road, but hey here we are a mere 40 years later.

Aussie architecture at its finest, love a bit of breeze block

Yeah, the iconic Pink Hotel, epic place to base yourself, just bring your noise cancellers for the weekends

The surf... well it was kind of pumping over the wedding days! But I was happily locked into that. Post wedding; meh, small days a D'bah. The Occy Grom Comp was kicking off the following weekend so the gang were in town. It was bloody cool to hang with the large Kiwi contingent there. Matty Scozz and his son Arlo, the Marsdens, Dan 'Blackie' Scott, the Baileys, Matt Groube, The Williams, Pia and Leia....the list goes on.

Matty Scorringe; in surf dad mode for the Occy Comp

Arlo, hyped on being exposed to the Aussie level

Matty stated that this is his favourite pic from the session of Arlo...awwwww Dad

Arlo's best mate Haru Marsden was there too

Matty Scozz told me this kid's name, told me he's the Aussie grom to watch and I've totally blanked on it

AND DEEEENNN....

From balmy evenings and love filled festivities [I mean the wedding, gutter mouths ] to not quite so user friendly conditions.

You KNOW this moment, nowhere to go, just gotta take your beats

Off the Coolangatta flight and straight into this skullduggery!!! Saturday was the Annual Keyhole Single Fin comp. It was, very cleary .... Fucken gnarly. But the call was made, strap your nuts on lads and ladesses, we are going no matter what. It's the Keyhole way. So I could repeat what I wrote for the Keyhole Post on Facey, but that would be redundant, the post is HERE

It was an epic day in every sense. The great vibes, the warm banter, the hellish drops on ancient craft, the legrope snaps/swims, the party.

Leia Millar and board #5, Leia made it thru to the semis and was ohhh so close to a finals berth

Leia's mum Carolyn, on the tools all day, in fact special mention or even MVP to Caro? She was a driving force behind the auction fundraiser for Keyhole's 3 athletes that are selected for the NZ World Junior Team 2025. Oh and not forgetting Sam Keane manning the BBQ, Keyhole's sergeant at arms, in the background pushing and organising, well done Sammy! You're the man, bro.

Dune Kennings and THE bottom turn, can a bottom turn be awarded points...and the Keyhole Single Fin; hell yes

Dune, and the spoiler, clearly he was on a tear and won

The Bowlo Presso; Piha dug deep for the auction , bloody onya Piha crew, over 12K was raised for Leia, Will Hardie and Christian Fougere's world champaign

Dune first, Will Hardie 2nd, Christian Fouge 3rd and Zeke Praggart in 4th.... see how I lined them up for that caption??? Not my first rodeo

How good! Except for Neil yawning, to be fair he'd done a sterling job MC'ing the comp all day

....AND DEEEEEEN.....

Yessss... the gentle prod... Have you checked out the PhotoCPL Piha Hoodie yet? They are ticking over really quite nicely

...and so has the PhotoCPL Whanga Hoodie not nervous about having 5 big boxes of these guys sitting in the office one bit... no not at all.

Eastside Small Kine / June 10, 2025 by craig levers

They are funny old things, these EDM’s …. that’s electronically direct mail, btw. Apologies if you’re reading this on the PhotoCPL Blog …which is the abbreviation for Web-log.

There is all sorts of marketing do’s and don’t around them, like keep them short [fail] and be regular [semi-fail]. Last week’s one was missed, had heaps of content, but there was a swell eastside. Sit behind the keyboard tapping out at post, or get amongst it and gather more images and good times. There was actually a brief tussle, I’d been on a roll of regularity with the EDM. Common sense bore out though, the whole reason for doing the EDM is to share images….oh and gentle persuade you to buy a PhotoCPL print, book, T or hoodie.

Last week the PhotoCPL blog [which is also the EDM] got rated as one of the top 5 New Zealand Photo Blogs by Feedspot HERE . That’s pretty cool aye!

Sooooo eastside it was. The swell was far from being the most epic tubing beast event, but it was a stayer. 4 days of fun, lots of sessions, lots of memory cards filled and batteries drained...

