ISOmag Issue 3 Spring 2010

ISSUESPRING

http://shop.isolated.co.nz/

http://www.sofreshsomean.com/

Kane McMillan

Dan Charles all rubbered up and making the most of what the New Zealand winter has to offer.

Dan Charles

+ Much More...

And FlySpread Your Wings

Yarn with Liam Shapcott

SPRINGISSUE

http://www.kanemcmillan.com/

100+

SPRING ISSUESNAP - Rider gallery.

SCOOP - Spread your wings and fly.

EMPTY - A gallery of empty waves.

YARN - An interview with Liam Shapcott.

NOSTALGIA - The good old days.

ZONE - Regional news.

SMALL TALK - With Jeff King.

SNEAK PEAK - Coming next issue.

004 ISOMAG, CONTENTS.



ISOMAG, CONTENTS. 005

006 ISOMAG, EDITORIAL.

ISOmag – New Zealand’s bodyboarding magazine

ISOmag aims to bring you the best quality images and in-depth articles with a specific focus on New Zealand bodyboarders, waves and the unique New Zealand body-boarding lifestyle. Our goal is to produce a high-quality quarterly publication that will help promote and gain international recognition for New Zealand bodyboarders, photographers, writers and designers.

Editors:Chris Garden and Hayden Parsons

Design / Art Direction:Paul Mossong

Web Design / Development:Glen Mossong

Contributors:Adam Wood, Aidan Dickson, Alex Turoy, Andre Apel, Chad Barlow, Chris Bago, Chris Garden, Cory Scott, Digga Davie, Edward Saltau, Frenchy, Hayden Par-sons, Heath Melville, Irautza Partarrieu, Isabella Har-rex, Jake Cutler, Jarad Ferris, Jeff King, Jeremy Town, John Diamond, John Rutter, Jolan Kilkelly, Jorin Sievers, Kane McMillan, Kendra Benson, Liam Shapcott, Lindsay Butler, Matt Burgess, Max Clifford, Paul Mossong, Rob Gurney, Ryan Isherwood, Sam Brooks, Sam Peters, Sam Powyer, Sam Wells, Shane Kelly, Tauru Hugo, Thomas Jaud, Tim Hutton, Tim Johnston.

Questions, comments and contributions:[email protected]

mailto:isomag%40hotmail.com?subject=

ISOMAG, EDITORIAL. 007

Max Clifford

ISOMAG, SNAP: RIDER GALLERY. 009

010 ISOMAG, SNAP: RIDER GALLERY.

Ryan Isherwood

We’ll be the first to admit that the first couple of issues of ISOmag had a serious lack of dropknee scattered through its pixi-lated pages. Hopefully this cracker shot of Greymouth’s Jolan Kilkelly on vacation in the Pacific more than makes up for it.

Jolan Kilkelly

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rynography/



Chris Garden

Virtuoso drummer Paul McLennan-Kissel (PMK for short) in tune at his honorary local.Paul McLennan-Kissel

http://chrisgarden.com/



Kane McMillan

Word on the street is Sam Martin chugs back cans of Jim Beam like they are going out of fashion. Bet he guzzled a few in celebration after this incredible session.

Sam Martin




Cory Scott

Why go to Indo when your bedroom window overlooks this setup? Home sweet home for Glen Mossong.Glen Mossong



Chris Allen

The general rule with this over-publicised NSW wedge is that absolutely anyone, regardless of ability, can take flight - such is it’s wedging nature. Mix a wave of that description with someone who thrives on lefthand ramps and the result is some-thing special.

Ben MacKinnon

http://allen-photos.com


Ryan Isherwood

You’d think that a shallow patch of reef surrounded by deep water would create hollow waves no matter what the size or direction of the swell. Not here at Whitebait Reef. Even when you think you know the right conditions, next time the planets align it’ll be rubbish. Sam Wells lapping up a once in a blue moon event.

Sam Wells





A random Aussie traveler showing his Kiwi brethren how it’s done.

Tim Hutton

Unknown



With the words “you shoulda been here yesterday” ringing in his ears, Goose had to make the most of what swell was left hitting this south coast superbank. And make the most of it he did.

Chris Garden

Hayden Parsons




Kane McMillan

Sam Peters has that rare ability to dropknee solid hollow waves, so when you see him on his gut it gives you an idea of how heavy thissession might have been.

Sam Peters




Smooth, split legs, and not overly tweaked are the main descriptors that characterise a signature Sam Wells invert.

Ryan IsherwoodSam Wells




Despite only living in the region for a couple of years, Cody has probably surfed Dinner Plates more than anyone, and it shows.

Alex TuroyCody Smith

http://www.alexanderturoy.com.au/



Goose boosting at his home break.

Alex TuroyHayden Parsons




Brendan “B-Diddy” Dorman started out in the Titahi Bay shories as a grom, progressing to the heaving St Kilda shories as a teenager and now frequents a well-loved shorey among Sydney bodyboarders, Narrabeen.

Chad BarlowBrendon Dorman



The thriving Gold Coast is so over-developed that it’s hard to get away from any sort of man-made structure. Liam Shapcott framed.

Adam WoodLiam Shapcott



While the boys out the back reel in the Snapper, Andre Apel snaps up a reeling tube.

