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ENLARGE PHOTOS........Click on a 1973 song (Juke Box) then click here 1973 was the beginning of a new era in music and fashion with the whole disco thing now in full swing.............

seemed like everyone was into making surfboards by the '70s Garry..at some stage had a change of plan and found himself making boards now with Pete Morse.....Pete a really likeable happy natured guy who was also an excellant surfer....a regular Waipu Cove boy like so many other Aucklanders!

and i remember Brian starting up with quite a formidable team and Wilkinsons Sports Depot was the Whangarei distributor......they certainly were a progressive sports business.....very supportive of Northland surfing!!

new Pataua boy Bill Cairns with the Findlay boys Easter '73 Whangamata former Hamilton boy Bill Cairns moved to the north around '72-73....had family at Pataua!!

and the Pataua banks just kept on pumping.... Colin Lowe sitting pretty in another awesome Pataua suck-out!!

another one of the Bill Cairns, Jim Coote , Tony Elmore Pataua regulars.....Norm Winger Norm and the awesome Okiwi ..Great Barrier river mouth...one of the best lineups around...summer of '73

got an idea that this is young Ruakaka boy Ken Meale surfing Ruakaka Advocate photo....

meanwhile Greg was getting some awesome barrels at Ahipara.... ...the speed that short-boards gave us really opened up new possibilities on some of those freight-train lefts..

in fact this sort of swallow-tail speed shape became pretty standard around '73 a little longer single fin boards...and also tri-fins became common then (not thrusters...they emerged in 1980) .....Colin and Tony (Gates) and a couple of Colins boards...

interestingly...these are a couple of boards i made for myself in South Africa in 1973.... very similar to Colins boards...yet on the other side of the globe.........most everyone in South Africa was riding something similar to this at that time!!...

i made this one especially for J Bay as we were about to head off up there!!..... our house in Capetown...and naturally there had to be a Kombi in the picture somewhere...Ha!!....like most of us who were becoming domesticated (kids),,,..we were building swings and things (behind surfboard)......

Mike and Paula Cooney...Long Beach ...Cape Town..Autumn of '73 They filmed 'The Endless Summer' right out in front of where we are sitting....can get pretty windy as you can see...but awesome (kelp glassy) waves......Roger Crisp sent me this photo last month...i must have sent it to him in '73!!........

awesome Cape Town where we lived for 3 years.....South African summer of '73 the ocean (top left) is the Indian Ocean......the ocean (top right) is the Atlantic ocean.....up to 20 degrees difference in water temperature....big to massive swells hit the Atlantic coast consistently....spectacular place!!

Mike ...photo taken by Eddie Aickin...the beautiful majestic Atlantic side of the Cape... Eddie gave me this photo a few months ago....seems as if this was the only photo he had of Capetown when he was there with us in '73......Long bch (our favourite surf spot in the distance...

J Bay in '73...we had it like this for 10 days straight....awesome!!

Greg again....speeding down the line at Shippies.... note the slightly longer narrower board that he is riding.....and definitely looking like he getting some real speed up!!....

i mean...check this board out that 'Tich' Williams is holding.... longish...narrow and sleek...and a fancy fin to boot'....think its a Supersession.....summer of '73

Crispy...getting barreled at Ocean Beach...summer of '73 ...looks like he could make it too!!......Roger Crisp...definitely one of the better surfers around NZ in '73

Colin Lowe doing a Crispy at Pataua....

Viv (Tracy) with a couple of nice looking 'Supersessions'..... the longer sleeker look once again...

I guess it probably all started with Rolf Arness....... when he won the World titles at Bells Bch in 1970....his longer sleeker board(seen here)just made for a smooth carving impressive ride when everyone one else was on little fat boards...i was trying a 4ft-11inch in 1970..we were trying anything weren't we!

Around the mid 70s Roger (Crisp) ended up as a judge on the professional surfing circuit.... they must have been hard up for judges.Ha!!.just joking.just joking!!..& so Rog gets the opportunity to take snap shots like this at13th bch(Victoria)..beachy-reefy sorta break..can get good!!'Legs',Bob & I had it like 'hot Auckland ripper Dave Leech here

greg Alach (closest) and mate doing the hippie thing up in the Hokianga... ...now i know how Greg seemed to be surfing 'shippies' all the time...maybe you were hangin' around shippies like greg in '73 too!!!!

