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ENLARGE PHOTOS........CLICK ON A 1950s SONG ('Juke Box' BOTTOM RIGHT) THEN CLICK 'here' ...................................................In the 1950s most of us were still going to School!! We had never heard of surfing in 1955....but we did know life was a lot of fun! CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE SCHOOL PHOTOS...YOU MIGHT RECOGNISE SOMEONE!!!

How amazing is this picture....tow in surfing in 1950....amazing!! This is such a futuristic vision of current tow-in surfing...even looks a bit like a jet-ski (its called a motobogan)....amazing!!....most of us kids in NZ were reading books like this in the '50s..

an advert for Dolphin swimsuits in 1950.... All the guys 'speedos' had belts up until the mid 50's and there was no such thing then as a Bikini...wasn't until mid 60s before the bikini's arrived (although they were first introduced in France in 1946)...

Thought i would give u a quick sqiz at the 1st half of the 'fabulous 50's first.... just so that you can get a bit of a fix on what was happening thu this period!!

Waipu (Northland) 1953 ...if you lived in a rural area of NZ.... you probably lived in a town similar to this.... thats our old Waipu primary school in the background..Waipu pub in the forground...pubs closed at 6pm..remember!!

DONT FORGET TO USE 'NEXT' (top right of photo) ...1954 Whg primary Ian Mclean top row 3rd from right Quite a handsome little devil..isn't he!! ha..broken arm and all!!....do you remember those old school days...pretty similar all over NZ....uncomplicated days..

A cute little 'Dick Robinson' in 1954 Who would have thought that he would turn out to be such a larrikin!! Ha!....one of our local boys...you probably had a few budding larrakins in your school too...Ha!!

Kamo (Northland) 1954....one of the many little towns around NZ in the 50s.... Hey check this out ....3 mile bush school and LOOK!! theres the Alachs house (top right with turret on roof) home of many a good time by all!!!...especially in the '60s

1955 Whangarei Primary... ....Tony Kivell top 2nd left....Bill Player (looking very much like a mini Bill Player) top 2nd right.....we were all such cuties in the 50s ..weren't we...Ha!!

'Mr Curls' Rod Haywood in his cool looking pedal car ...1953 ...you may have had a peddle car too...very cool days!!...

Well, some of us had beat-up peddle cars...like my Brother Phil here ...Ha! Auckland 1947

1954 (Jules) Julie Bryan...eating sand at Rawene... Funny to think that this little surf crowd chick would end up 7,000ft up in the Himalayas meditating and doing yoga 20 yrs later ........ahhh..the hippie generation were an adventurous lot.....we all seemed to end up searching for something!!!!

Now if you look at that cute little baby....real hard... then take a guess who it is.........well, the unmistakable chubby cheeks of 18 month old Herman (Ducrot)......mums smiling hard while i think Hermans testing those nappies!!!....Ha!....1954

1955 Whg primary top left Dick Robinson Our meek and mild Dicky...either yelling at the teacher to hurry up ....or yawning!......they were such innocent fun days weren't they!!..

and then there was Geoff Smith!! 1955 Whg Primary..Geoff top row middle...How come he had such a conservative name like 'Smith'...our loveable outlandish Geoffrey!!!!!!!! ....some of those Aussies we met in the 60s were pretty outlandish too....Ha!!...remember 'Tats'

Popular Mechanics 1954 Even though Popular Mechanics bought surfing to our attention in the mid 50s...we were still playing rugby and doing other things....so our interest was still elsewhere at that time!!

Popular Mechanics 1954-55 I used to love reading this magazine and building things in it.

1955 Waipu primary school its such a buzz looking at our old school photos isn't it!!.....…our old primary school no longer there…a retirement village now….but that was our new high school top right…which eventually became Bream bay college..(up by the refinery)

Funny ...when you see your old school...brings back memories dosen't it!! Waipu Primary School 1956....'Murder House' just above the car!!!....Ha!

1955 Waipu school 'Murder house' This is the actual waipu primary school 'murder house'...that could have been me in the chair.aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!! Notice the foot treddle for the drill...that slooowww drill aaaaahhh!! ....surfers Ann & Liz Worsfield worked in this clinic 10 yrs later...

1956 Waipu school bus run Education dept buses did the rounds all around the Bream Bay area to pick us kids up.....in fact...you could find these school buses in every rural area in NZ in the 1950s...simple days!!

1956 Whangarei Do you recognise anyone? i know thats Ian Mclean starring again...top row 3rd from left

Form 1 1957 Back row 2nd left Kevin Codlin RSLC boy..then Brian Metcalfe and Murray Proven ....all these kids that i am pointing out became part of the local surf scene just a few years later...probably the same in your area!!...