Ryan IsherwoodAndre Apel




Digga DavieSteve Fortune

This guy is so underground that the only info we could get on him is his name. Steve Fortune cashing in on the Coromandel.

http://diggasurf.wordpress.com/



Generally air reverves aren’t that hard to bust out given the right section. Benny Mac must have pulled thousands during his time and has now started experimenting with a new approach on sections that most of us would be rolling off.

UnknownBen MacKinnon



Back in issue one we introduced Quin Roper, an underground shredder who no one had ever heard of. Seems there’s more to the Roper family than we first thought. Here’s his younger brother Daryl tackling an out-of-the-way slab somewhere in West Aus where they both now reside. “He goes anything. Big waves or big girls, haha” is what Quin had to say about his younger sibling.

UnknownDaryl Roper



Photographer Kane McMillan sent us through a twelve shot sequence of this incredible grinder being tamed by Duncan Smith.The wave was so good each shot was worthy of a double page spread. We had to pick one, and I can tell you now, it wasn’t easy.

Kane McMillanDuncan Smith




Sparkling green water isn’t something that you usually associate with the South Island’s west coast due to the constant sediment flowing out of the rivers. Lower than average rainfall equals less flow, which equals cleaner water. Two angles of Wellsy having fun in the sun.

Ryan Isherwood

Sam Wells




A magical moment captured simultaneously by the ISOmag editorial team.

Chris Garden / Hayden ParsonsHayden Parsons




Benny Mac avoids the numbing Deep South seas by punching a late invert.

Chris GardenBen MacKinnon




Back in 2005, Floyd Smith won the Australian U21 Bodyboard title. Stop and consider that for a moment and think about how many good riders there are in Australia under the age of 21. Not bad for someone that honed their skills in the Piha reforms. Floyd applying his trade to bigger and better waves.

Andre ApelFloyd Smith



Check out the shadow that the lip is casting out into the flats for an idea of how hollow this little nugget is.

Chris GardenCody Smith




Sam Wells journeyed to the tropics to escape the winter blues that so many kiwis seem to suffer during our darkest months. Despite the palm fringed beaches, 25 degree air and water temperatures and slabbing reef passes like this one here, Wellsy was still engulfed by the blues.





One of Wellington bodyboarding’s pioneers, Christian Dufresne, clocking up one last tube before relocating to Sydney.

Kane McMillan

Christian Dufresne




Over the last few decades there’s been tons of research on how younger siblings model behavioural traits of their older brothers. Ultimately though, they end up being polar opposites once they reach adulthood. Big bro on the gut, little bro on the knee.

Cory ScottGlen Mossong / Paul Mossong



In architecture, a “quirk” is used to describe a hollow space between curved surfaces. The same could be said about this wave that funnily enough houses Gisborne’s Rueben Quirk.

Cory ScottRueben Quirk


066 ISOMAG, SCOOP: SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY.

Spread your wings and fly

Four different stories of kiwi bodyboarders out in the big wide world.Kiwis love to travel, it’s a well-known fact. Perhaps it’s something of an inferiority complex derived from the inability of our flightless national bird, or perhaps it has something to do with our isolation in a far corner of the globe. Bodyboarders too are renowned for clocking up the air miles and none more so than us lid-riders from New Zealand. With the added motiva-tion of frigid waters to escape, an array of tropical islands at our doorstep and our ingrained inclination to travel; there’s not too many countries with coastline that haven’t been wandered by a Kiwi with a boardbag strapped to their back. This issue we acknowledge our traveling ways by taking a look at four unique New Zealanders and their different means of roaming.

ISOMAG, SCOOP: SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY. 067

Spread your wings and fly

Four different stories of kiwi bodyboarders out in the big wide world.


Where: Tamarama, Sydney, Australia.

Why: I moved to Sydney after an awesome stint of travel through the Pacific Islands, parts of the USA and Mexico. The job market in New Zealand had pretty slim pickings so I packed up and headed for the bright lights of Syd-ney. Obviously the climate, lovely ladies and surf poten-tial helped me choose Sydney over say Alice Springs!

Waves: My local breaks in Sydney are normally Tama-rama and Bronte, but I am always keen to mission to wherever it is pumping. Tamarama is a sick little set up complete with a nice left hand reef and a wedgy little beachie which can really grind when the swell is around the 3-4 ft mark. It almost looks like it was made for body-boarders! Bronte is more of a surfer-hungry wave but can offer some sick right hand reef action and some tasty barrels on its day. Both beaches are beautiful sandy bays surrounded by sandstone cliffs and units only the likes of Trump can afford.

Pros: Living in Sydney there is never a shortage of things to keep you busy. Whether you are in to concerts, sports, partying, sightseeing, shopping or whatever, chances are you can do it in Sydney. Also the public transport is pretty reliable and you can catch a bus from the CBD to the beach in half an hour. On the surf side, there are no shortage of waves in Sydney and dozens more up and down the coast. There are reefs, beaches, wedges, lefts and rights. If you are willing to explore, you are bound to find a beach suited to your style. The body-board population in Sydney is healthy with some amaz-ing riders and great clubs to get you amping.

Cons: Every big city has gotta have a few cons includ-ing traffic and pollution, but you have to expect that when you have four million people living in a relatively small place! On the bodyboarding side of things I guess there are also a few cons. The crowds can be all-time, mak-ing for some interesting times when there are three guys dropping into the same peak! Summer usually provides less swell too and the banks begin to lose their shape.

All photos Jeremy Town unless otherwise stated.

