BEHIND / THE / COVER

It’s the festive season, time to unwind, hopefully receive and give a few gifts s and enjoy that well-earned break you’ve worked damn hard for all year long. . So let’s create a scenario where we offer you the gift of imagination, and to place yourself in this picture. You’ve obviously planned to be around the ocean during this time, you’re a surfer right? So where else would you go! Already from the indicating signs it’s gonna be a long hot summer. So, you’ve made plans, whether that be heading away to visit friends, relatives, or to go camp out at your favourite spot wherever that may be in Aotearoa. The car is bursting with gear but most importantly the boards are in. The swells are inconsistent that’s simply part of the parcel of this time of year, wind swells offer up constant offerings which are enough to get you by, cut short by the summer sea breezes that kick in pretty early and you spend the rest of the day kicking back doing whatever it is that you enjoy, it may be reading a book, or sipping on a cold brew, planning that arvo BBQ. Mates start to text, hyping up this apparent swell due to hit bang on New Year, jeez how epic would that be to see in the New Year with some epic waves! You watch that forecast like a hawk circling around roadkill. New Year’s Eve arrives, of course it’s a biggie, you pour your mates drinks a little stiffer than yours, knowing that could give you the advantage in the morning. The night is epic, but you know at first light there could be a chance that this New Year will be the greatest of all time. You throw a smoke bomb, sneaking off from celebrations early. Or jeez you could be one of them lucky ones that can party all night and still operate perfectly the next morn. You’ve planned ahead, you’ve waxed up the night before, so no one can hear that dead giveaway sound. It’s still dark and you can hear the swell thumping, cracking on the sand bar. You paddle out anyway, dodging exploding whitewater and by the time you get out the back, there’s a faint glow in the sky. You still really don’t know if the waves are cooking or closing out, let alone how big it is. You bob alone out the back beyond the breaking lumps. The first rays of the New Year pierce the horizon and fill the lineup with a golden glow, a set appears and you stroke into position dropping in to a golden tomb before being blown out a hundred metres down the line, and begin the paddle back out, having to ask yourself if you are indeed still dreaming. This could quite possibly be the greatest moment of your surfing life and you indulge in every millisecond of this moment. An hour passes but it seems like it’s been days, and instantly the wind swings 180 and begins blowing in your face. The lineup cuts up and you make your way in, to find your mates standing on the shore “Hey bro, why didn’t you wake us up? Well it looks like shit anyway, I’m glad we didn’t get up so early for that rubbish, so much for the epic swell!” You smile and that smile sits glued to your face for weeks. Have an epic summer and may you find yourself being this guy. Photo: Cory