:: VID :: Earth Hour - Night Surf

Earth Hour Night Surf from Nic Reeves on Vimeo.

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative where everyone is invited to switch off their lights for one hour on March 27 at 8.30 p.m to show their support for action on climate change. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

Big Rock Boardriders decided to host a night surf between those hours to show their support.
Music by Dunedin musicians Junk Shop Star
www.earthhour.org

:: VID :: Meyerhoffer in the Dirty South

Meyerhoffer in the Dirty South from Nic Reeves on Vimeo.

The meyerhoffer was released at the Noosa festival of Surfing in March 2009. From there a 9'1" board made its way to Dunedin, New Zealand and was first surfed by Rod Rust and Homa.
Rod was filmed in this clip in April 2009 at a Dunedin beach break.
Homa competed in the longboard event of the Oneill Cold Water Classic, Kaikoura May-June 2009 and was placed 4th in the Finals. The footage here was Homa free surfing between heats.
Tash's film sequence was filmed at Event 3 of the Hyundai Longboard Pro in March 2010, having only surfed a longboard for less than a year.

Music courtesy of Dunedin musicians The Puddle performing Don't kill the Golden Goose (abridged)

Tash & Caitlin

From the recent Queens High School Phys Ed Surfing module

World Water Day - The Story of Bottled Water -

Today is World Water Day

Over the last two decades, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and other big beverage companies have spent untold millions of dollars making us afraid of tap water. They've told us that if we want to be sure what we drink is pure and clean-not to mention hip and fashionable-we should buy bottled water.

Unfortunately, it worked.

The United States alone consumes approximately 500,000,000 bottles of water each week. Imagine that: while 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, other people spend billions of dollars on a bottled product that's no cleaner, harms people and the environment and costs up to 2,000 times the price of tap water.

But there's good news: Last year, for the first time in a long time, bottled water sales fell-not that much, but they went down. Consumers who want economy, portability and convenience are switching to refillable metal bottles. Restaurants are proudly serving tap water. And cities, states, companies and schools around the world are ditching the bottle to save money and do their part for the environment.

Still, we've got a ways to go.

So please, take a minute today to watch The Story of Bottled Water

. Then pass it along to your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers-anyone you think might be interested.

I can't seem to embed the youtube video in the blog so please take the time to follow the link below.

www.youtube.com/user/storyofstuffproject

More from the Hyundai Longboard Pro

Above: Contact sheet from the Hyundai Longboard Pro event 3 held on the 20th - 21st March in Dunedin.

Local Dunedin Surfers Leroy Rust and Jae Kilgour are making a mark on the Hyundai Tour.

from 2010 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour – Event 4 Whangamata
"Dunedin surfer Jae Kilgour placed second in the final. Kilgour missed his opportunity for the win, taking his performance to the limit in the testing conditions but falling at two critical moments. Kilgour posted 8.60 in the final to post his second consecutive runner up placing on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour in 2010."

Leroy is placed 5th on the OpenMens

Jae and leroy are competing at event 5 at Port Waikato on the 26th – 27th March.

See the event roundup from event 4 at Whangamata by NZ greenroom at the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjObUKarhGk

Sea Wall under Scrutiny Again

Excellent article making the Cover and page 3 of the D Scene this week.

Local surfer Mark Stevenson shines the light on the ongoing issue of poor maintenance and work practices over the St Clair Sea Wall.

I believe the responce by the DCC to defer any 'work or maintenance' until a report is back over erosion at Middle Beach (due to be finalised by the end of 2012) is too long to wait to address simple issues of maintenance and public safety. When in fact there is already an independant "St Clair Seawall Peer Review" published by OCEL consulatnts in February 2006. This covers failures of the sea Wall since its construction, its structural capacity, failure of function, solutions and responses to the public and a city councillor. Why wasn't anything heeded from that review?

Waiting to address issues this way is incompetent. This is exactly what the DCC did with the Sand Sausages adjacent to the Sea wall. They put off doing any maintenance work on them as they became exposed, although it was allowed in the consent conditions. To ensure they "be maintained in a state of operational repair to ensure their effectiveness without the need to apply for additional consents". Instead they did nothing and opted to wait for a potentially lengthy public consultation process over sand mining at Tomahawk.
In the mean time, the sand sausages were completely exposed over time, contributing to increased erosion events right along the dune area to middle beach and St Kilda in 2007.
It was only the 'sabotage' of these sand sausages that allowed them to do the necessary work to bring the due system back in to some kind of equilibrium.
see related post here: phoam.blogspot.com/sand sausage deterioration over 18months

I seriously hope that the DCC will take action sooner, now that the public has been again informed, thanks Mark.

