Tony Murry was one of those lucky enough to be bought into this world with the sound of waves crashing on the beach at the Mount in the early 50’s. It wasn’t until the early 60’s that surfboards came onto the hands of his Cousin Robbie Miller and their friends.
In those day’s Bob Davie had a board factory in the old Flushfit workshop opposite the original Mt Primary School in Tawa St. Bob made Tony’s first board; a multi coloured 9’ 11” round nosed, pintail single fin with a concave scoop. Quite different to the big dungas with 3 – 5 wooden stringers made by Atlas Woods or Ted Davidson.
“You carried your board on your head in those days; it was very heavy and you developed board bumps below your knees from kneeling as you paddled out. There were no leg ropes in sight – you had to swim! In fact when they first appeared we all dissed' them – only kooks would use a leg rope, but when we saw how many more waves the they caught than us...we quickly lost our myopic testosterone fuelled bias.” Remembers Tony.
When Tony was learning, he surfed Tay St mostly. It was (and still is) the Mecca spot, (all respect to the Island). Only Ernie Jarrett was riding Matakana as he used to go past it whilst fishing. Jerry McDonnell was the first to own a board from the group. Colin Lowe, Eric Burgraaff, Ginger Patterson, Jimmy Raymond, Jimmy Dykes, Kerry Donovan, Kevin Higgins and a bunch of Maori dudes who called themselves the ‘Insects’, were some of the locals who were out there then. Bob Davie was the guru.
Tony went away to boarding school in New Plymouth in 1965, so he lost touch with the Mt scene but picked up on the awesome waves. “We weren’t supposed to go surfing but he used to pretend he was going for a run and shoot over to Murray Wagstaff’s place, grab a board and go out. In later years while talking to a teacher and mentioned this. Teacher said ‘Oh we knew you were surfing.’
After High School it was off to Auckland University so Tony got to surf the West coast at it‘s best. Having an old Austin A50 (and cheap petrol) helped.
By now Tony had been through long boards, short fat boards, twin fins, tri fins, pintails and squaretails. He got married and moved further north to Whangarei heads. The breaks up there are as awesome as anywhere else. Tony joined the North Coast Boardriders club in 1974. “We went to Bayly’s on the West Coast.” recalls Tony, “It was going off big-time. No one wanted to stay on the beach, so we abandoned the contest we were supposed to be running.”
After two years teaching at high school the Murry’s shot through to Aussie. He swapped a parkercraft roof rack for a 7’3” Clarke foam blank (a friend had the licence to blow Clarke foam in Hamilton) which Tony got shaped by Richard Harvey who worked for the Neilson Brothers on the Gold Coast. Richard said, when Tony picked up the board “That was the hardest board I’ve ever shaped; you should have heard the planer groan when it hit the ½ inch Kauri Stringer”. It was a bullet proof board made for Bali; single fin pintail. Named it Harvey Wallbanger, and still has it. 1976 vintage.
After Oz, flew to Bali. Got waves at Kuta, Nusa Dua (before the hotels) and Sanur. It was a lovely place to be in the 70’s.
In the intervening years (between ‘76 and ‘96) Tony came home, went diving at the Maui Gas platform and helped raise 3 sons, Hamish, Kent and Leo, who became surfers, and who enjoy it as much as Tony.
In 1985 Tony went back to teaching, first at Mt College (where Owen Barnes was a grommet in one of his classes) and then at Te Puke High School. Tony would be the first to head out the door when the bell rang at 3.30 to hit the waves at Papamoa where he lived.
Tony relaxes in a 42’ Wharram Cat called Ika Roa. She’s blue and lives in Pilot Bay. In 1996 the family sailed to Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. They got good waves at Magic Island in Fiji. Left handers. It’s costly to surf in Fiji as each break is ‘owned’ by the locals who like to charge an arm and leg to surf there. At Cape Washington on Kandavu the chief wanted $10.00 per surfer. Tony figured ‘flag it’, for that money we could live for a week up there. Normally a gift of kava will do.
Tony shares that cruising is definitely the way to go; If there’s surf you go surfing, no surf, go diving, too windy, go sailing, howling wind, find shelter!
Since that trip Tony has remarried and taught his step kids, Millie and Jed to surf at Pukehina, where they live now.
An old fella like Tony reckons he needs the reflexes of a 25 year old in those waves. “Us retro surfers don’t give up easily though“ he say‘s.
Just ask Slater in ‘Steppin’Into Liquid’ (dvd)–“Once you’re in, it’s like being in the mob.... You aint never getting out”.