Gone surfing by luke williamson
Surfing burst into life along New Zealand's beaches in the 1960s. The music, the cars, the boards – the whole exuberant scene had filtered down from California, Australia and Hawaii.
Gone Surfing is the first book to take an in-depth look at the roots of surfing in New Zealand. Through the voices of the pioneers who built the first boards and explored the country in search of waves, we can see the beginnings of New Zealand's first alternative lifestyle.
Luke Williamson has talked to over 100 surfing founders, all around the country, and gathered a wonderful collection of 300 photographs to give the true flavour of the early decades of New Zealand surfing. These were indeed the golden years for surfing.
Gone Surfing was originally published in 2000 by Penguin NZ (see insert cover on the right, above), sold 10,000 copies, briefly topped New Zealand non-fiction sales, and was short-listed for a Montana Book Award (lifestyle section) and a NZ Post Children’s Book Award (teenage non-fiction). Sadly, it went out of print in 2003.
The rights returned to Luke so he has gone through and redesigned the book, added more photos and issued it as a digital book which is available for sale for $15. You can download a sample chapter by clicking here.