An Unexpected Journey

by Titus Haug

I was among the throng, making my way on the surf pilgrimage that so many had made before me. Indonesia and the South Pacific were invading my dreams. Earlier in the year I had accrued enough miles to get a one-way flight to Sydney for 40 U.S Dollars—A surprisingly pleasant side-effect of spending absurd amounts of money on a credit card to fund a music project. My plan was to go to Bali from Sydney and then return by way of New Zealand. It would be an epic triangle of surf travel and with the dry season underway in Indonesia, I knew that conditions would be optimal for surfing and shooting. It was the perfect trip to finish a two-year surf-photo-project and of course, to surf as much as possible.

My stay in Australia was scheduled for 7 days after which I would head to Indonesia for three weeks and then to New Zealand. I never did make it to Indonesia however. After what seemed to be the most perfect week of photography, surf and inspiration in Australia, I was geared up and ready to board my flight to Bali. It was then that I heard my name being called on the intercom. “Mr. Titus Haug, please come to the front desk.” I uneasily trudged to the front desk and was informed that I was prohibited from boarding the flight due to my passport losing validity within 6 months. Note to self, don’t travel with a passport that expires within 6 months. Lesson learned. After attempting for a week to salvage the Indonesia trip—that is, spending countless hours on the phone, visiting embassies and paying my dues in the throes of bureaucracy—I accepted that Murphy’s Law had hijacked this portion of my travels.

Despite this significant detour on my trip, two significant things happened while I was in Australia. Firstly, I was able to grab a meal with a photography hero of mine, John Witzig. Through a series of perplexing texts and attempts to align schedules, I found myself sitting across from John at a cafe in the small town of Maclean. As a surfer and photographer, meeting John was surreal. Hearing about his tales with Bob McTavish; George Greenough and Nat Young truly inspired me. Secondly I was able to meet up with Sierra Lerback for a shoot in Noosa. Sierra is an epic surfer and it was rad to meet her and witness her graceful surfing. I was also fortunate enough to run into Harrison Roach and Thomas Bexon in the line-up as well. There have been few sessions in my life where I saw such a high level of surfing.

Having accepted my fate, I opted at this point to head to New Zealand early, which ended up being a good move. I gallivanted the shire like hills of the North Island for a week and searched for surf, driving by hundreds of thousands of sheep in the process. I must admit that I had unrealistic expectations of catching all the good windows of surf conditions while I was there. New Zealand is a notoriously fickle land when it comes to surf conditions and by the end of the trip I was not unfamiliar with the classic phrase, “Ah mate, you should have been here yesterday.”

Although the majority of my attempts to score the surf when it was good were in vain, I did manage to catch a handful of days when everything lined up right. It really is how life tends to be. There are unexpected turns, there are disappointments, but there are also those moments when everything lines up and you’re just thankful to be in the midst of the beauty of it. I was gutted by the detour from Indonesia originally, but I later realized that not making it to Indonesia led to meeting new friends, seeing new places and learning valuable lessons. Although the trip was not what I had thought it would be in my head, it ended up being good in its own way, allowing me to learn more about myself, meet some rad folks and surf some remote lineups with no one else in sight.

These were shot at Elliot Bay in the North Lands of New Zealand. I stayed with a friend Ben Pearson who lives and works at a hostel in Paihia. He's an avid surfer and waterman and we were able to score a small but fun day during my short stay.

There weren't many waves but John Witzig had showed me a map of spots he used to shoot and I went to check them out. Although the waves were small, I could see the potential that this spot held.

I met Harrison Roach out in the lineup while shooting with Sierra Lerback. His surfing is some of the best I've seen with my own eyes.

During my stay in the South Island I stayed with a dear friend Holly Arrowsmith and her husband Micheal. Holly's a great musician and asked me to snap a few shots to promote her upcoming tour. This is one of the portraits I shot.

These are from my final day in New Zealand. I was lucky enough to score some good waves this day. I've seldom seen perfect point breaks with less than a hand full of folks out. This wave was truly something special and I was glad to enjoy it with my friends Cam Haylock and Micheal Gilling.

What can I say? Queenstown is beautiful. I'd like to go back someday.

I've always wanted to see Raglan so when I saw that there was a chance of good waves, I packed up the van and made the 6 hr drive from Paihia. I slept in the car with my wetsuit pulled over my body to keep warm. In the morning there was size to the waves, but unfortunately the wind wasn't right and the current was insanely strong. I managed to snap a few shots of my friend Joshua Strahan while I was there.

The South Island of New Zealand is beautiful. My friend Brad Mosby and I traveled about for a week enjoying the mountain scenery and the gas station pies.

Sierra Lerback and Thomas Bexon at Sunshine Coast. Two epic surfers and humans.