This one of Taj DeBasco-Millar was NOT taken in this swell, it's from the week prior

suma suma... and there's the sequence of him riding out over on Insty **HERE**

Braedon Williams choosing to dabble in the criss-crosses

Digga indicating that it's around 2 foot

Dylan Preston styley as always on the Thursday eve session

The perennial grom and NZ's very own surfing Iggy- Mister Iain 'Ratso' Buchanan

...and another ever-grom, Mojo Shaper Mark O'Connor

An actual grom...in fact from this point on, most of the shots are grubs... Hazza Biddle

When you see a rainbow like this, get the drone in FAST... preeeetty though aye

Mountie grub Ffeon Clifford one to watch for sure

From the air, the land and the sea, pretty darn stoked all the angles got flexed on this swell. I even shot with a new little Chinese toy camera that turned out to be exactly that and pretty shite, but you don't know if you don't have a go.

....AND DEEEEEEN.....

Yessss... the gentle prod... Have you checked out the PhotoCPL Piha Hoodie yet? They are ticking over really quite nicely

...and so has the PhotoCPL Whanga Hoodie not nervous about having 5 big boxes of these guys sitting in the office one bit... no not at all.

Brushes With Brilliance / May 28, 2025 by craig levers

This week’s post was scheduled to be a hard sell of the new hoodies, write about how their production fell into place, the images used, how this two images worked so well in the artwork and then on the screen printer’s silk, the ease of finding the right garment [thanks Hunter!] And then the awesome feedback from those that have already bought, blah, blah.

But after writing the peice below it doesn’t feel good trying to pimp the PhotoCPL wares, so veering out of that lane;

Brushes With Brilliance

One of Surfing’s greatest storytellers has left the building, 76 year old Jack McCoy passed 26 May after a long illness.

I can’t lay claim to knowing the legendary Jack McCoy. My two brushes with the master of surf cinematography were fleeting. The first was at Bull’s Paddock, NSW in 2005 when I was on a Rusty Photoshoot with Justin Souter, Luke Harwood and Mikey Banks. McCoy was there also with the late great WA Surf Photog Twiggy and the Billabong A team, Andy Irons, Joel Parkinson and Taj Burrows. We were there first- but naturally Twiggy was sent over to see what we were up to. I did know Twig a lot better, he’d shot a lot of Chrissy Davie, Reg and the other Kiwi WA contingent and we’d published those images in NZ Surf Mag. Twig was a good bastard, a dyed in the wool Ocker partier.

The interchange was nothing but convivial, but he was sent along the sand by Jack and the Billabong manager to make sure we were staying in our lane, that I wouldn’t shoot their guys. It’s a common courtesy all surf photographers largely adhere to. From memory we were actually done, I think there was warm banter that they had missed the morning glass. We were happy to watch and fanboy. I also remember how hard Jack was working, off the back of a jetski, then on land, then back in the water.

The other brushing was while Jack was on tour promoting his Parko movie Free As A Dog in 2006. I think the movie had footage from the Bull’s Paddock sessions and some epic NZ footage. I was the local mag editor, Jack was on a promo tour, he was in showman mode, like an old school surf movie tour, that sorta meeting. Again nothing but convivial and nice, but also nothing more than a glancing. I had already commissioned my offsider Rowan Klevstul to do the McCoy interview.

We’ve all grown up on McCoy’s moving vision from Tubular Swells, Kong’s Island [a firm fave] , Sons of Fun [best sound track eva] , Sik Joy, Sabo Taj, The Occumentary… Blue Horizons… There are 25 Full length McCoy Surf Movies, but the man contributed so much more to other seminal surf movies and shorts. Little wonder there has been a huge outpouring of love and sympathy for his family in surf media and socials. Truly an innovator and absolute surfing royalty, Jack’s contribution to our global tribe’s story has been massive. Rest in peace, sir, you are a definitive legend.

24, 24 Hours To Go / May 22, 2025 by craig levers

Ohhh aint those offshore plumes preeetttty

Pheewwwweee, It's been a good 7 days! Busy times over here at the PhotoCPL towers.