Trans-Tasman ExchangeWith Jeremy Town



Sam PowyerJeremy Town



Jeremy Town



By writing this brief article, I have come to the realisation that I drew the short straw in the field. I would love to be the eternal globetrotter or the migrant, but my love for my family and for material things has me stuck on the Tropi-cal Escape train.

Where: Well, it’s north of here, south of the equator, and only a few hours away by plane. The water is around 25oC, coconut palms line the shore and the water is as clear as it gets. Need any more clues?

Why: This is the easy part. Between 20 and 25 waves, depending on who you ask and what you know, along a thirty-something kilometre stretch of coastline. You do the math, that’s a wave every few kilometres, the quality of which is through the roof! Then there’s the cheap accom-modation, the warm water and the real clincher, the ticket price, $600 to $800 return depending on the season.

The food is off the hook too. The Indian buffet should be a staple on any trip and the tuna off-cuts from the fish market are insane: lean, boneless fish fillets for $5 - $8 per kilogram.

Waves: In summer you’ll get the northeastern side of the island with predominantly right-handers. In winter you’ll mostly score the south round to the west side of the island, predominantly lefts. The waves are all good though, from ledging barrels to wrapping bowls. Perfect for bodyboarding.

Pros: Warm water, epic waves, good food, no work and hot chicks.

Cons: Small place, crime rate, kills boards, only two nights to party, recent onshore weather pattern and 90% of the hot chicks are taken.

All photos by Ryan Isherwood.

Tropical EscapeWith Sam Wells








Ryan Isherwood




Where: Galway City located centrally on Ireland’s west coast has been my home for a year. It’s a place that reminds me of Dunedin in lots of different ways. It’s an old ‘City by the Sea’ with several Colleges and a Univer-sity. Therefore there’s loads of students and even more drinking.

Why: Mickey Smith’s mind-blowing photos in Riptide three or four years ago put Ireland on my ‘must visit someday’ hit list. Perfect, hollow right and left hand reefs at the base of huge cliffs would have got more body-boarders over here, I thought. Guess the idea of traveling to the other side of the world to be in an even wetter and more miserable climate doesn’t appeal to many. After befriending a group of down-to-earth, often hilarious Irish folk in my hometown in 2008, I knew I had to go there. If their senses’ of humour and fun-loving attitudes weren’t enough to convince me, hearing them talk about their homeland with its raw beauty and friendly people sure was.

Waves: Ireland doesn’t have the variety that we have in New Zealand with our ever changing rivermouths or world-class beach breaks and points. Though there are some decent beach breaks to be had here, the variety in the reefs makes up for this with waves available to suit everyone’s needs. The infamous Riley’s andAileen’s were waves I was fortunate to surf. Both waves, if you didn’t know, are renowned for their bone-crunching heaviness and isolation at the base of menacing huge cliffs. These waves are getting more recognitionworldwide as being two of the most perfect and powerful waves in Europe. To surf them you have to zigzag down a dodgy goat track for over 100 vertical meters and then paddle out through a narrow, shallow channel next to the cliffs with huge close-outs coming in. Then it’s 20minutes plus paddling out to the reef, where you may well be

greeted by the biggest, heaviest, hollowest waves you’ve ever seen. Have definitely had some of the best sessions of my life over here.

Pros: Ireland really is an amazing place that I think most New Zealanders would appreciate. It’s a beautiful place with rolling green hills divided by ancient stone walls. Then there’s the isolated white sand beaches, huge sweeping valleys and jagged cliffs; Fort, Castle and Cathedral ruins dotted all around. While some will argue that ‘good Irish hospitality’ doesn’t exist much anymore, from my experiences people are friendly more often than not. Many Irish have that easy-going, laid-back attitude, not too different from our own.

Cons: The recession is really bad here still. My girlfriend Anna and I were extremely lucky to get decent jobs, even in a big city like Galway. Everyone complains how ex-pensive Ireland is but really, for most things, it’s no worse than home. Certain things like running a vehicle and eat-ing out are a rip-off, not to mention the cost of festivals and nightclubs. The food’s crap too. Traditional Irish food is usually just a stew with mashed spud and carrots and cabbage with all the goodness boiled out of them.The weather really is Ireland’s biggest let-down. I have been lucky to experience the best run of weather in a long time though. After the coldest winter in over 30 years, we’ve had one of the driest and sunniest spring and summer. But even then it’s been cloudy and windy a lot more than it’s been sunny. It felt like it rained for most of our first few months here, which is more the norm apparently. What’s worse though is the wind. There is a constant onshore 29 days a month, but of course there are sometimes exceptions. All the reefs and beaches have a small window of the tide being right before it’s ei-ther too high or low, making it seem almost impossible to get good waves. When all these elements combine and you get pumping waves, it’s all worth it though.

All photos Heath Melville unless otherwise stated.

The Big O.E.With Heath Melville



Shane KellyHeath Melville



Heath Melville



Heath Melville



Where: Sailing from New Zealand through the South Pacific Islands (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Austra-lia) then after that up to Indo, India, Somalia, Red Sea, Egypt, Greek Islands, Mediterranean then down to South America, Chile and Tahiti. That’s just the general idea of the route, as the nature of sailing is that you stop at a lot more places than you initially planned. It’s a slow, thorough way of traveling and a lot of the research you do comes along the way and through other recommen-dations by other sailors and travelers. The trip will take about five years I reckon.