Greg getting some nice speed on a beautiful small 'shippies' wall... ....autumn of '73

meanwhile ..heaps of us were heading down to that other hot West coast break too!! Sun setting on Richard Langmuirs car ...clean Raglan swell ...Autumn of '73

next day a few of the locals turn up...nice Autumn day at Raglan 1973.....' Holdens and Veedubs.....the typical 70s surf wagons....

and Warrick Burchall makes the trip to Raglan.....summer of '73 complete with long hair...beard and Holden.....well well well..the hippie 'mind expansion'...'free and easy'...'hang loose' philosophy was everywhere....

and everyone was getting into something....NZ surf mag 1973 ...i remember sitting on the pavement in Queen St Auckland..Xmas 1970 and handing out Hare Krisna pamphlets while my 2 surfing friends with me were shaven headed in orange robes....Bob Mctavish became a Jehovah witness...oh awesome days!!

Warrick wandering, aimlessly lost in the sands of time....contemplating the universe..... .....or he could be just walking down Raglan beach to check the waves out ...Ha!!

well the swell was there...just needed to clean up a bit..... Raglan...cool day...summer of '73

next day it cleans up...and brightens up....Rags '73 and a couple of locals... ...remember how cool it is waking up to a lined up clean swell....theres nothing like it ..to get the old adrenaline pumping!!...

such cool days...no rules...camp where you wanted...light a fire..awesome!!... Rags ....autumn of '73..

and what do we have here at Sandy Bay.....although Lozza thinks it Shippies.... ...na ...dont think so 'Loz' (Laurie)....but check this out...Holdens and Vdubs again...Ha!!

and of course..you have to have the odd pink hippie bus here and there too.... Ninety mile beach...summer of '73

and of course it was the time of 'Easy Rider.... 'Juniors' (Alach) version....all home made ...very cool!!...

nice lookin day at Pataua...summer of '73 ...even in '73, the crowds were still small by comparison....

and who was king of the All Blacks in '73... well, our own Sid Going of course...who else!!!....some of us still played the odd game of rugby around the end of the '60s..early 70s....

Ruakaka SLSC boy Kevin Codlin....scores a nothing....Ha!! 'Old Boys' was a popular team among the surf mob....did a short season there myself in '67...

and of course ..the Disco thing was starting to crank..... Mr 'Music Man' himself Dave Ryan...doin the DJ thing.....do you remember?....Beegees..EltonJohn...Whoohoo!!!...

Matouri Bay looking very inviting...Xmas of '73... Plenty of places to just rock up and pitch a tent...awesome!!!.....

Mr Lowe does a little re-entry on a Pataua shorebreak...autumn of '73 Mr Lowe and Dave Boyd kind-of owned Pataua around about now......who owned your beach?.....

my favourite picture of the '70s...somewhere in Mexico!! ....awesome spot...inspired me to travel.... can you believe...i've still got that picture....what was your favourite?

and of course, every self-respecting surfer had to have one of these hangin on the wall.....Ha!! Che Guevara.....symbol of the whole 'hippie freedom' attitude....very cool...

Mike Tinkler and Allan Byrne standing on the new 'Tinkler Tail'..... ...and showing off the new Bonser fin....Ha!...Byrnesey sadly no longer with us..a true NZ surfing legend...

This shot of Colin walking up the beach at Pataua 1973...... typifies the whole change in attitude towards surfing...in '63 it was all about catching a wave with your mates...in '73 it was all about 'my' wave. Peter Drouyn's 'man on man' competiton was only 4 yrs away......the old innocence was gone forever!!!

Colin (Lowe) showing all the explosive display that surfing had now become..... i remember our Cape Province team captain Piers Pittard saying to me at the Jeffries Bay 'Provincial Comp'..."Mike..you gotta do some more radical stuff...a few 'bumps' and things".....i knew then that surfing had gone in a whole new direction!!....

but thank goodness ...aiming for a tube ride has never gone out of fashion.... former Oamura boy Terry Fitzgibbon sittin pretty on a hollow wall...summer of '73

and finding classic waves will never go out of fashion.... regular Ngunguru Xmas camper Bruce Dennis (of Hamilton heritage) and Norm Winger look down on that other Pataua.....Okiwi bar ..Great Barrier...summer of '73

Keith Walsh and crew snap a shot of Okiwi Bar...summer of '73 Keith and the boys do a surf trip across to the 'Barrier' lookin' for a bit of adventure....

