Yarns with the boys on a break

For the past 30-odd years, Paul Hersey has been too busy having fun surfing to think of it as anything more than his favourite pastime.
That is until he decided to write his third book, Searching for Groundswell: A New Zealand Surfer's Road Trip.
As Hersey journeys along 15,000km of New Zealand's coastline to remote beach breaks, points and reefs, the Northland-born author meets surfers from around the country and discovers rising issues within the surfing community.
"I sat down with these guys rather than just having a yarn out the back of the break on our boards, and chatted about why they surfed, and about how aware they were of increasing environmental issues, and localism in surfing," he says.
It was interesting for Hersey to see how different communities were dealing with various issues affecting surfing - such as inconsistent water quality, overcrowding, urban development in coastal areas, and the need for Kiwis to take ownership of their coastlines, as well as national land reserves.
"In Taranaki, for example, everyone is really proactive. At the local surf clubs, instead of having signs up about when the next party is on, they have signs saying 'sign this and that petition'," he said.
Hersey learned to surf at Northland's east coast beaches such as Pataua and Ocean Beach. He now lives in Christchurch with his wife Shelley and Searching for Groundswell is his first book about surfing. His first two books - Where the Mountains Throw their Dice and High Misadventure - were on mountain climbing: as his other passion, he found these easier to write.
"I found this book surprisingly difficult to write ... it was not as emotionally challenging as writing about the issues that come up while climbing.
"It was also challenging writing about the whole experience of riding a wave - it is hard to get across to non-surfers what it is like."
The author has targeted a "mainstream" audience, using accessible language and omitting "hardcore jargon" - because surfing has become mainstream over the years, he says. Hersey explores the changing culture of the sport throughout the book.
Searching for Groundswell is a reflection of the relationship surfers have with the sea, and a contemplation on what needs to to be done to conserve our precious resource.

Searching for Groundswell: A New Zealand Surfer's Road Trip,
by Paul Hersey,
New Holland, $34.99
In Searching for Groundswell: A New Zealand Surfer's Road Trip, Kiwi surfer Paul Hersey sets out to find the country's most prolific waves and secret surf breaks.
He travels the 15,000km of New Zealand's coastline, from his surfing roots in Northland, right through to the freezing waters of the Otago Peninsula - where his favourite secret break in NZ lies - and finding hidden beaches in different parts of the South Island. During his journey Hersey discovers what makes NZ surfing so unique by meeting the original surf-bums and the best new riders and their shared quest for finding the moment that puts everything into perspective.
Hersey also reflects on how the surfing scene has developed and looks at the environmental issues affecting Aotearoa's coast.