Living in Bondi, a very busy area, you really appreciate the quiet of New Zealand. Most surfing destinations these days are pretty full on, Bali is choccas, Hawaii – busy with pros, Byron – loaded…you have to go pretty far to get solitude, normally, but in N-Zed you can drive to Muriwai Beach (40 mins from Auckland) and 4WD up a deserted beach with hundreds of peaks, pick one, and pretty much surf it on your own. True. Too Meke! Just make sure you are hitting it on the incoming tide or it will be 1 foot. Amazing what a dramatic incoming tide can do in a short period of time.
Also, before flying over, I thought the water temperature in N-Zed was freezing. Quiky kindly kitted me out with a 5mm/4mm which just ain’t required. It’s around 18 degrees in the water here – so a 3mm/2mm is fine. Ok, maybe go down south to Dunedin and it’s a different story…but the North Island is pretty close to Sydney’s temps, in and out of the water.
Other random observations : It’s so green here it looks fluoro. In a 2 hour drive we stop the car 12 times to shoot pictures. Everyone is your cousin, yeah Cuzi. The people are incredibly friendly and welcoming. New Zealanders make good beer. Stokke Gold is a winner followed by Mac’s Gold. “Too Meke” means “Too Much bro…too much”…A Maori/Aussie mix is a “Mozzie”. They reckon I’m one. You can surf here every day at this time of year, you just may need to drive across the island depending on swell direction, period and winds (as the Kiwis say the “Wunds”). They also speak real funny here, but then again, they think I speak funny.
Sweet as…:: uge
Amazing photos Uge. Can’t wait to get over to NZ.
Maz should have taken you to Gisborne(his home town-funny that he didn’t take you), by far the best waves in NZ
Uge,
Are you heading to Gisborne? Some awesome breaks on that stretch of the coast line. Someone else mention the Taranaki coast line as well.
NZ is unspoilt and so clean. Thanks for promoting it. Kia Kaha Bro.
C
I notice that pics are for sale, can I also post pics for sale? how does it work,? these NZ pics are great.
Hey Bro 🙂 Awesome that you’re here in our beautiful country 🙂 I’m totally loving the photos 🙂 I went over to Sydney 10 days ago, and stopping in at Aquabumps was on my ‘to do’ list. Unfortunately I went to Bondi on a Monday, and the store was closed…Gutted as 🙁
Hope you enjoy the rest of your time here…Nice to see an Aussie giving such positive comments about our beautiful Aotearoa. Cheers.
K.C
Saw the exhibit down at Tanjong Beach Club last week..nice work in the flesh!
Always nice to see the pictures of home when working offshore.
Auckland, Raglan, Coromandel are my old stomping grounds. Even though I love my new home on the Sunshine Coast QLD it’s been a nostalgic treat to read your observations and see your awesome photos of places close to my heart. I just checked out the literal translation of ‘tumeke’ = ‘ be surprised, shocked, take fright, frightened.’
Today it’s come to be something positive.
Rock on!
less landrover product placement please!
No placement just what car we are driving and looks good in the shot. Normally it would be a rent a car in shot…
mate, how else is Uge expected to make a living? Chill out.
beautiful shots uge….. always love your work…….. cheers
This is making me homesick
Great photos Uge. As a kiwi (ok, I’m currently living o/seas) its great to see some wonderful pics of home. My pride at seeing good old NZed being shown off to the masses are mixed with my selfish side feeling a bit defensive in wanting to keep NZ off the radar and not wanting crowds of aggro people coming over and crowding our best breaks. Purely selfish I admit. As you’ve pointed out, what makes NZ special is the lack of crowds, and long may that continue. Keep up your great work!
Which ever en-zid tourism person decided to send you on this trip was a genius. By far the best rep’ of the (other) islands I’ve seen. Jeez I love that joint, I hope it never fills up as that is my retirement plan! Best place on earth!
I love these NZ pics! Amazing!
I live and work in London UK. Your life looks WAYY better. can i come work with you guys?!?!
Great NZ roadie Uge. Your shots have given a really fresh angle to places I’ve spent a lot of time at over the years.
We are lucky that we do have a great range of spots that are very often empty or at least not that busy. However if you hit spots like Raglan when it’s pumping you will still get crowds like you do in Oz, especially on the weekends and over summer. The trick as you’ve noted is to be prepared to drive a bit further and you get the rewards.
Amazing shots uge….will be checking out some NZ surf soon
Note the abundance of Kiwi respondents living overseas…all of them “pining for the fijords” as it were 😀
And then Muriwai, im almost homesick, sooo cold lol