Full Circle, Vol. 6, Part 3: Middle Earth

Point Break, NZ style. Photo: Ema Latu

Follow Surf & Adventure Co. crewman Shaun Devine on his surfing adventure through New Zealand. This is the third of Volume 6′s three-part series. Words by Shaun Devine.

This epic 2.5 month journey departed from a wet and soggy Virginia Beach, drying off from the three-day spell of foul weather courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. Straight to sunny San Diego — California burritos in hand — driving up through the concrete suburbia of southern California to the grandstands of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Staples Center — home of the USC Trojans and Lakers. Head dipping the L.A skyline before hopping in a compressed tube of air over the Pacific pond to seemingly another day and another world away, Middle Earth –Auckland, New Zealand. Jet lagged days and city slicker nights mixed with the picturesque east and west coast beaches that New Zealand’s capital city has to offer. South Island bound to the city of Dunedin and a rendezvous with amazing people that I’m lucky enough to call friends. Backtrack northward through the South Island, ferried across the Cook Straight– backpacks, draft beer and sandwiches in hand and called it Thanksgiving. Wild nights in Wellington paired with the humble landscapes of the Wairarapa. An unlikely pairing with an Alaska native via Southern Hemisphere transplant. Dusty nights, chilly mornings, cowboy coffee and isolated surf. Floated back across the Cook Straight and to the Kaikoura mountain range for some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Wandered through the bent-but-not-broken city of Christchurch where remnants of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake of two years ago still linger at every crumbled corner. Christmas in the country with my second family and New Years one day before everyone else back home. Life-changing experiences and lifelong friendships. All the while traveling through “Middle Earth,” where you swear you just saw a scene from Lord of the Rings — which you probably did. The entire trip culminating in a one-week run of North swell at the spot that had me hooked since Day One. Here is a collection of images from my last week in New Zealand where this journey truly came Full Circle.