Why: I love to see new places, meet new people, and experience new things. I have always had an interest in sailing and whilst in the UK, after flying to the locations I had always wanted to visit, I decided that sailing would be the ultimate way for me to travel. Sailing is like having a campervan that you can move from country to coun-try with little or no restrictions or time frame, kind of like being a hippy on the water. The achievement of sailing from one place to another using the elements or explor-ing places that very few have been to before and relying on your skill as a navigator/chef/mechanic/meteorologist /fisherman and captain is what lures me to the challenge of sailing.

Waves: Waves and sailing… I love the buzz of sailing up to reeling barrels with three other amped surfers/boogers and the four of you paddling into an empty line-up, unsure if others have surfed there before. It is an amaz-ing feeling. There is a down side though. As I sail up to breaking reefs (rocks) in your eighty thousand dollar “combi van,” I tend to turn into a sailor more that a surfer and there’s been a few times where my judgment

of the anchorage has lead me to doubt if we can leave the yacht unattended… much to the utter disappointment of the other surfers aboard! There are certain countries that we know have spots that can only be accessible by boats and those that are better suited to land-based searching, so you have to take the good with the bad. Although I'm always keen for tubes, being stranded in the ocean, bobbing on your boogie while watching your boat sinks isn't ideal! That is what I thought of while sail-ing and surfing in a lot the South Pacific islands that I sailed around. Indonesia, on the other hand, is renowned for boat-accessible waves, deep passes and consistent waves. Bring it on!

Pros and Cons: I have mentioned a lot of the pros al-ready. The cons to me pale in significance. I have always said that sailing is easy. This I still believe, but I have had to add a few by-lines to that statement. I believe anything is easy if you put 110% into it. Over the past four years I have poured over all the reading material that I could find in relation to my sailing quest. I have asked hundreds of people thousands of questions. I have worked in shit cir-cumstances for long periods (Western Australian mines) to earn the money required to fund the mission. I have spent months working on the yacht: learning and then building, fixing, repairing, inventing, then maybe 20% of that time fixing my mistakes and redoing the job to my desired quality. All in all there is a lot to sailing, and if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, the rewards are there, but they are not going to simply fall into your lap. It’s just like when people say "Bodyboarding is easy." We know, however, that it depends on what level of body-boarding they're talking about, how much time you put in, and how much you love it.

All photos by Chris Garden.

Eternal GlobetrotterWith John Diamond




Chris GardenJohn Diamond




Chris Garden




ISOMAG, EMPTY: EMPTY WAVES. 095

096 ISOMAG, EMPTY: EMPTY WAVES.

The west coast of the South Island has relatively warm water, even in the middle of winter, due to a southward flowing branch of a sub-tropical current. With snow on the hills and the bitter ‘Barber’ wind flowing down the valley, Blaketown could be one of the few places in the country where being in the water is the preferred choice on a cold winter morning.

Ryan Isherwood




Stallions has to be one of the most exposed ledges in the country, which in this case is actually a bad thing. Any hint of the pre-dominant swell direction and it’s a blatant closeout onto dry reef. A nugget sneaks through on a day that wasn’t quite doing it.

Alex Turoy




Hawkes Bay is probably the most underrated surf region in New Zealand. The coastline is littered with quality reefs, beaches and the odd grinding river bar like this one here.

Rob Gurney



Solid, offshore and pumping. Out there!

Kane McMillan




Why did the chicken cross the road?

Alex Turoy




Just another random deep south rock shelf.

Chris Garden




Multi-choice question: On this wave would you rather a) be going left, getting a nice little shack then unleashing a cuttie re-verse into Garden’s face? Or b) be going right, driving hard off the bottom into the oncoming bowl and popping an air reverse?

Chris Garden




This is what happens when Jaws approaches the shoreline… cue cheesy music.

Cory Scott



Skidmarks breaking hard and fast.

Chris Garden




A moody beachie dishing out the cold shoulder.

Chris Garden




This wave used to be rated as one of New Zealand’s best reef breaks until more recent discoveries knocked it so far down the pecking order that it barely gets surfed these days.

Chris Garden




Surfing beachies in winter is hard work, but you have to admit, this is definitely worth an ice cream headache.

Chris Garden




One of the perks of working in the natural history field is the untouched places you get to visit, all in the name of getting a shot of some rare flora and fauna. Filmmaker Edi Saltau discovered this pristine beachie during his smoko break somewhere along the Westport coastline.

Edward Saltau



Most of the feedback we got about ISOmag #2 was about how sick Ponga’s Wedge was. Here’s one more for the Ponga’sfan club.

Cory Scott



Check the slushy consistency of the water coming out of this river. That, my friends, is snow melt, and it’s the reason why this lineup remains empty.

Ryan Isherwood




Seal Point looking like somewhere straight out of the Australian desert.

Chris Garden




3D seems to be all the rage at the moment so we thought we’d jump onboard. Stop and stare at that lip for a while and watch it jump out of the page.

Chris Garden




It’s a tough life in the Deep South, but how could you not exchange your five layers of snug clothing for five layers of sodden rubber after seeing a wave like this?

Chris Garden




The perfect bowl.

Chris Garden




Deep inside a West Coast shorey.

Ryan Isherwood



136 ISOMAG, YARN: INTERVIEW WITH LIAM SHAPCOTT.

Before the 2001 Tuamotu Island Challenge, no one had really heard of Liam Shapcott. In fact, it wasn’t until the final that anyone actually knew that he had entered. “Rider in yellow, your last scoring wave was a perfect ten,” bellowed the compe-tition organiser through the megaphone. It was this command-ing moment, in the dropknee final, that firmly imprinted Liam’s name in the minds of his peers lining the rocky shoreline.