1957 Whg primary There's that cute little 'Billy Player' again...he probably had no idea what surfing was then (1957)...just like the rest of us!!!!

1958 Waipu Primary School (Northland) Then there was 'Blackie' 2nd from left bottom...whos brother 'Errol Dodds' became a good Waipu Cove surfer..and theres Mike Cooney black hair bottom row...i started surfing the following year 1959 on a surfski at Ruakaka ....you may have a similar story!!

Waipu primary 1958 nolene bowmar bottom right Im'e pretty sure it was Nolene that hooked up with Dak!!......'Dak'...one of the better surfers in Northland in the 60's...

and then there was local surf grommets (to be) Terry Hutton and Roddy Finlayson Terry a Ruakaka Surf club foundation member and Roddy became one of the better surfers of our time.......part of the NZ surfing pioneers of the 50's....

Waipu School 1959 A very mischievous looking 'Dave Ryan' destined to be an integral link in framework of Northland surfculture fokelore

I think this might be the early 60s... Boys second row down....Herman Ducrot 4th in from right...Kevin Price 2nd in from right...Eamon Hamilton bottom right....cutie poo's!!.....all surfed and traveled together in later years ....very cool!..

now what were they doing in Malibu in 1952?... Well........the whole beach culture was alive and well and kickin along nicely in California......so then....what were we doing in NZ in 1952?......

well,...we were being good little boys & girls...drinking our pint of milk every day...(NZ 1952) sheeeesh......didn't we used to hate that milk on a hot summers day when they left the crates in the sun...warm milk ...yuk!!......and we had no idea what was going on in Malibu!!!!!

middle top..Murray Mclean who married a glamorous Waipu surf chick named Mandy.... and Dennis Sterling (middle)...Waipu school 1959

Otangarei primer 4...1957 ...bottom 6th from right Delia ...Josie directly behind

Have a guess!!!!! yes...... its the Knight mob....Brett..Terry...Dennis..Ainsley...

Mike King and siblings (minus Denis)....what a lovely big brother..

Mike turned out alright too...good upstanding normal citizen...

NZ ..a country full of potential and ready for the picking (empty waves)

maybe mid-late 40s Takapuna (Milford) check out all the empty paddocks around the place!!

1951 Tutukaka ( Church Bay) Northland I guess it was only just a track then..thru paddocks

Tutukaka Northland early 50's Looked a little bit different then ...didn't it!

The Mount 1952 All those beautiful waves going to waste...not a surfer to be seen!!.....however in just over 10 years time (1963) we would see the first NZ surfing Champs at the Mount....amazing huh!!.....

Kaitaia-Ahipara 1952 Beautiful virgin countryside..empty spaces..check the size of those sandhills at 'Shippies'

Whangarei 1952 population 17,000 check out the boat harbour area..no Hatea Drive..heaps of vacant land!

Whangarei boat harbour..1952 The Winter show buildings weren't there yet!!

Town Basin..1952

downtown Whangarei 1952

and there's that inter-city bus terminus that we all used .....and there's the Plaza movie theatre.. when i was 11 or 12 i would come into the flicks from Waipu on a friday night and get the Auckland bus back again....ime pretty sure that where Mr king worked too!! (Trevs dad)...

How cool are these cars...Cameron Street 1952 the dogs just wander across the streets...Ha!!..awesome

lower Cameron st...1952....'bring on ' underground power..Ha!!

looking down Bank street Whangarei 1952

elizebeth and mill rd 1958

Mill rd...1958

Regent area around 1950...

Cameron street 1950

Bottom of Cameron Street ...1950

Hannah street...not tarsealed yet...1950

Kamo 1950....

Onerahi late 40s or early 50s

Portland ..1950

that massive long Portland wharf...1950

Raglan 1952 Raglan town permanent population aprox 900...airfield in the distance

Rags 1952 Beautiful unspoilt countyside and shortly ...someones going to paddle out and surf Rags for the first time...anyone got any ideas who and when!!!

Gisborne 1952 pop. 19,000 Waikanae beach in the distance, and the home of some of the most awesome beach 'barrels' that ive ever had...summer of '68 living with 'legs' and bob hagner with barrels right out the front of our flat...'awesome'

1950 Gisborne.......became the mecca of NZ surfing in the 1960s... It was unlikely that anyone had started surfing yet in Gisborne!!...isn't that a weird thought...that no one had even thought of or heard of surfing then...just empty...lonely.. waves!!! bit different today isn't it!!