First up, there was a quick dash to Raglan for 24 hours. Too big for the westside beaches...as per it seems this year so far, flat on the eastside, it was time for a long overdue stay at Raglan. They have had the best season, great weather, beautiful clean south swells and good sand. Yes dear readers, even the fabled rocky points of Rag town ebb and flow with sand build up, but you knew that. This week's swell wasn't one of those spic south swells, there was a bit of west bump in it, the sheets weren't pulled tight. That probably only makes sense to a photographer. But where else would you wanna be? Sun's out, ohhh it was cold though! Sun's out, surf is fine, catch ups with the crew, roast chicken [thanks Nat!] lunching at Wyld.... yeah doing it tough aye :)

Billy Stairmand 24 hours prior to flying out for the Newcastle Challenger Series comp

Yeah Toots! Jarrod Toomey, former cover model still ripping

Van Clemizind .... clearly at this point we a half way through celebrating backhand reos, and a study of subtleties in style and board placement

My fav of the collection, Nav Malone, which one is yours??? Seriously, let me know

Thank F%ck for that, a forehander, Caleb Cutmore on the dawnie sesh

Yeah the Champs! Pia Rogers and Leia Millar between circuits

Pia was back from the Goldcoast and back in a full suit for a week- she reckoned it was the first time in a long time going left

Waikato Uni Student Leia between lectures

Luca Thompson and maybe just maybe the double barrel of the morning

3 weeks left of his law degree, Jackson Peak and his trademark Pink Primal

Jackson and the free fall that had the carpark erupting with cheers and ohhhhhhhhh's, he reckoned it hurt too

The sou'wester kicked in, Wyld Cafe was calling. Thank you Whāingaroa for a wonderful 24 hour whistle stop. Work beckoned elsewhere...

....AND Deenn....

Sooo the week prior, this guy happened, you may remember the image from last week's post?

It's in the Waves Print Gallery on PhotoCPL.co.nz and it's already been ordered.

Always very exciting, and important, to see the first print coming off the Epson. It is always a reminder that images are meant to to printed, the detail and tones are never done justice on a screen. This is a 1200mm x 800mm fuji crystal archive print rolling out.

And 'cos we aren't here to fornicate with arachnids...This also happened ...

Thanks to the legendary Hunter Cooney at PK Print we were able to do a very, very quick turnaround of the new PhotoCPL.co.nz Hoodies We swapped out the older Whanga Bar image, for the new image. In fact, the new one was shot with the Merch in mind. While the original T image is pumping Whanga Bar, because it was shot at dawn it was a lower contrast image, it's better in colour. It looks ok on the T's, but Hunter wanted a more contrasty file. It would make economic sense to sell the Whanga T's out, THEN do the new art. Cleary I'm no businessman, I just want the artwork that works the best on the garment. So now we have PhotoCPL Hoodies!!!

How good! Here's the Whanga Bar one

Oooshhh and here's the Piha Bar one

With Hunter's gentle tuition we have gone for a hoodie that is tailored in a premium 400 GSM heavy weight cotton-rich blend, and oversized for a looser fit. Featuring inset sleeves, draw cords, a cozy pullover hood with self-fabric lining, and 2x2 ribbing on the cuffs and hem. It's the type of hoodie you pick up and go 'ohh that's got some weight' it feels quality... it is. It's defo NOT a summer hoodie!

Digga's Swell / May 15, 2025 by craig levers

Digga starting the special day the way he'd continue

Last week's post started with Daniel 'Digga' Davie, and it looks like this one is too. It was Daniel's birthday on Tuesday, a significant one the big 50. As most anyone who's passed this milestone with attest, it's a bitter sweet one. Yesssss I made it... holy shit nooooo I'm officially an old c@nt. Just being a cynical bastard [or aptly; an Old C@unt] , I don't buy into that 40 is the new 30, then 50 is the new 40 crap. You'll notice it's always quoted by someone that just turned the larger figure, or someone consoling the birthday girl/boy. No 20 year old ever said 20 is the new 10.

Not a shabby start to the day, check the right runner

It was an exciting day, a clean swell building all day with nice offshores grooming it. I suspect the whole eastern seaboard of the Coromandel lit up at some point, but Digga and I resisted the grass is greener texts and opted for his hometown breaks. We met predawn, Dan was already in his wetsuit.

After surf one Digga opted to stay in his wetsuit, citing it was way too much energy to navigate twisting out of and then renegotiating entry into a cold, wet steamer, the wise words of an old bastard. In fact this became the theme of the day, at probably this point Digga decided that he'd spend the ENTIRE day rubbered up. Four surfs, 6.30 am to 4.40 pm in his full suit... and yes it goes without saying all the jokes were made about him marinating in his own juices, how'd the steamer would have to be disposed of in a biohazard bag... and all the others you can think of.

Surf 2, Arron ‘Fronty’ Webb on a dreamy canvas

Soooooo, my plan was to stoke the bro out for his birthday, follow him around as his own personal photographer. It didn't work out that way. While we did co-ordinate every surf, I missed every single bomb Digga got. But the Bar did turn on for the arvo sessions, in fact I don't think I've shot it better.

