Who is Johanna Brebner and why did she ride a bike all over New Zealand’s North and South Islands hunting for waves?
I was thinking the same thing as a slew of evocative surf images graced my social media feed. Captivating content, yes. But her reason for setting off on such a quest was a mystery, no less. So, what inspired this pedal-powered mission to find NZ’s best surfing hamlets? I slid into her DMs to find out. Said I had a few questions, said I was a scribe of sorts, who thought there was more to her story…
Turns out, this colossal journey to explore a mix of known reeling coves and the lesser exposed breaks beneath the long white cloud was inspired by an act of homecoming. Johanna, a Kiwi lass by birth, is named after Johanna Beach (her parents honeymooned there, way back when), on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.
Brebner left her hometown of Ohope Beach at 17 after a spirited stab at the NZ junior surf circuit. Chasing the pro-surfing dream from a sleepy, NZ town was always going to be tough and when her competitive streak peaked early she relocated to Noosa. The laid-back, Sunny Coast life suited Brebner’s freewheeling style but New Zealand was always calling her back.
Seeking a unique way to explore the coastlines of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and engage with the real surfing communities, Bresby decided a pushy was a tough but worthy pick for the ‘off the beaten track’ assignment. “I’ve done van life, and I don’t know how to sail…yet, ”confesses Brebner. I wasn’t going to walk it, so the bike made sense.”
Leaving in February 2025 to spend the next three months cycling from the South to the North Islands was daunting yet exciting. Johanna hadn’t ridden a bike since primary school. “I bought a $50 bike off Marketplace, did a few trial runs from Byron to Yamba and that was that” she casually explains.
Johanna becomes more animated when I ask about the board she chose to take.
“I went with my 5’6 fish. It’s a Maren board, shaped by Adrian Knott. I picked it because I’m the most familiar with it; it’s like an old friend and it’s magic. In retrospect, if I had more time beforehand, it was a bit of a whirlwind to prep; I probably would’ve gone with something in the six-foot range. I also took two surf mats – they are the funnest surf craft! You can roll them up and they’re super light for the bike. If the waves were tiny and unsuited to my fish, it would open another dimension for me to take the mat out.”
This was the sort of trip where the itinerary was made up on the fly and checking surf forecasts seemed futile.
“I planned about a week ahead of time, which was realistic, because I was moving at such a slow pace. It was honestly freeing. Any pre-swell anxiety that one might get, was irrelevant. It was like, well, I’m on my bike and I know I’m going up the coast to so-and-so. I was literally able to go with the flow. The whole experience was very different from any other surf trip I’ve done. Usually, I’m so hyper-focused on getting the best waves, but I couldn’t have that mindset. I had to slow down and just take things as they came. I love right-hand points and living at Noosa for so long, too; I’m super comfy there. Admittedly, I had loosely jotted down a few of those spots and vowed to do everything in my power to make it to those lineups”.
When I gently push Johanna about ‘where’ she found good surf she is deliberately protective; gesturing with her hand and commenting vaguely, ‘Oh, somewhere on the North Island, I guess. The South Island has great waves too; the water’s just a lot colder down there, but the scenery and set-ups are amazing, that place is heaven on earth.” Although short on geographic details she is quick to recall her most memorable session. “My friend Hahnee came over; we were both on bikes and managed to find this epic wave. We surfed from dawn to dusk and were just absolutely crippled afterwards.”
When quizzed about other highlights of the journey and her insights into local life on the road, Johanna is more forthcoming.
“The local surfing communities in New Zealand were very welcoming and generous. I met plenty of lovely people. Crew would take us under their wing, house us and show us around their town. It opened up some really beautiful spaces for connections and I’m thankful for that. On the bike, you’re so open to new interactions. Whereas in a car, you’d just drive past. Having conversations with locals in their backyards or at the service station was genuinely refreshing. Seeing the human capacity for kindness and generosity. Honestly, it was beautiful to go slow, to observe life at a relaxed pace, the simplicity of it all. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the speed at which society runs these days.
Johanna has studied psychology and strikes me as an intuitive woman. Not overtly hippy or drowning in woo woo but certainly open minded. I ask her about her thought process pre-and post-adventure. Did she discover more about herself while seeking out swell? Was there a spiritual element to everything?
“I felt at peace before the trip, that sense of homecoming, the calling was omnipresent. Other people were like, ‘What are you doing riding a bike around New Zealand? You’re going to get skunked! But I had this feeling that the ocean was going to bless me, and incredibly, it did. Several times, I’d arrive at a break and score good waves. All the locals were like, ‘Oh, this is the best we’ve seen it for so long.’ When you are biking for two weeks and your surf fitness is low and you’re pulling up to a break and to surf and film, it could go either way.”
Although the experience was serendipitous at times, Johanna concedes there were also challenging moments.
“I was chased by wild dogs up in Northland. Big trucks passing me on small country roads were sketchy. And towards the end, decision fatigue was a thing – looking at the weather, deciding where to go, not getting a good sleep when camping, it all got a bit mentally exhausting.”
However, while grit and stoicism were certainly needed to pull the whole thing off, Johanna suggests it was ultimately a growing experience. “It felt like everything was in sync; to me it felt like there was a spiritual element to the whole trip.”
Struck by wanderlust, Joahnna now has her sights set on Japan and Ireland. While she didn’t reveal if her mode of surf transport would once again be a 50 buck bike from Marketplace, it seems likely that this intrepid Kiwi will certainly find a way to make the next trip anything other than conventional.
A film about Johanna’s adventure is currently in production courtesy of the creative team from Need Essentials and is due to be released later this year.