1953 Marsden Point All barren land back in those days...check the big sandhills on the other side of the harbour...I think Colin and Eddie Lowe grew up around here..on the Takahiwai marae..i think!! am i right Col?

Marsden Point 1953

Amazing ...beautiful Whangarei Heads...1950

1950

Taurikura Bay...1950

Taurikura Bay...1952

a pretty bare looking Tutukaka (Northland) in 1953

a very lazy lookin Mangawhai Heads (Northland)...1953 With nice little lines coming across the bar.....just think.......no one had even heard of surfboards here then!!!...empty lonely waves!!

look at that tantalizing bar....awesome 1953

'eyelash' 1954 the Maori name for Kamo is 'eyelash'. Did you know that in the 1950s 'eyelash' was not part of Whangarei...but rather a neighbouring town!....just like Albany was not part of Auckland..... I think thats the Kamo pub on the corner!!!....

1955 Opononi I think 'opo' the dolphin was probably there then!! That west coast region (coastline) always seemed very unhospitable and bleak to me...give me the east coast anyday!!!..they would feed 'Opo' off that wharf below...

march 1956...'Opo' the friendly dolphin....

of course 'gay' had a different meaning in '56 'gay' meant 'fun loving'.....Opo the fun loving dolphin.....Opononi 1956

1954 Wooleys Bay..(i think!!)...(just around from Sandy Bay)... I know its 1954...but not sure if its Wooleys bay (even though the caption said so!!) what do you think!!!!

Sandy Bay (Northland)...1954.....another empty beach!!

Ruakaka (Northland)...summer of '54 no camping ground yet....or road down to the beach.... which currently is cut through between the 2 houses on the right!!

around 1955 somewhere near Ocean Bch!! (1/2 hr from whangarei)... I'me sure thats Mount Mania in the distance...good banks!!...anyone know where this is!...possibly Kauri Mountain

1955 Matapouri (Northland)..... beautiful rivermouth peak (top left of picture) on a big cyclone swell...

this is a classic shot...Matapouri ...summer of '56 those 'Alaia' boards seem to be everywhere around NZ in those early days....looks like a good swell running that day too!!!!

and of course in the mid 50s we always listened to the radio serials....no TVs then!!!!! the studio recording of 'Portia faces life'....and there was 'Life with Dexter'....remember!....ha!.....and the programme that Dick Robinson, Dave Boyd, Jim Carney and Robbie Bambree all loved....'Aunt Daisy'!!!!....Ha!!

good shot of Pataua in '55.... Pataua rivermouth...home of one of Northlands great barreling peaks...

1955 Frogtown (Pataua).... this photo would have special interest to the locals...rivermouth (top right) still there....

Pataua (Northland) 1955....

1956 Shelley bch Waipu Cove..Bream Bay Northland.... Imagine how many awesome waves would have pumped into Waipu Cove in the 1950s!!

1956 Langs beach..Bream Bay Northland... Beautiful unspoiled Langs beach ...would have been such a magic place then...we didn't even know it was there until the late 1950's!!

Waipu Cove.... Northland 1957 looks like a Vauxhall Velox at this end...do you recognise any other cars...looks like a cool looking Chev in the background!!...is that an Austin..3rd car along?

Noosa around mid 40s to 1950.... could've bought some land for a song then!!!!

The Romantic '50s.....

1957 guess!!!!!! Before the Auckland Harbour Bridge...we had to cross the harbour by car ferry....anyone remember that!!!

aint that the truth!!!....

Milford Takapuna When Bud Browne...the surf movie maker came to NZ in 1957...he said he saw plenty of good surf around the Auckland and Mt Maunganui area but not one surfer!!!!

Can you believe this!!....Milford Reef (Takapuna) boy Mike Tinkler... on a 'hollow stand up paddle board' in 1956...he even had that cheeky grin way back then...Ha!!

1958 Whananaki bar...Northland.... What a great set-up that place is for a wrap-around swell...probably definitely still unsurfed at this point

Whananaki Bar 1958 oh man!!....how tantalising does that sandbank look...imagine how many perfect waves have peeled off that bank over the years...so unspoilt too...nature at its best!!!

beautiful awesome Whananaki bar ...summer of '59

Mangawhai Northland 1958...how deserted does that look!!! That Mangawhai bar looks as good as ever!!....just no one surfing it yet!! I wonder when it was first surfed...anyone got any ideas!!....

very cool photo...cnr Cameron & Bank...1956.. hows those awesome wagons!!!...

1958 somewhere up north Classic shot of the old 2 door chev (i think) ..so many of us had cars similar to this during the 60s..mostly 4 door though!

Tui Wordleys beautiful Ford Coupe...no back window ..ha!!...1962 Don and Ross Edges FE Holden behind...such cool days.......