Braedon Williams prior to the pulse, and putting in 6 hours water time

Karne Pitcher, a rarity- out on the face, you'll see what I mean later

Karne's younger brother Brad framed classically

Ben Kennings patiently waited for the ones that drew off the peak just right

Karne in one of his many, many, many makes of the session

The legend Taff Kennings proving that 70 is the new 50??? Yes, yes I did

I stayed in my wetsuit for a comparative pathetic 150 minutes treading the bar and playing in the sweep, Digga rang as I hobbled back to my wagon. 'I'm going back out for surf 4!' Me; 'ohhh ok ummm I might just put the drone up.' - photog code for 'I'm knackered, I don't want to play anymore, I need a sit down.' But I'm glad I did, 'cos this happened \/ \/ \/

Now this is a bit where I try to mansplain that the locals that have seen this one reckon it's one the all time ones, and by that qualification I claim it too. Do the hard sell, point out the clean lines wrapping into the bay, the hollowness of the first section... sort of like that few sentences. I fricken love it, I've put it into the Waves Print Gallery on PhotoCPL.co.nz

Digga's special day, I reckon he had a goodie, his poor wettie- not so much. To have 4 surfs, then a roast chicken dinner and cheesecake... well he very literally had his cake and ate it too. 50ths aint so bad.

La Honce's Board / May 8, 2025 by craig levers

The other day, me ol' mate, the eagle eyed, Digga Davie, sent through this Trade Me Listing ;

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/sports/surfing/surfboards/shortboards/listing/5303133183

Asking, do you reckon this is La Honce’s old board from that photo you shot? I sent it on to Larry Fisher..aka La Honce… you may know him, he’s 50% part of the A team that are the foundation behind the Raglan Surf Academy. But Larry is so much more than simply a High School teacher.

Lazza, replied straight back, 'Yeah it is, that’s even my old HB board bag in the listing.'

Because of all of that you're reading it was also a feature spread in the book PhotoCPL

The shot… this one above was taken in the summer of 1993, we’d gone up to Northland for the Sandy Bay, Polar Bear Classic, which had been postponed until that December. We were all staying with the boss, the legend Pauline Pullman. The swell pulsed and we boosted down to Ocean Beach.

It was the closing road trip on the first year at the surf mag for Chris Berge and I, and the year had been a baptism by fire. Defo more downs than ups, but we were learning and we were starting to find our groove. And that roady was sort of a pressure off, no deadline pending, end of year cruise before knock off. Local lad Keary Neal was with us too, that’s him duckdiving the wave Laz is on. We stayed at Obezz all day, surfing, shooting, even napping between sessions in the warm December rays. I remember thinking, this is what we signed up for, me and Budge, get free surfing action on the days around an event, document the event, then cruise back to the office with a bag full of exposed film rolls.

I had just started learning the craft of water photography, I can say, hand on heart, this image is a complete and utter fluke. No skill was involved in the making of it in anyway. I showed it to the CEO of Rip Curl NZ, Paul Muir, he loved that it was taken at his own stomping ground Obezz, he ran it as a double page spread in the next issue of NZ Surfing. I was pretty stoked at that. When the mag came out things went rad, both Lazza and I were getting pats on the back from everyone, like ‘sick turn’, ‘How Kiwi is that background!’ ‘That’s a real NZ shot, couldn’t be shot anywhere else.’ It was like an …. hmmmm if I can replicate that fluke more often, then I’m onto to something.

Larry’s mum Rose rang me to ask if she could get a print of the photo. This meant everything to me, that Rose wanted the shot, that was a real wow moment.

At the time Larry, was a poster boy for the NZ Surfing scene, the clean living blonde grom from Piha was a sponsor’s dream. Hooked up by Hot Buttered and Rip Curl, already represented NZ at international competition and tipped to be a National Champ, in fact I believe 3 weeks after this Obezz session, Laz came second to Jason Matthews in the Open Nationals Final. He was one of the few surfers that received regular fan mail at the surf mag, we delighted in publishing every single one.

We played on that at the magazine for a few years, we travelled a lot together. Indo, the far north, the deep, deep south- always a good time. I even bounced at one of Larry’s fundraisers …. that’s a story for another time.

