Julian Allpress - How it was in NZ South

A little while back, one of our travelling writers sent me an interview of a local legend from the South Island of New Zeland. The interviewer was Aileen Tiedemann and the legend was Julian Allpress. As is the way in offices, things get misplaced and sometimes a magical office fairy scoops them up never to be seen again. This interview was one of the those.

Having just liberated the text from the said fairy, I have finally managed to read it and feel the most immediate need to share. I won't go on but instead, hand you over to an awe-inspiring turn down memory lane from a legend.

“Surfing frees your mind from bullshit!”

Julian Allpress, 74, from Dunedin, New Zealand, was one of the first surfers to ride the waves on the remote, chilly beaches of the South Island. Together with a friend he founded the Southern Boardriders Club in 1966 at Dunedin’s famous St. Clair beach. He has devoted his life to surfing ever since.

Interview: Aileen Tiedemann

Aileen: How did you discover your passion for surfing over 50 years ago – at a time when there were hardly any role models in the South Island?

Julian: Me and my best friend Brian Muntz were skin divers and bought popout Kahuna surfboards to paddle out to the reef. They proved to be very useful and we would jump off them into the water. Later we discovered they were also really fun to ride. That’s how we got into surfing. We just copied what the surf life-saving guards were doing. It was only when I got hold of one of the very rare surfing magazines from the US that I saw photos of guys surfing sideways and tried it.

Aileen: How easy was it to buy a buy a surfboard back then?

Julian: In 1966 you had to go to the North Island to buy a surfboard. The few board makers that existed back then thought they were gods and you had to beg them to make you a board. Ted Davidson from Mount Maunganui (on the east coast of the North Island) was one of the first board makers. He put a few on the roof of his car and drove down to the South Island and sold them all in a day.

Aileen: What made you fall in love with surfing?

Julian: The freedom. When you paddle into the ocean you forget everything: problems with the bank, arguments with friends – it all doesn’t matter anymore when you’re riding waves. You’re just always hungry for the next beach. You’d do anything for surfing. I only became an electroplater so that I would have money for surfing.

I loved the camaraderie. Jumping into our brand new Fiat 500 and going on a surf safari with my friends and discovering beaches that no one had ever surfed at before. Murderer’s Beach or Cannibal Bay and Kaka Point, which are popular surfing spots in the Catlins now. It was a big adventure back then. Surfing was more important than anything to us: even girls, alcohol or dope. I never wanted to be one of those beach bums who gave surfers a bad name. The only dumb thing we did was throw cow dung at each other while walking over fields to wild beaches.

Aileen: Looking back at your life – was it worth devoting it to surfing?

Julian: Absolutely. You just have to give a 100 percent in this sport. As a reward surfing frees your mind from bullshit. You get to see all the country, you gain great health and get chicks more easily than other guys! Surfing is also a great equalizer. In the water you are all the same, whether you are a doctor or a plumber.

Aileen: How did you learn to surf back then? Did anybody teach you?

Julian: We had to teach ourselves, because it was such a new sport. The younger guys learned from us – and so surfing skills got better from one generation to the next. In the North Island surfing was already a relatively popular sport back then. But new things always travel very slowly from the North to the South in New Zealand. And because the water does not get much warmer than 14 degrees in Dunedin, even in the summer, surfing took off slower.

Aileen: What did you wear to protect yourself from the cold?

Julian: We just wore togs (swimsuits), even in winter, because we did not have wetsuits. We had a fire going at the beach where we warmed ourselves up in between surfing. Later I got one of the first O’Neill neoprene wetsuits from Australia. They were sleeveless and had short legs. Not very warm either.

Aileen: What makes surfing in the South Island so special compared to the North?

Julian: Otago has lots of opposing beach lines – that’s why you can always find surf. People are very staunch in the South. It’s not about showing off but sharing your passion for surfing.

Aileen: When did you stop surfing?

Julian: When I was 64. I still live by the beach in Brighton close to Dunedin, but I don’t enjoy surfing on my own. I miss the camaraderie. Most of my surfer friends have moved away or stopped surfing.

SB: There we have it, a rare and insightful trip into a perspective that is seldom seen these days. Celebrating a life of exploration dedication and, above all, surf.