Liam is yet another bodyboarder that started out grovelling in the feeble New Brighton shories in Christchurch, yet somehow acquired the skills to surf heavy waves. Although much time was spent on the road looking for more bodyboard-friendly waves in his trusty Mazda 626, Liam acknowledges that trouble at home and a move to Gisborne were fundamental in shaping the person and rider that he is today.

“My parents split at a young age, and luckily I had bodyboard-ing to take my mind off all the shit you go through there. It made me want to surf more than ever and I still have never surfed as much as I did back then. Gisborne was definitely the time I achieved the most in bodyboarding and gained the most experience.”

Liam claims that competitive surfing isn’t his sort of thing, but with the high of winning the aforementioned contest still flow-ing through his veins, he left Gisborne and decided to put all of his energy into chasing waves back home. From ledging

Canterbury reefs, to wedging Blaketown bowls and dredging Pacific reef passes, Liam fine-tuned his skills in heavier waves to the point he was often rated as New Zealand’s best versatile rider. Speaking of versatility, Liam reckons it’s something that every bodyboarder should strive for.

“We all ride bodyboards because of the diversity of the sport and how creative we can get when riding on a wave. Being out in pumping waves and not knowing if the next wave you catch is going to be a prone or a dropknee ride is a creative surprise to yourself yet you have total control of it.”

With their smooth and effortless surfing, both prone and dropknee, it’s pretty easy to draw comparisons between Liam and one of his influences, Australian Dave Winchester. But it’s Liam’s dropknee that really defines him as a rider. His skills are up there with many of the best dropkneers, yet at the same time his style and approach is distinctly unique. He doesn’t use dropknee as a small-wave weapon: he doesn’t possess that fast-twitch style when hitting weak sections and isn’t able to generate speed out of weak sections. Instead, Liam’s approach is smooth, drawn-out and powerful, and can only be appreci-ated in solid waves - conditions when many other dropkneers will choose to lie down.

“I think it’s all in your mind. It’s just choosing to get up on heavy waves and wanting to make it. To make it, takes time.”

Smooth SailingThe Liam Shapcott interview


ISOMAG, YARN: INTERVIEW WITH LIAM SHAPCOTT. 137




Liam’s often referred to as having a ‘glue foot’ stance, simply because he doesn’t fall off, even in the heaviest of situations. His reputation in solid waves has spread around New Zealand and to the Gold Coast where, recently, a lucky few witnessed the wave of his life at Straddie. A six foot high and six foot wide, spitting DK keg turns heads no matter who you are and what you ride.

After a year or two of living the dream he woke up. To his peers around the coun-try Liam seemed to completely drop off the scene. He no longer was seen at the best sessions putting his glue foot to good use - that’s what working nine-to-five in the middle of a Christchurch winter will do to you. Liam used that time wisely though, learning skills and getting qualifications that would enable him to grab hold of his future. Around this time he also started dreaming of jumping on a mil-lionaire’s yacht with only his board and sailing around the Pacific.

“My best friend James ‘Biff’ Smith had moved to the Gold Coast with his girl and he kept on saying ‘you’ll love the beaches and the girls and it’s always fun.’ I thought that before I do this yacht mission, I could use a holiday on the Goldy first. So I bailed Christchurch with a one-way ticket and yep, I’m still here!”

Among the ever-busy streets of the Gold Coast, he is applying that same creative flair that he approaches waves with, to design and building projects. A boat builder by trade, Liam’s real passion lies outside of working and surfing hours. He likes nothing better than putting pen to paper and letting his imagination run wild.

“Drawing and designing seems to take up a lot of my time… along with making something to go with those designs. I’ve got that many unfinished projects that it’s getting a little crazy. My old man is exactly the same. I’ve always said to myself that sitting around is a waste of the short life we all live.”

It looks as though all that doodling is going to pay off too. Liam’s old-school skateboard designs have generated a bit of interest, and he’s set up a mini produc-tion line - an opportunity only somewhere like the Gold Coast could offer and a venture that could see him stay there for quite sometime. Through all this though, the dream of working on a yacht and surfing uncrowded tropical perfection re-mains.

”We’ll see how that goes. I’m not much of a plan maker really, not long-term anyway, but you never no what’s around the corner.”







144 ISOMAG, NOSTALGIA: THE GOOD OLD DAYS.



ISOMAG, NOSTALGIA: THE GOOD OLD DAYS. 145

Hardy in New Zealand – March 2007Text by Ryan Hardy, all photos Chris Garden.

“I had an insane time when I was in New Zealand. It was such a nice escape from where I was at the time (living on the Gold Coast) to be able to come down to Dunedin/Catlins and go surfing with a bunch of aussie mates and our NZ tour guides Goose, Gardo and Frewy. Just about every day we were greeted with fun beachies with just our group out amongst amazing scenery. In the latter half of the trip we all shacked up in a farmhouse style backpackers with the local boys for the ‘Isolated Challenge’ to chase waves for a week in the very ‘isolated’ setting of the Catlins coast... isolated meaning we didn’t surf with another soul for the entire week that we were chasing waves! At night we would review the footage and rate each riders performance which was often a comical, drunken affair led by the charismatic local behemoth Sam Wells.