What? Clean living Laz at Show Girls???? Well yes and no, this was part of a poorly executed story for NZ Surf Mag. The idea was that fellow Piha surfers Nat Barron and Nick NguChung had convinced Larry to go to the strippers, and then the strippers wouldn't let Laz go... it was hilarious shooting it.

Laz earlier this year, representing Raglan's Point Boardriders at the Boardriders Cup

Later Digga and I conferred, some collector could buy that board, and had it displayed with the book open on that spread, it would look pretty cool. If it was California, that would probably happen. Oh well.

OH YESSSS! The new PhotoCPL T's are hitting the mark with the punters. Sales are OK, you guys could do better, I expect more from you- jokes...not jokes. BUT the comments back about the quality and fit are what we are loving. You missed that memo? Ok the link is HERE

A Bestest Story Never Told...until now / May 2, 2025 by craig levers

This week my ol’ mate AJ Matthews reached out. The Whangamata surfer is currently living land locked in Switzerland, a very strange place for a Kiwi surfer to end up. AJ was hurting, his hard-drive with all his old photos was cooked. He has no evidence to prove to his kids he can surf, let alone have been an eminent figure in surf mags throughout the late 90’s and early 00’s. After being sponsored by Rip Curl, Huffer and then Rusty, AJ went on to work Billabong NZ and FCS. He was good at it too, but as the NZ surf industry [and surf mags for that matter] died a slow, lingering death so did AJ’s time in those realms. How do you even explain to kids WHAT surf mags were and how entwined they were in surf culture?

This is not attempt to start recanting the misadventures shared with AJ since he was the alternate at the ’95 Bali World Grommet Comp. I dug deep into the archive and found him a decent smattering of images from the last 30 years. One of the more recent tales popped up in conversation was a session in 2017. There’s a post on Insty that grazes it, but the full story is so much worse.

Someone who should remain on the other side of the camera, Sanga and AJ at a Von Zipper party, at Flight Lounge circa 2012???

There was a heavy bank out in front of Lion Rock, and Piha’s Bar was in fine form on the same low, low tides. The Lion Bank was heavier, more open to swell, harder to get onto and certainly a lot harder to swim out with a camera in a waterhousing. I wasn’t confident at all I’d even get through the guillotining impact zone, but I had studied the wave and bank for weeks, actually had a few failed attempts. I had a method, shockingly it worked… but I was not going to let on to the crew out the back how easily the rip had popped me out the back. From memory it was remarked upon, like ‘wow, you swam through that bro? You’ve got some legs.’ me; ‘yeah no worries’ - totally downplaying my own surprise. As expected the sweep north was horrendous. No bobbing around off the section waiting for a surfer to come through, this was mahi, on the treadmill constantly flippering south. Early on in the session Braden Louie snagged a 6 foot bomb, the bottom turn shot became the opening Auckland spread in The South Seas book. It looked like could have been Piha Bar, with Nun Rock in the background, we captioned it vaguely to infer that too.

The Waitakere surf ranger, Napes got a clean backside no-hands barrel, Toby Dobson-Smith snagged a beast too, but the surfers were thinly spread. I was stoked when AJ popped up in the line up, and he confirmed our mate Sam ‘Sanga’ Willis was joining soon too. That Sanga just wanted to get a few warm ups on the Bar before paddling across the Bay to us. AJ didn’t disappoint, charging some of the biggest and roundest ones of the evening. Every pass we’d joke, where the fuck is Sanga, he’s blowing it surfing the more sheltered Bar. What’s he up to!

AJ ended up with images that would be used in Damaged Goods Zine, Smorgasborder Mag and Warren Hawke’s book NZ Surf Vol 2. I think a shot of AJ ended up in a surf atlas book too, the point is they did the rounds.

From out the back of Lion Rock we could hear and see a curfuffle at the Piha Surf Club. Sirens, Ambo lights. We joked, it’s probably Sanga. Sanga is regarded for his charging and his lack of self preservation. But he has also had some shocking injuries. Falling off decks backwards onto driveways, concussions at Teahupo’o, snapped ankles at Big Brother; the list goes on. AJ and I came in together after dark on the north side of Lion, the Ambo lights were still flashing at the surf club. I was parked at North, AJ at south, as we parted ways we joked, better check that’s not Sanga at the Surfy aye.

It was.