Warrick Burchall still has his classic '68 single fin with him.....Raglan again...Spring of 73

and of course late 60's and early 70's the 'Dens of iniquity' were everywhere....Ha!! and most of these 'hang outs' became our little private board factories ..Ha!!.....summer of '73..'Soupy' (Warren Dalburt) and Johnny Ayton..3 mile bush 'digs'

and of course if there was no surf we would go down to the Settlers Motor Inn.. or somewhere like that ..and get in a bit of skateboard practice...Brian Clarke on the skateboard...Keith Walsh and Jan O'hagan...summer of '73

Kevin Malloy...summer of '73 Kevin got a bit of the 'Easy Rider' thing happening here...Ha!!

Guess everyone was into 'Easy Rider' in '73... Eamon Hamilton doing a Kevin Malloy look-a-like....Ha!

Viv and Kevin Molloy....get into making boards..

1973..its a boy!!...Julie Bryan not wasting any time....

lower Cameron street where Roger Crisp had his surf shop..1973

Whangarei Town Basin....1973

Winter show buildings...1973

Regent area 1973...

Whangarei Boys & Girls High School....1973

Clive tucked in nicely again...winter of '73

great shot of Colin Lowe going for the re-entry..summer of '73

and Doug Ferg.....laying into a cool bottom turn....1973

Hora Hora cranking...and Eamon Hamilton...

Eamon...nice sucky little inside section...Autumn of '73

Roger the dodger carving up a liitle Hora Hora wave.. Roger Crisp...summer of '73

Herman Ducrots cool 'Dato'.....1973 about to head off to Hora Hora...

Remember these Dune buggies!!!! John Ivy, ... Kensington boy... John built the car, Volkswagen chassis, fiberglass body....very cool!!..

but nothin can beat the ol' VW.... Mike Freshwater Beach 100yr Centennial Duke reinactment day...Vdubs everywhere....2015

Eamon again...Hora Hora...'73

Dave Powell...just down the road from Hora Hora... Pataua...winter of '73....nice banks

Herman Ducrot...Hora Hora....1973.."peace Bro"

Peter Crispin's wife...Baylys...summer of '73

Peter Crispins car...Baylys..summer of '73

evening..Baylys Beach..mellow swell ...summer of '73

Shippies...1973

'The Cove' ...still got the old surfclub there (and the new one!!)....summer of '73

how cool was it!...when we could just park on the beach... no signs anywhere......

Welcome to 2015....Councils gone crazy!!!! Palm Beach ...Sydney

Kevin Price in his 105e Prefect...negotiating flood waters on the way to Whananaki.... Xmas of '73

keith Walsh takes the ol' Commer van down to Napier...summer of '73

Gary Henderson on a sweet little Mahia wave...summer of '73

Warren havin' fun on a mellow Mahia day in the summer of '73

Kamo...starting to look a heck of a lot more 'built out' by '73 Three Mile Bush...looking very busy....

Kamo 1973....

Keith...Warren...and Gary...looking very 'saintly'...Xmas 1973

Johnny, Gary, Tony, and Patty looking very mischievous...ha!!

Johnny Ayton powering once again on a beautiful Pataua wave...1973

the new development of Port Whangarei...1973....

still lookin' pretty empty...1973

great shop of Rog (Crisp) doing a little 'slash back'...1973

Brian Clarke gets beaten by a Hora Hora wall...summer of '73

Eamon again...waving to all his fans...Horo Hora..

Eamon ....with the classic hippie look...summer of '73

Eamon even doing a little walk on those short boards...very impressive..Hora hora 1973

Brian Clarke on another sweet little Hora Hora wave...summer of '73

Viv (Treacy)...looking very determined on a sweet little left...

Long Beach ..Russell...looking very mellow in the summer of '73

anybody remember Irvine and Stern back in '73......

Herman takes a trip to Morroco....in 1973 like many of us did.....

and finds the waves can be pretty heavy duty.... Morroco ...1973

Three Mile Bush 'digs' ...1973....Herman thinks this may be Johnny Aytons dog

'legs' bro...Mike Rouw...After almost 3 years in Africa heading home via Nepal. Pokhara Valley. October 1973. Great times, great friends.!!