Awarua Guides

18/07/2024

That’ll do it for now, thumbs up all round.

08/07/2024

I was surprised to find these old photos this morning from way back in 2013. Leroy and Carsey had combined to build me a new board from Quarry Beach in Dunedin. I collected the beautiful board and just needed to find a ride home. A friend offered me a flight home on the condition that I shot a couple of deer along the way. Plus we had a campsite that Department of conservation had given us the job to tidy up and there had been lots of rubbish left behind. All went well, we got home and jumped in the boat the next day and headed down the coast to visit an old friend. Waves were pumping too.

07/07/2024

01/07/2024

Put your hands up if you like the outdoors. New Zealand’s marine environment is under threat. Link in bio to part one of a great short film series by RNZ https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/turning-the-tide/story

29/06/2024

I love this photos sequence so much, it really speaks to me of dream and I set out to achieve in this space, what we wanted to share with Awarua Guides, the way we wanted to do it, this was a very special day in and out of the water.

29/06/2024

A good moment on a journey to some where.
The path of life is an introspective one that hopefully meets the physical world in a happy place.

25/06/2024

Family time, hanging with good mates and a day surfing, couldn’t get too much better.

18/05/2024

Fiordland surf turn mid April

18/05/2024

Special group, special people, valuable experiences.

17/05/2024

I love this photo from one of our early full focus surf trips around 2012, it’s still one of my favourite photos and adventures. We loaded up the heli and flew along the coast exploring South-Westland for a week with good friends. I love this shot of after a week of good times, getting air born right out front at Mussel Point near Jackson’s Bay on the last day of our trip. Growing up on this remote coastline we went to pre school here on occasion when visiting town as a family. Now Jacksons Bay & Hannah’s Clearing has been the our town base for almost ten years. The rock at Mussel Point has fallen into the sea, but the surf and landscapes still amazing for many miles in every direction. It’s unbeatable and I love my time with the camera catching these special & magic moments with very special people spending time close to nature. It didn’t feel that way when we were kids, but now days there’s a healthy surf community along this special wilderness coastline and as new Dad that’s something I’m very proud of.

17/05/2024

I really like this photo of Robert in his garden. Robert would come and stay with us at home each year for about ad long as I can remember. He’s in some of my youngest memories so hes always been one of the uncles to us. I have a lot of respect for Robert and how he lives close to the land, by the sea, growing his food, working with his hands and art and how he’s raised his family too, The modern world feels a little different these days, but Robert keep his pace and always reminds me of the old days. Way to go Rob. You can check out what Christian’s up to too

16/05/2024

The days are getting shorter and cooler, but looking forward to the change of season and getting back into the hills again next spring.

15/05/2024

We’ve been on a mission to connect people and nature for more than a decade now. Together with DoC, local Iwi , community and our guests, we’ve been building a community around the environment through environmental values, donations, efforts outdoors and our conservation trust. Here’s one of our surf teams shifting the trapping boxes into place along the conservation trust tracks. Our goal is to keep supporting the connection with environment and you too can get onboard with support by reaching out through us or via our conservation trust. Let’s keep experiencing living according to nature and keep the natural world healthy and alive.

24/02/2024

Good times, great crew 2022

19/02/2024

Here’s a shot from our last trip of last year. 2023 was such a good year with so much good weather and so many good people visiting, such good times were had. Hard to believe 2024 could be better yet here we are, very much looking forward to the year ahead and all it has to offer.

06/02/2024

We learnt an interesting fact about Pukeko’s recently from a great book called Birds of New Zealand - A beauty like no other (by Paul Gibson), that several females may lay eggs in the one nest, females and non breeding birds will share in the incubation. We haven’t had Pukeko’s around our home before, we trapped for stoats and other introduced predators for almost ten years, it’s now been exciting to see the Pukeko’s (amongst other birds) now frequent our door step with their families over the past two years. From what we can see it seems there are multiple levels to the families and interactions between all of them.

03/02/2024

21st of January 2024 and this whale had washed up on Neil’s beach a couple of days earlier. It’s really hard to identify whales, should I feel embarrassed for not knowing what this magnificent beast sharing the water is? Maybe a Bryde’s Whale? You can see the throat grooves (in another photo) and the baleen in this shot. I think the expansion in her mouth must be what she uses in conjunction with the throat grooves to krill in her baleen. Perhaps someone knows better what it’s all about? At the same time surfers didn’t seem to mind too much.

15/10/2023

Winter offers the opportunity to explore. I don’t get up in mountains so much any more but I sure do like the opportunity share them from above.

15/10/2023

Family day. We’ve spent a lot of time along the coast together over the years. Grant’s spent a long time with the New Zealand flying doctors service and has now begun flying internationally. It was great to be back in the air together.

01/08/2023

We started Awarua Conservation in 2010 as a project to start protecting nature through our guiding concessions and wilderness activities. For each visitor we hosted we put a little funding aside for DoC pest & good nature traps. Our guests were naturally 100% in support of conservation efforts and interaction with this beautiful environment.
In 2019 we were approached by the new Whitebaiting community and joined forces in 2021 creating the Big Bay Awarua Conservation Trust. Two years on and the trust now has massive support and funding from New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, local community, local Iwi, government, businesses and much more. I am so impressed with how much has been done and how conservation has come to the forefront of priority in our beautiful home area. The support engaged by our new local community, the infrastructure of track cutting, trap building and infrastructure for conservation in such a short time has been truely impressive. You can support the trust and keep the momentum going by jumping on our website for donations, link in bio.

14/07/2023

The roar of the big bird! The BK was a bit like having your own big surf bus, you could throw the back doors wide open and pile all your gear in as if you were going on a road trip, only it’s a sky journey I guess.
The Bk’s were used for years as the rescue helicopters around New Zealand and the world. As they slowly got upgraded to newer machines others were looking for replacement work. We were lucky enough to be able to jump in for a few surf trips thanks to fitting us in around other jobs. Love aviation and the support it brings to communities. Miss the great adventures and these guys. Chan Clark paddled from Wollongong to Brisbane in a SUP to raise money for lifeguarding Australia, Chris was the film director for WSL during that SA incident, and Andy was the rigging man for Pirates of the Caribbean a really great team and a great adventure. Miss you guys!

13/07/2023

Searching for a bit of light.

11/07/2023

Bula Fiji. Was lucky enough to fly the camera off back deck in Malolo Fiji last week. I love this angle of the reef, plus in the distance you can just see the Islands of Namotu, Tavarua and all the reef passes. Wilkes, Namotu, Swimming Pools, Restaurants, Tavarua rights and of course the mighty Cloud Break in too. What a super special zone. Bula Fiji.

07/12/2022

Coming home.

18/11/2022

I recently found this old snowboarding photo from back in the day. It was on an old PC somewhere. I remember the fun, but I don’t have a copy of the photo or even know how to get a copy off that computer. A lot of stuff seems like that now, every thing seems a bit more complicated, I don’t really know how to drive the Insta, I don’t know if I even want likes,. Back then we were just a wee crew chasing dreams and shooting for the sky in some quiet corner of Canterbury alpine. We slept on high country stations and worked our way to the top of the mountain. The mornings were crisp, and the nights were clear, there was a freedom in the air.

18/11/2022

Black and white 2020.

18/11/2022

We started a long time ago,
seven years, back then we were just embarking on a dream. A lots changed since time, times goes by, the worlds changed, there’s been a lot of bumps in the road. But we’re still here, we love what we do, we keep going and keep connecting those magic moments. Come join us.