Sanga having a wee bit of a better surf in the South Pacific mid 2000's

Sanga takes up the story;

I’d gone out to Piha in AJ and Ollie Coddington. You'd remember it was a sunny beautiful day and the tide was really low and I remember walking almost out to the Beehive rock. I jumped in the water and I swear like 30 seconds later I was out the back and this wave came and wedged, I spun and went for it. I don't really know what happened though, I pulled in backside, was a bit deep, got swallowed and then I went down. I'm guessing I hit the bottom or I hit my board, but my board didn't have any damage. I got flogged, I came up and I'm not sure if I hit my head as well 'cos I was like is either a shock or I was knocked out because I was in La La Land, I came up and I couldn't really breathe and I was just fucking disorientated and really weird.

I proned my way in and got to the beach and was able to walk. I do remember bumping into someone but I don't know who it was. I probably wasn't anyone I knew but I was just fucked. I didn't really know; it was like really having like a psychedelic experience or something like that but it was probably just shock I'd imagine, as well my lung was collapsing.

I got back to the car and I I knew where I knew where AJ’s keys were hidden so I tried to sit down to reach under the grab the keys. I just sat down and I couldn't move, so I am there was, a guy sitting in the car just car park space away, so I started throwing stones at his window, he kinda looked at me like as a bit weird and then he wound the window down. I said ‘man, I've just fucked myself, I need some assistance.’ So he got the Piha surf rescue guys to come and get me on the ATV thing and took me to the Surf Club.

At the surf club I don't think they gave any pain relief but they were sure that I've broken ribs and they listened to my chest and thought my lung been collapsed, so they called an ambulance and they were super cool. They were really, they are just good people who are very helpful and super kind. The ambulance turned up and I took a ride into town.

Actually Ollie Coddington came too. I think AJ was with you around on that left-hander getting barrelled and he wasn't coming in. I didn't know what was going on but Ollie came in, I guess he must've. I'm not sure if he knew what was going on or what the story was but he came in. Maybe the guy in the car might've told him that his mate is at the surf club. I'm not sure exactly what happened but he came out and he bought my clothes and food and when you see your mates are pretty worked; you know, he was concerned.

I was in early stages of the relationship with my wife and I couldn't remember her number off by heart and I was like I gotta give her a call, eventually I do. I called El and cause I talk heaps of shit, she's like ‘whatever, you're so full of shit.’ Something along the line to that, she's like ‘no you're not’ and then in the ambulance guys was like it's ‘John here. Yes, no I’m the ambulance.’ Then we went to the hospital and yeah pretty much seven ribs, a collapsed lung and a broken scapula.

It was most of them if not all of them, I'm not exactly sure but it was really painful. The gnarliest as part of this whole thing was when they had to re-inflate my lung. So they just cut below one of your ribs up sort of close to upper ribs they just they pretty much just cut through that but they don't go all the way through. They just cut through the skin. And then they forced like a straw through your cell wall and your cartage and stuff just so that it creates a seal around that straw and then they have to blow your lung back up. You know, you have to work pretty hard to force something through someone's chest like that so that was pretty intense.

Sanga's recovery was long, as anyone whose broken ribs will attest, even sneezing is a daunting thought. He survived and thrived just fine. Of course it could have been a lot lot worse, but serves as a reminder, not that Piha is a mellow break, but it's easy to get complacent populated surf breaks. You just be careful out there this weekend aye.

After the Storm / April 23, 2025 by craig levers

Cyclone Tam was a bit of a weird old thing. The West coast pumped as she tracked down the Tasman. Then even Nelson's premier breaks lit up. Meantime the easties filled their boots with exotic, rarely ridden gems. There was lots of surfboard riding over Easter, that's for certain. Here's a sampling of some not so random or hidden spots that had their moments. ..

Panned back or in closer? I like them both, what's your pick?

Ben Kennings on the outer wave tearing it apart

Product placement much!!! Heheheh Manu Roberts sporting the new PhotoCPL Piha Bar T wait, you haven't got yours?

This may or may not be what Manu was scoping

Pretty cool weaving through a nugget with your son watching on, Nick Roberts

Manu again... he made a fair few of these in the quick 45mins of good tide

Your 2025 Senior National Champion, Mister Sean Peggs, opted forehand

Is this an ad break??? Yes dear reader, yes it is. This is the **PhotoCPL Whanga Bar T**

Oooosh Mark Wyper with the swoop of the evening

Jonas Tawharu stayed out for fricken hours, bloody good to see ya mate

No, not again, Mark Wyper schooling the young -uns

Just a quick one this week, see you next.