If you are interested please check out related posts on Sea Wall Issues, The failing steps and Ramp here: phoam.blogspot.com/search/label/Sea Wall Steps & Sand

Don't let the sun

I can't light no more of your darkness
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white
I'm growing tired and time stands still before me
Frozen here on the ladder of my life

Too late to save myself from falling
I took a chance and changed your way of life
But you misread my meaning when I met you
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light

Don't let the sun go down on me
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me

I can't find, oh the right romantic line
But see me once and see the way I feel
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal
~ Elton John

Majestic Mansions SOLD

see related post
http://phoam.blogspot.com/2009/08/majestic-mansions-for-sale.html

The reason I've taken control of the land out here is to get the best possible outcome for the city.. so it remains a destination for visitors and the people of Dunedin City

.. if they can get a park ..

Seaweek - Dunedin Coastal Cleanup

The 4th Annual Seaweek 'Dunedin Coastal Cleanup' is on again this year, with support from the Dunedin City Council and the Department of Conservation
Sunday the 14th of March 2010.

Jay and Nic are again organising a Greater Brighton coastal cleanup in conjunction with the Great Dunedin Coastal Cleanup & Seaweek with the support of Big Rock Boardriders

You are most welcome to join in with our local crew, no matter where you live.

Meeting at 10am, we will be setting off into groups to clean up the Brighton Domain, Ocean View Beach and dunes, and down along the coast towards Taieri Mouth. If there are enough people we will send a group off to Blackhead as well. Please register your support by emailing me or leaving a comment to this post.
Meet at: Sunday 14th March 10am at the top domain carpark at Brighton. Anyone else from town is most welcome to join us.

Rubbish collected will be taken to Hancock Park, St Kilda (corner Victoria Rd and John Wilson Dr) from 12.30 to 2.30pm for rubbish weighing, recycling and disposal. Or to the Greeen Island Landfill.

Please bring: Water bottle, sturdy shoes preferably gumboots, sun hat, sun-block, raincoat, warm clothes. Rubbish bags and gloves will be supplied. We hope you can join us.

Prizes: At the weigh in at Hancock Park, there will be prizes for most rubbish collected and strangest item found. There will be Seaweek 'Fish for the Future' displays & activities, videos, Free sausage sizzle, prize giving and Rocky Shore Guide launch!

Hancock Park Festivities start at 12.30pm, prize-giving from 3 to 3.30pm. Hosted by the Dunedin City Councils' great Dunedin Coastal Cleanup.

Other Seaweek Activities:
Dunedin City Council Wild Life of an Estaury Seaweek Poster Compeition
Young marine leaders competition
Short stories from young people
Otago Changing Seas Symposium see here
More information on events during Sea Week, please follow this link
or go to http://www.seaweek.org.nz/
Heres looking for a better turnout than we did last year ( see previous blog post here)

If you can't make the Brighton and south coast from Blackhead to Taieri Mouth Cleanup.
Below a photo of a days rubbish collection by Tony Denley at St Clair last year.

:: VID :: Tsunami Warning

On the 28th of February 2010 an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile. This generated a tsunami wave that raced across the Pacific Ocean at 700 miles and hour. Here in Dunedin, New Zealand J and I set off for an early 7am surf and photo session. The sunrise was gorgeous and the surf was clean and peeling with only J and two others out. Perched on the edge of the rocks at 8am I was told by a local clubbie that a Tsunami was on its way over from Chile, and to vacate the water immediately. We did. From a vantage point on the hill above the break we watched and waited, listening to the radio and watched others hovering close to the beach along with police patrolling the beach. After 90 minutes realising that there would be negligible effect on our part of the country the surfers went back in the water. No tsunami event was experienced by any of the surfers in the water, and no tide events of any significance were recorded on film.

Music: Echophonics Workshop by Dunedin Musicians -Junk Shop Star With recordings from NZ radio stations as I filmed.

See previous blog post with images and other coverage of the event at the link below:

Otago Tsunami Warning