1958 Shippies This picture (out of a 1958 newspaper) is very interesting....note what it says up top..'they were thinking then of building a breakwater...just imagine if they had of done that!!!!! what a bummer!!

Ahipara paddlesteamer virtual replica of the paddle steamer that sunk at shippies...named 'favourite' sank 1870

'langs' (Bream Bay Northland) mid 1950s No.. its not 'Ding Bay' ...it was all called Langs then..the name 'Ding Bay' was still another 6 or 7 years away yet!!

1957 and a new dance craze hit us.....'rock & Rolling' somewhere in Auckland!! School Socials were pretty sedate up until the end of the '50s...Waltz's & Foxtrots etc....until suddenly...we were 'jivin' ..rockin and a rollin into the dawn of the 60s....very cool time.....remember?

even hollow timber surfboards were starting to look like the real thing in '57 i remember having no idea then that there was such a thing as a malibu board!!.....

pretty cool looking (hollow plywood) boards for 1957... This NZ mag was up with the trend......but in '57 surfing was still virtually unheard of in NZ

apparently someone was doing this in the Whangarei Harbour in 1957... ...was called 'surf riding'.....interesting!!!..

1958 Topdressing....In the late 50's and early 60's... farm topdressing became a huge industry and one of our surfing hero's of that time was Tui Wordley who was often seen driving around in a topdressing truck..and dragging people off up Cameron st (Whangarei) in his truck .so legend goes

in fact im'e not sure if its Tui driving the spreader or Tui running for his life.... actually i think its probably his workmate Ron Walker running for his life...chased by a crazy man....Ha!.........Tui's truck 'Edwards Speaders'

1958 top of the Brynderwyns (Northland)...where i lived... as a young bloke... I would look straight out of my window ( at the top of the Brynderwyns) and often watch the 'Fletcher topdressing planes take off and land on the airstrip straight across the road..or go over there and watch them....was very cool fun!!

these guys flew these planes like a 9 to 5 job... would land and take off every 10 minutes ...stop for smoko...back into it again....just like a regular 9 to 5 job..amazing....they would throw it around like a toy!!!!

1958 Brynderwyns ((Northland) Mike & Phil Cooneys home... and this was the view out of my other window..in fact ..on a clear day, you could see both coasts...imagine waking up to that every day..no wonder i 'bunked' school so often and went to the beach!!! we could see the waves from my window!

Mike standing outside his bedroom window..1962... Bream Bay and Ruakaka in the distance...

1958 Brynderwyn Tearooms (Northland)..yes..you might remember this place!!... ..you may have even been there!..my dad built the tearooms and we moved there from Auckland in 1956. I lived there until i was 15.. then i moved to Whangarei (to the 'Huttons' home) 1962! Bro Phil was already traveling ...is that like your story!!!

Mum Cooney 1959.....and the 6,000 acres behind her i could ride my horse on anytime.......... Neighbour had 6,000 acre farm right across the top of the Brynderwyns.....i would often ride to the high point & marvel as i could see Mangawhai...Dargaville..Waipu rivermouth...Ruakaka & Whangarei with just a turn of my head...did tend to blow me away!!

couple of recent photos.... 2012 ..about 1/2 way down the Brynderwyn & i lived with this view everyday!!..no wonder ....was a great time in history...wasn't it!!....interestingly...the first day the tearooms opened in 1956...on day one..our first customer was Laurie Langridges family(whom im'e building this website with)!!

current photo heading down the Brynderwyns on south side.2011..Maungatoroto & Ruawai in the distance ...i would often go to the summit which was 600ft higher & just sit there for hours and dream!!.left here in '62....had been surfing now 3 yrs....i was pretty stoked i can tell you!!!... We were very pumped about life in 1962 weren't we!!!...

1938 in fact here's the exact same piece of road 73yrs earlier (than the last photo) funny to think that when we moved to the Brynderwyns in 1956....only 18 yrs before in 1938...there was no road over the Brynderwyns....only way to get to Whangarei then was around thru Mangawhai or Maungatoroto up to the 1940s...

1899...road thru Waipu Gorge... so.., if you wanted to go to Auckland up until 1938 you had to go this way...or thru Mangawhai.....on dirt roads...

in fact.. just 20 years earlier..this was the road to Auckland...1920's If you wanted to to to Auckland from Whangarei, you either went the Mangawhai road (which was as bad)..or this road thru Maungatoroto.......imagine going to Baylys for a surf...Ha!!!