The New Zealand bodyboard crew were a humble, likeable bunch - all madkeen on bodyboarding... you only need to hear the stories of 5 mm wettiesand ‘snow on the beach’ sessions to realise this! They’re quite content withhaving each others company and kilometres of empty coastline as opposedto being hell-bent on turning professional and getting a vimeo clip on thenext blog like most hype-obsessed aussies (but I guess that’s what makesus successful right?!?).

Anyway, visiting NZ, sampling the coastline there and travelling around withthe local crew was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a travellingbody-boarder and I would recommend it to any aspiring, adventurous body-boarders out there!”


Chris GardenRyan Hardy















154 ISOMAG, ZONE: REGIONAL NEWS.

ISOMAG, ZONE: REGIONAL NEWS. 155

The day after sending in my last report, lamenting the lack of waves, a sneaky swell arrived and the east coast was pretty damn good. Ev-erything came together at Oceans: banks, swell, wind and tide, and the lucky ones were into it before it died away. There was a lot of action around the place in early June, with four straight weekends of waves on either the east or west coasts. Whan-garei’s booger population has doubled in the last two months to a mighty TWO bodyboarders, with the inclusion of Frank McCall hailing from Cornwall in the UK. In between smashing fun-nels with his mate Wade, he’s been able to get some goodies at a couple of east coast spots. Queens birthday weekend proved to be a goody in the far north, with Big Daddy Dowman and a couple others getting amongst some reef goodness for three days straight. More recently it’s been pretty quiet, with bodyboards being replaced by fishing rods. Hopefully it doesn’t carry on for too much longer, as this fishing lark is breaking my bank!

- Blackman

Auckland in winter... what to write? Usually it would take just one sen-tence - hideously massive west coast washing machine with howling on-shores for the next five months. This winter, however, has been different, in a good way. Sure we’ve had our fair share of washing machine days, but there has also been a solid run of good offshore days on both coasts and some very memorable days have been scored by some of the crew.

The west coast coughed up some magic days way back in May, with Andre the Apple scoring a mysto spot that broke a couple of times in the hefty 8-10 ft range. Some jumbo lefts were paddled into (unassisted i might add, unlike the jetskis who were all over it the next few days) as he charged these bombs in true water-man style.

A couple of one day roadies during May and early June were also under-taken by Brendon Ashton, Thierry Col-onna, Jorin Sievers and myself; with one Coromanel day being particularly sick, solid 4-5 ft right handers with sick kegs and boosts. Unfortunately, we all had the selfish surf addiction that day, and only a handful of hastily taken photos exist.

Nth Akl

Such is life in Auckland that when the waves are sick, it’s very hard to patiently stand on the beach tak-ing photos while your mates score pumping waves! Crowds are always a factor around these parts as well, so pretty much everyone is in it to get their share of kegs.

Both late June and July have pro-duced some sick days, with Paul Biddle, Dave Biddle and myself scoring a fun west coast reef with none other than the super grom, Willy Nepia-Murray, himself. Fun 3 ft bowls and mini-kegs were had by all. One stand-out session at a west coast beachie coughed up heaving 4-5 ft kegs for Brendon Ashton and myself, with not one other soul in sight. It’s these sessions that keep the stoke alive during these miserable winter months of darkness and endless rain. To those lucky enough to be jetting off to the tropics for a mid-winter sanity check… thanks for leaving the lineups empty for us back home! We’re into August now and daylight savings is hiding just around the corner. Roll on spring!

- JK FM


Well, it hasn’t really been the usual winter up here. The weather has been warmer than usual with barely over a metre of snow on the North Island ski fields compared to a year or two ago when we got 5 metres. The water hasn’t got as cold it usually does ei-ther. The weather patterns have been a bit odd with a noticeable lack of low pressure systems that pass under-neath the South Island and push tons of cold southern ocean swells march-ing up north.

In saying that, a few sneaky swells have showed up on both coasts much to the delight of the local lads. A couple of the Mount Mud Crabs headed to the capital to sample what the region has to offer. Poohead jetted off to Canada to play some golf and drink whiskey.

Coming into spring I know I am eager to clock up some more tube time with a few new spots on the “must surf list”. Better take a look in the shed and check the old board’s still there!

- Paulie

RagBop

Rain. By the tonnes. Around the re-gion it has been a wet winter with mul-tiple semi-tropical cyclonic systems spinning down and around East Cape. These storms tended to track north-east to southeast and thus provided a decent range of swell angles. With the pulses getting regularily groomed by gentle offshores, this winter has produced plenty of classic waves, the majority of which I’ve been enjoying at Wainui Beach.

Several epic sessions through June really set the tone. Offshore and 4-5 ft for three or more days a week for the whole month was not a bad way to ease into the colder time of the year. The water stayed relatively warm until late July when it snapped a couple degrees south and the frosts arrived.

I haven’t been travelling too far around the region this winter, as ‘out front’ has been as good as anywhere, but I have heard that all the rain cre-ated a couple of nice banks on a few of our local river mouths. Rumours of long winding barrels abound.

- J Fez

Ice cream headaches, numb toes and shrinkage. The things we put up with for the sake of a wave here in the lower north! Those with more sense, bigger bank accounts, or more under-standing bosses, spend these frigid winter months thawing out amongst palm trees near the equator.