The new PhotoCPL T's are hitting the mark with the punters. Sales are OK, you guys could do better, I expect more from you- jokes...not jokes. BUT the comments back about the quality and fit are what we are loving. You missed that memo? Ok the link is HERE

The Wiggle 2025 / April 16, 2025 by craig levers

Just before the swell maxed out on day 3

Ohope's Westend is an underrated surf spot, often maligned as a formless flat beach, which it can be, but on it's day the left and right peak in the northern corner pump. It is the chosen home of veritable NZ Surfing royalty, like the Barnfields and the Ogilvys. Former stomping ground of the late great master shaper Craig Hughes, the Westend is firmly threaded into our surfing tapestry. Dylan and Eli Barnfield are perpetuating that legacy in the form of the annual Westend Wiggle, a 3 day celebration of longboard culture and competition. 2025 was the 6th Wiggle and formatted similarly its larger southern counterpart The Single Fin Mingle, held a week earlier in Summner. The Westend Wiggle is very much its own entity and flavour though. The two celebrations create an informal Longboard tour with participants from as far a field as the US, Sweden and of course from across the Ditch.

Dylan Barnfield event director and frontman for the Wiggle

Always watching, always judging... top judge Mark O'Connor, and shaper of that bewty Mojo 9'6 log, tinted to the Wiggle's colour pallet and given away on presso night

There is a legion of volunteers backing the Barnfields, I wouldn't even begin to attempt to name half of them, but fair to say the Wiggle has amazing support from the local surf community. While the Women's and Men's open division competition are foundation of the three days, then strong, strong pillars are the evening shenanigans. The art exhibition, bands, bars and food trucks all based at the newly transformed Ohope Wharfside, quite frankly the younger CP would've shown up for the nocturnal activities alone, hmmmm party all night then sift at the Westend daily. These are the weekends where tales of giant cows, group shared hallucinations and very sore heads are born.

As always, at this point I'm opting out of the PhotoCPL web log being a contest report and wrap up, done waaaay too many of those over the last 30 years. Letting the photos do the talking from this point...

Friday dawn's Mihi, the blessing and the opening of the Wiggle 2025

6 years in and a well oiled contest machine

Piha representatives Liv Hysom and Gabi Paul with their Californian mate, to whom I was introduced and completely spaced on her name- I'm a kook.

So, while acknowledging the terrible loss of life on Whakaari in 2019, how fricken cool is it hanging 5 with a live volcano in the background

Ngati-Porou surfer Te Waiotu rode a D-fin, a fricken D-fin, all the way to the semi's

Local Tai Murphy competed, but also was a key volunteer all weekend

Matty Newdick a shock dismissal in the earlier rounds

3 legends right here, Gilli, Hone and the one and only Stevie Ria

When the lights start to do this, its time to moonwalk out of there

The best wing person eva, me ol mate Keziah Richmond, good hang mate! Wait, dunno who Keziah is, follow her awesome photography on insty **HERE**

Your 2025 women finalists; Kilinoe Farrow, Kirra Molnar, Hannah Kohn and Gabi Paul

and the blokes, Nat Fitt, Aiden Cruz, Zen Wallis and Raymond Sayles

Nat Fitt put on a show of variety in the final, I believe there was only 1.5 point spread across the mens final, they all surfed sick

Piha's Zen Wallis, spoiler; was a mere 1.5 points behind Nat

Check out Nat's legit shock at the win- rad

Noosa's Kirra Molnar was the athlete to beat... and she proved triumphant with precise and long nose rides

Dusty daze for sunday's sessions, the tag team event with local team the Old Groms getting bonus points for attire and ultimately winning

Even the band put in a team with rope in's Gabi Paul and Skip James... although they were horrified they'd progressed through the next round and would have to run again

Showmanship is everything - arguably ....no definitely the longest ride of the tag team event

Team moustache led by local legend Ollie Dobbin

Yeah Eli! Starting them young with the annual Wiggle beach regeneration initiative

Want to suss out the Westend Wiggle for next year- 'cos you should, check out the website HERE, there are links there for all their socials

Osssssh, the new PhotoCPL T's are hitting the mark with the punters. Sales are OK, you guys could do better, I expect more from you- jokes...not jokes. BUT the comments back about the quality and fit are what we are loving. You missed that memo? Ok the link is **HERE**

Epic Boardriders, the 2nd best eva / April 9, 2025 by craig levers

Second best aye, what's that all about in the header? Well, the NZ Nationals EVERY year is the competition in the world... just my opinion, but I'm right. Where else do you have an incredibly inclusive week, where ANY KIWI can enter? The catch ups, the making of new friends, the rivalries, the drama. The condensed version of that...and why it is a very close bee's dick of a length in second is the SNZ Boardriders Cup. It was held last Saturday at Access #8 Whangamata. It was kind of pumping too.

