The Central Otago district of Bannockburn is to surfing what Jamaica is to bobsledding.
This irony is not lost on John Klevstul (39) who, with his identical twin brother Rowan, live in the country's most inland area, despite a passion for waves.
"Cool Runnings, yep we get that all the time.''
John moved to Bannockburn about 10 years ago and Rowan moved last year.
John said most of their surfing spots take about three hours to get to.
They frequent coastline around Dunedin, the Catlins, Riverton and the West Coast.
"We probably spend more time driving than surfing to be honest.
"But we grew up surfing together. Our favourite thing to do is to pack the truck and chase waves.''
The two grew on a farm on the Taieri Plain and moved to Auckland at the age of 10.
They each received a board for their 13th birthday and were competing a few years later.
Rowan said the feeling he got when surfing was "indescribable''.
"You're interacting with nature. You get to see all these beautiful places.''
John said they were best friends but also "bitter rivals''.
Last weekend in the senior men's (35+) section of the Canterbury championships Rowan placed first and John second.
John won the senior men's (28+) section of the Auckland championships in December and was a finalist in this year's Central Otago Sports Awards.
He has worked in pubs, behind the scenes on film and television and surfed professionally.
"But unless you're in that very top tier, you end up spending your own money, so it wasn't sustainable.''
Rowan is a photographer and spends most of his working life taking photos and writing for surfing magazines.
The two live in Bannockburn because they inherited 7ha of unused farmland from their father, Tor Klevstul, when he died in 2001.
"It was a bit of a sentimental choice. We're country boys at heart.''
They are converting an old farm shed on the site into accommodation they plan to live in.
Rowan said they subdivided and sold part of the land and have used the money to fuel their passion.
"Because we're so far from the ocean, being here keeps the desire burning .''