A freshly shaven Dick (McKenna) teamed up with a handful of South Island superstars and a wee northern Willy to sample some island love. In between taming the visiting cougars, Dick locked into some sick sessions. It would seam that all his time spent in landlocked China has had no adverse affects on the boy’s bodyboarding skills and from all accounts he was ripping harder then ever. Others to make tropical getaways included Breaker Bay enforcer Dan Filihiahek-ava and T-Bay legend Duncan Smith. Duncan actually packed up his whole life (young family ‘n all) and plans to spend at least 3 months eating coconuts and launching his trademark inverts off the warm water wedges. Sam Martin, Dan Charles and Pete Weber have had some amazing days at the local “glory spot,” much to the delight of lensman Kane McMillan. Check out some of Kane’s action in this very issue! Damon Treweek re-ported an 8 ft day over the coast and has frequently been venturing north to Taranaki in search of waves. Danny Waugh celebrated his 26th birthday in fine style out east. The tales of

Wtgn


drunken debauchery are not suitable for this magazine, but I can report that Danny paddled out into some solid waves to celebrate; although he caught little more then a cold.

Mount babes Luke Elliot and Camp-bell Carter journeyed to the capital in June to check out the local cross-dressing scene. Thankfully they brought their boards, as their visit coincided with an epic session at Breaker Bay.

The two northerners ripped everything that came their way despite their GBH hangovers. It was a memorable ses-sion and most of the normal crew was on hand to demonstrate their local knowledge. The highlight of the ses-sion was Hayden Middleton’s huge invert out of the main bowl on the largest wave of the day. Respect.

“Score” of the month must go to Dan Fili who traded ten paua for a brand new NMDPlayer. If you’re reading this “un-named Palmy booger,” I’m in the market for some new fins. Will trade a dozen kina.

Wellington also welcomes east coast local Ahi Newby to its mean streets. Here’s hoping these winter swells continue for ya kid!

- Cuda

A few nice east swells have nudged the Canterbury coastline of late, mak-ing a nice change from the south swell that is usually thrown onto the town beaches at this time of year. There has actually been waves to be had, but with water temperatures dropping rapidly, only the brave have been get-ting amongst the action.

Missing out on a month of this cold action were Ryan Isherwood and Sam Wells, who headed for the tropics in search of reef tattoos, sun, and pump-ing waves. They were met by fellow Christchurch bodyboarder Andrew ‘Bowy’ Green who now resides on the Sunshine Coast.

Ben Hodgson has scored himself a new set of wheels. Although not the Rolls Royce of cars, the new ride has made life easier to shoot off on surf

missions with his grommy sidekick Aran Naismith. Word is they have been clocking up a fair amount of tube time and petrol.

Finally on a sad note. On the fourth of July, Andrew Shaskey was remem-bered and celebrated, a year after his tragic death. For those who never met Andrew, he was one of us: a body-boarder, friend and all round nice guy. He loved to thrash his Corolla around the South Island in search of waves and good times. His skills behind the lens were not too shabby either with most of his time devoted to studying photography. His passing has been a big loss to his family, wife, friends and the New Zealand bodyboard com-munity. Rest in peace mate, gone but never forgotten.

- Ryno

Chch


Tim HuttonMitch Frew



Chris Garden

You know it’s winter when the gloves and hoods come out. PMK



Ice cream headaches and cramp – isn’t winter fun! Sure isn’t. I couldn’t handle the jandle, so I bailed for an 11 day excursion to the tropics and scored some mid-winter goodness. Tezza, the lone wolf, purchased a wetsuit hood and has been surfing all around the West Coast. There have been sightings of him at B-town, Jacks Road, Sangas and further south at semi-secret river mouths. Giddy up! The Pony Club has been dishing out some serious boomers for most of winter, especially on those smaller swells. Some great shorey ac-tion has also been served up. There was an epic session recently where Bonesy, Naismith, Tezza and Hodgo rocked up to find a mint peak throwing out 2-3 ft snarlers. Bodyboarding con-vert, Bonesy, was ripping the curl and got wave of the day! Ry and Wells arrived on the same day, got amongst it and shot some glory. Being busy sux. My windows of op-portunities have shriveled up, much like my winter willy, and I find myself going out at half tide, junky Blake-town. The banks have been pretty avocado lately, but just last week a wedgy bank formed up and treated Tezza, McPaike and myself to some 2 - 3 ft boomers. Stoked.

-Joltan

has been busy all winter. Even Mitch Frew has come out of hibernation to surf his old faithful. A few stick pigs have caught wind of the reef and are ‘attempting’ to surf it. It’s time to start regulating boys! Where’s Kent “The White Kainoa” Stewart when you need him? That’s right, he’s on a world trip sampling the Cook Islands, Mexico the US.

Benny Mac has given up on body-boarding for a few months because he reckons it’s too cold. We all know it’s actually because he has a new lady (or man?) in his life and he’s in-capable of juggling two things at once.

- Shroom

Winter… pfft! No ice-cream head-aches, no snow on the beach and plenty of warmish sunny days. It’s fair to say it’s been one of the warm-est winters in the Deep South for many-a-year, even warm enough for a couple of Aussie pros to come over on a Riptide photo shoot (stay tuned for next issue). Despite wearing two wetsuits, booties, kidney belts, gloves and hoods; they were still in disbelief at how cold it was. Classic whinging Aussies!

Any other regions having trouble with dodgy buoyweather forecast? The digital crystal ball has been throw-ing out some outrageous forecasts like the 18 ft swell that dribbled in at 2 ft and the predicted 2 ft swell that steamrolled in at 6-8 ft. Someone’s got their wires crossed.