You can view the gallery of photos from the day over on the Surfing NZ facebook page HERE I'm pretty chuffed with my delivery from the manic, fast paced day.

Bay Boardriders clinched the victory for a third year running. They are so clinical and tactical and of course, each member of the team are super talented surfers. This year they fended off some of the stiffest competition yet... wait, this post is not a contest report. You can read that over on SNZ HERE

Here's some of my favourite images from the day...

Yeah Holly, good to see ya too! Actually much like the Ava Henderson shot I got at the Nationals in January; this is very much a term of endearment, a long standing joke. An absolute highlight of the weekend was catching up with Holly and Jay Quinn on Friday night post surf. Talking shit, reminiscing. Holly summed it up "Results come and go, no one remembers the results, they remember the fun and the misadventures."

Keeping it Quinn, Maz and Jay representing Eastcoast Surfriders in full preheat analysis

Probs should've waited for a clean roller to be breaking in this one aye

Ahhh the 2021 Champions, Keyhole ... literally one top turn short of progressing through to the finals... heartbreaking

The Bay's Hinako Kurokawa tagging in Tao Mouldey

Mountie transplant Nick White representing Gizzy

A deserved win for Bay Boardriders and they were stoked!

AND DEEEEEEN

How cool, this is an older commission of Piha Bar Barrel on canvas at, I think 1200mm wide. The owner is selling the property and they sent through this shot saying 'It's still there and looking great in the listing." Defo up the sale price ehhh fellas :)

LIke it? Well you can check it out **HERE**

**Osssshhhh last week was all about showing you the new merch, well, we had sales!!! Thank you to the guys that jumped in on them. You missed that memo? Ok the link is** **HERE**

Tee'd Off??? Nah, T On!!! / April 3, 2025 by craig levers

This week's web-log is a blatant exercise in marketing and selling. I'm not going to pretend it's anything other than that, no NZ Surf news, no sideways views or opinions. No surf photos, well except for the ones that are trying to be marketed. AND I am pretty excited to be presenting... even debuting to you the loyal PhotoCPL reader, the 2025 run of PhotoCPL T's.

There hasn't been a PhotoCPL T range for ages. The last range sold out. There should have been a follow up. I didn't love the type of T we were using back then, they were 'ok', they were industry standard. I didn't want industry standard, I wanted the shirts to be more of a premium weave and weight. The conviction is, if you have a T that sits and fits well, is comfortable, that's what makes a favourite T- not so much what's on it. So that was the plan this round.

Here's the Piha T back.

...and here's the Whangamata T back

The T's are 100 cotton and 200 gsm, not the 180 gsm standard. We went for B&W printing so the image/screen stays light and soft. Yes there is a compromise in the photographicness of the screen, but it means the T breathes better, you won't get that sweaty patch on your back so much as you would with the thick plastisol photo-like art. Like nice pastels, and neutral mooted colours on your T's.... jog on my friend, we are doing the Kiwi As thing here - these bewties are black, or midnight charcoal; otherwise known as BLACK.

So yeah, buy a T or 10? Free Shipping nationwide.

The Piha T is HERE The Whangamata T is HERE

AND DEEEEEEN....

Yesss it's the Boardriders Cup this Saturday at Whangamata Beachie, Access #8, be there or don't, but you could potentially be missing out the bestest high octane comp of the year. This year, Keyhole's EPR [pictured] can't back up his Open victory from last year, conspiracy????? YES!!! nah, with the sponsor Hurley bailing on the entire Australasian market- like just bailed. The event had to be condensed into one day, so it's straight to the Tag Teams. It's going to be rad.

Osssshhhh Whangamata Bar from the Air, and fricken firing at dawn. This is of course the full colour version of the T design. It was pumping that day, crazy good bank on Bar and a perfect swell for it. Is Whanga your place? That wave that fills your dreams... well, get this for your wall and mindsurf it every day :) Check it out HERE