We’ve seen it on the news, a traveller paraded before the worlds media as an example of what happens when you break certain countries laws.
Over the years there have been many high profile cases, with those caught up in a seedy underworld attempting to plead innocence to a world that has already judged their case. But for one particular kiwi surfer being blinded by the ultimate opportunity to surf the kind of waves that we often jokingly make the statement “I’d give my left nut to surf a wave like that!” Almost resulted in the loss of not only a left one but his life! For reasons of anonymity, and to protect the local people of the region involved and to avoid being hunted down by hitmen from the underworld, we have kept names and locations a secret. But this is indeed a true story, that could have ended so very much differently.
Sitting back on a dreary Aotearoa winter’s day, Mr X a electrician by trade, received a phone call from across the ditch, he had never met or spoken to this person ever before, but a mutual friend couldn’t do the job so had put forward his name, feeling that he would fit the job description perfectly “I couldn’t believe my luck! Out of the blue this random guy called me up and offered to fly me to the work on his resort which sat out in front of some of the best waves on the planet, he offered me $200 a day, all flights and expenses paid, and pretty much sold me the dream that I would have my own boat to go surfing as much as I could. I had just finished a big job back home and had a gap in my workload, so I thought, this is the dream job! I’d always heard about mates scoring jobs like this every now and then and I had never had an opportunity like this come up, so I was in!”.
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 186 de NZ SURFING MAGAZINE.
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Esta historia es de la edición Issue 186 de NZ SURFING MAGAZINE.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Trigger Finger
Ask any top surf coach and the two elements they will concentrate on and recommend are a solid bottom turn and being able to develop speed - as they say, speed is your friend, and many of the best surfers on the planet also happen to be the fastest surfers.
THESHAPESHIFTER ROGER HALL
Ladies and Gentleman Choose Your Weapons: How to decide on your next surfboard.
The Olympians
Over 50 years ago surfing’s greatest ambassador of all time, the legendary Duke Kahanamoku, had a vision that one day surfing would become an Olympic sport.
The Gladiator Pit
Born from the era of the Roman Empire, armed combatants known as gladiators would enter the arena also known as the Gladiator Pit to face up against other gladiators, animals and criminals in fierce battle in what was seen as entertainment often ending in death to one or the other.
Rising Grom Asia Braithwaite
There are those young athletes that get into sport who possess natural talent, even the X-factor, yet as the road is usually a far-too-easy passage, they either take it for granted or don’t push beyond their capabilities.
Licence To Score
The adventures behind the wheel of Mount Grom Luke Griffin.
Land Of The Long Lefts
It was the year 1966 and the sport of surfing was sweeping the world.
Theshapeshifter - Roger Hall
Ever heard of a Mini Simmons?
The Road Less Travelled
Take a look at a map of our coastline and you will see thousands of kilometres of coastline, 15,000 to be almost exact, making it the 9th longest in the world.
Then & Now
It was the early 80s and the world of sport was evolving rapidly.