Garden’s leg is on the mend after his nasty crash (see issue two). His wounds weren’t healing so they had to do a couple of skin grafts. Usually they take it off your arse but this time opted for his thigh, with surgeons overheard saying that the skin on his bum was too tight to use after years of being a tight-arse. After months of rehabilitation, he managed to be pres-ent for some of the best waves to ever hit the Deep South on his first day back at the job.

Everyone’s favourite little reef break

162 ISOMAG, SMALL TALK: WITH JEFF KING.

Names: Jeff King.Nicknames: JK.Age: 36.Hometown/current town: Auckland.Job: Architectural Draftsman.How did you you get into bodyboarding: Saw an ad for Morey Boogie in the back of a surf mag with a sick photo of Doug Robson freefalling at Shark Island and thought that it looked pretty rad, so i bugged the crap out of my dad until he went and bought me a Morey Boogie Mach 7-SS. Travel: I’ve travelled a fair bit. I’ve done two solo world trips to a few far flung places and surfed some amazing waves in the process. Nothing better than broadening one’s horizons!Favourite waves: West Coast Auckland, Mundaka and French beaches.Favourite international riders: Mike Stewart, Chad Barba, Ben Severson the list goes on... ahhh the 90’s.Favourite NZ riders: Andrew Low, Ben MacKinnon, Hayden Parsons, Jarad Ferris, Dave Biddle, Frosty, Brendon Ashton.Best surf trip: J-Bay June 2005 or Tahiti September

2005, but I’ve had many surf trips here in NZ that equal if not surpass anything I’ve had overseas. Travelling in NZ is epic I reckon!Favourite bodyboard movies: The Inside, Bodyboard-ing Enough Said, Tension and the No Friends series.Favourite movies: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Cove, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Avatar, T1 & T2, Ronin. Too many to name!Favourite board: Chad Barba Ltd Edition (sickest, fast-est board ever). Pity i killed it in three weeks.Best thing you’ve seen in the water: Two Orcas surfing down a wave directly at me. They dived deep underneath us just as we had to punch under the wave and then they proceeded to scare the crap out of us! Felt good to be alive afterwards though. Other than that, I saw Lowey get a boomer five foot wedging left. He was crazy deep, made the keg from way down the line and then boosted one of the sickest inverts off the end section out into the flats.Music: Iron Maiden, Metallica, NOFX, Pennywise, The Bronx... pretty much everything except opera and county. Best barrel you’ve had: Too many to remember, but one that stands out is a six footer I got at North Piha in April

Jeff King

ISOMAG, SMALL TALK: WITH JEFF KING. 163

2006: a dead low tide heavy, draining slab. It was the longest barrel I’ve ever made, probably in the 8 to 10 second range. It felt like time stopped for a while be-cause I was travelling at wave speed about two metres deep behind the curtain. The wave spat at least twice and I made it out clean as whistle.Best move you’ve pulled: Massive, carving, double-handed gaff-hack on a six foot right hander right in front of my mate Brendon. Fast and effortless, but the hack was mental. Stoked i didnt blowout and do a gutback instead!Thoughts on the BBSNZ tour: Its going places for sure. The consistency of the comps is up there with the best that happen overseas. There’s a good vibe at all the comps with really good prizes and the administration that’s been running BBSNZ has been solid. Lately it’s been great to have world-ranked Kiwi riders at the Pipe and Arica contests.Hero/inspiration: BMAX & Mike Stewart.Best night out: A two day bender starting in Iguazu Falls on the Brasil-Argentina border and ending up back in Buenos Aires two days later. The trouble really started somewhere on the second night when we found a pub

with four beers for $8… and the NZ dollar was two to one! That and the fact that I was drinking with an Irish madman!Chicks: Hard to figure out, so I’ve given up. Figured its best not to argue with ‘em, because even if you win, you’ll lose at a later date! Nah, respect for wahines for sure, especially the ones who surf!Fear: Drowning in big surf, being made redundant, getting a speeding ticket that I can’t afford to pay back. Words that you live by: It used to be “I just dont give a f%@k”, but now it’s more like “when is it offshore?” I don’t know, priorities change and you get a bit picky when you’re as time-poor as I am! Aside from bodyboarding, what else are you into:Music, DJing, photography (surf mostly), travelling,movies, architecture, rugby, league, surfing.Favourite thing about the NZ bodyboard scene: We are all a bunch of total nutbars, but it wouldn’t be as good if we weren’t! NZ boogers are a bunch of legends. Chur to you all!

Jeff King

Next issue, out December 1st.

SneakPeak

164 ISOMAG, SNEAK PEAK: COMING NEXT ISSUE.

On December 1st we’re going to teach you a lesson on appreciating how damn good a NZ summer is by hurling you back into the depths of a frigid deep south winter. Back in July, aspiring Australian pro’s Adam Luehman and Ewan Donnachie for some stupid reason decided to come and test our waters despite being warned of the single digit air and water temperatures. They broke the ice and lucked into some slushy slabs and ISOmag was there to cover it from all angles. We’ll also have the usual galleries full of goodness from all around NZ and plenty more. Roll on summer!

Alex TuroyEwan Donnachie


ISOMAG, SNEAK PEAK: COMING NEXT ISSUE. 165



Documents

ISOmag Issue 3 Spring 2010