The Inertia for Good Editor
Staff

The Inertia

Daniel Kereopa has been kind of an unofficial host to some pretty spectacular athletes for the last ten days. A group of men from five different countries have been traveling around Kereopa’s home of New Zealand, competing in everything from a Waka Ama race around North Island’s Takapuna to South Island strike surf missions that required helicopters to access the waves. And the best part, aside from the perfect landscape shots worth pulling the car over every five minutes, is that they’re all bonding like brothers.  He’s the reigning Ultimate Waterman and New Zealand’s only representative in the competition. These facts alone have made Kereopa the clear hometown favorite. But with the company he’s keeping these days it feels much less like a competition and more like a group of dudes exploring two amazing islands. So it would be hard to hear the fond stories from guys like Zane Schweitzer or Kala Alexander about their time here without immediately attributing it to having “DK” leading the whole ride through his own backyard.

But as it turns out, Kereopa is more concerned with learning about his guests than he is about showing them where he comes from. “The guys think that I’m sharing my home with them,” he says. “But what I try to do is get them to talk about their home with me. I want to know more about them. While they’re with me they can see everything but I want to know more about these guys’ lives and how they see it.”

And so a year ago, when the same competition ran through New Zealand with some of the same athletes, DK put that philosophy to work. Some quality time in New Zealand with Manoa Drollet led the two to some more quality time in Tahiti, where Drollet lives.

“I told Manoa ‘I don’t want to do anything. I wanna do what you do. I wanna really truly see life through your eyes and your actions.’ And staying with Manoa was really special because we got to sit down a lot and talk about a quality of life and where does it start? Where does it finish? Every day is a brand new day with Manoa, which I thought was so beautiful to be around. No need to plan too much for tomorrow, just live for right now. Because anything could happen tomorrow…and you didn’t enjoy now.”

It’s just one example of the hundreds of similar stories I assume DK could share with me right now; about traveling, bonding with others from thousands of miles away and the life lessons you absorb from each other. They’re simple blessings of an accomplished surfer. Even on this particular adventure Kereopa’s been able to experience and see some new things. Like the helicopter ride to a spot for The Ultimate Waterman’s shortboard event.

“We’re so privileged,” he says as he reminisces about a few highlights from the week. “Honestly, I was sitting in the helicopter the other day thinking I wish my dad could see this. And my mum. I wish I had my kids with me so they could see through their own eyes what I get to see. Some of those experiences I can’t give to them, you know? But what I can afford is my time with them and that’s important.

And this is where the profound pieces of DK’s travels start to come together. Not too long ago Daniel and his wife, Renee, started a surf school here in New Zealand. But as he explains it, it’s not really a surf school where kids come to learn to surf. 

“It’s a way to not waste all my stories that I’ve accumulated in over 30 years of being a surfer. And what it does is it reminds me of the things that I have done over seas, the waves that I have surfed and the people that I have met.”

And so the focus in camp is more about enjoying the ocean from a young age, rather than being afraid of it all. As for the surfing aspect, every bit of “style” is welcomed atop a board.

“I tell them if you want to stand up on your board, feet side by side, one foot up in the air, then that’s your surfing, man, and that’s your individual way of expressing yourself. When you’re around children they always see the lighter side of life. They give you answers that you would never have thought would have been possible because you’re stuck in your own head. But kids, they just listen to their heart first.”

I haven’t seen the DK surf school in action myself, only the man doing his own thing in the ocean. He claims the kids keep him young but you get the sense from hearing all his stories there are few things that would make Daniel Kereopa seem like anything less than young at heart. Maybe it’s what makes him such a great host. Even when he doesn’t think he’s being a host.

 
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