Ross Upchurch (this is not him) was from sunny Wainui Beach. He was (and hopefully still is) a laid back surfer. In the 1980’s he was studying art at Otago University. We took him skiing to Queenstown. I was there when he saw his first snow. Looking up at the Remarkables laced in snow he was overcome. “It’s just like a breaking wave” he said.

My surfing memories involve knee boarding the wild surf at Colac Bay and then struggling to build a fire so we could eat baked beans out of a can. I used to hang out at the Skating Rink at Riverton. At night they blasted loud, distorted Beach Boys tracks and lots of surf guitar into the dark.

I am sure there is a surf film in there somewhere. Here is the soundtrack.

Bubbling waves of noise ==== Weed

Jens Lekman gone troppo == TV Girl

Surf guitar ===== The Belle Peppers

Wannabe Aussie Clean = The Twerps

This year’s best shoegaze === Whirl