Ocean Bch road 1959 single track metal road..no doubt full of potholes and corrigation ( i know it was in '62) and probably still quite isolated then!!...most beach roads around NZ were like this then....

like the Piha road here...in 1963... finally getting some attention.....imagine going down those steep bends a few years earlier on a wet day!!!!....ah!..such were the pioneering days of finding new surf spots...awesome!!!

in fact ...even in 1965 the roads were still like this.... i don't think any beach road was tarsealed then!!!!.....Clive (McDonald) and Ian Butt negotiating the road to Whananaki....remember meeting an oncoming car on those steep narrow winding metal roads...scary stuff!!..

the Ngunguru bar could be a classic spot when it pumped too...summer of '54 we used to surf Ngunguru bar before leg ropes came in ...and man you could spend an hour trying to find your board!!...very grunty wave when it pumps..can be exceptional!!....

Waipu 1950

Ocean Beach 1959 (Northland).. Empty waves...not even sure if it had been surfed yet...anyone know!!!!

dirt track running up the length of 90 mile bch ...1956

1959 'The Boot' Don Clarke Most of us were still full-on into rugby in 1959.Don Clarke was one of my hero's.i also remember playing rugby against 2 formidable opponents in the Otematea school comp..Jim Nash & Dave Fiitzpatric (fitz) Fitz was a top rugby player..both became surfers

Hula Hoop craze hit us in '59 I remember spending hours and hours hula hooping then........why....i've no idea!!...ha!....what about you?...

Beautiful holiday spot... Oakura (Northland)..summer of '59 North end ........usually needs an east to south/east swell to work ......Ohawini Bay in the background..

Sleepy little Oakura 1959 Man! how unspoilt does that place look!! ....home to a nice little wave in the 60's....

Oakura 1959

Oakura in the Whangaruru Bay .....summer of '59.... is a little bit sheltered from North/east swells but the place has a great vib about it.....south end of Oakura (here) can have a nice little bank sometimes...

1959 Auckland Harbour Bridge Funny to think that some of us were already surfing before they even completed the Auckland Harbour Bridge!!!!!! sheesh..that makes me feel old!

may 1959 'the opening day' The Auckland Harbour bridge was completed in may 1959..and you will notice it only has 4 lanes...the 'Nippon Clippons' as they were known (extra lanes) came later!!

1959...Whangarei airport hits the big time!! First Dakota aircraft arrives.....very cool looking planes...we always felt a little isolated here up north in those days....i think when the Auckland surfing crew started frequenting our beaches in the mid 60s...we felt more connected!!!..

Surfy-clubbies......... Most of the people that we have talked to, who started surfing in the 1950s....either hung around 'clubbies' or were in a surfclub themselves. This was particularly true in Australia and NZ

1931 Waipu Cove Surf Life Saving Club (Northland)... yes..your reading it right ....1931..Tony Govorko, Will Cosgrove, Bob Harvey, Jimmy Bowmar and Jonny Lang....no doubt of the Langs beach clan...amazing!!!

1952 waipu Cove The Surf club was alive and well even in those early days...looks like a rescue here...have you got any ideas, who might have been in the Waipu Cove surfclub in '52!!!

Tatahi mag 1966...( local mag put out for the Northland Tatahi boardriders club)... In fact, even as a Tatahi surfrider member it was compulsory to know SLSC drill!! Such was the strong connection between boardriding and clubbing even in '66

1955 Waihi Surf Carnival Even though Waipu Cove SLSC was a well established surf club in 1955 and no doubt was present at this Surf Club event in Waihi....the Ruakaka SLSC and other Northland clubs were very much in the infant stages!

1955 Waihi One of the great events that we all seemed to enjoy was the surf race...swimming out around the Bouys with 100's of others...real adrenalin rush !!

1955 Waihi Surf ski rescue The surf ski rescue was another interesting and difficult event especially in bigger surf!! this was the exact type of surf ski that i learned to surf on in 1959.we would stand up and surf in on them & they were reasonably easy to manouvere(pintail back)

...and he was still smiling 50 yrs later!! Just a small handfull of surfers in those days...lucky if there were more than 50 in the whole country in the mid to late 1950s!!

1954 dad and Phil Cooney 10 yr old Phil Cooney..just 5 years away from his first surf experience....like many of you around the country....pretty sure this is at...or on the way to Piha 1954....

1959 Northland surfboard pioneers Don and ross Edge create their first surfboard...but unknowingly mix 2 resins together (instead of resin and hardener)...and are confused 2 days later, that it still hasnt gone off!!

1959 Pretty cool looking shape for 1959 woudn't you say!!!! only about 7ft long...and looks nothing like the regular boards of the 60's...looks more like a board of the 70s!!!!