Monument to surfing trailblazer

Statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing, at Waikiki Beach, Hawaii.

A century ago, overdressed crowds flocked to New Zealand beaches to see if the rumours were true - that a strange man from foreign shores could walk on water.

The powerfully built, smiling entertainer did not disappoint.

Hawaiian-born US Olympic gold medal swimmer Duke Kahanamoku stood on the long, wooden plank, gliding for hundreds of metres in front of the breaking waves.

During that late summer of 1915, just two months before the Gallipoli landings in World War I, Kahanamoku attracted thousands of people for surfing demonstrations at Muriwai on Auckland's west coast, Lyall Bay in Wellington, and New Brighton beach in Christchurch.

With those graceful movements, the modern pursuit of surfing was born in the fledgling South Seas colony. Now, 100 years on, the godfather of surfing's pioneering visit will be remembered with a festival and sculpture in his honour at New Brighton.

"He was one of New Zealand's first real heroes, well before [Sir Edmund] Hillary and [Sir Peter] Snell, and we wanted to celebrate it in style," said Tim Sintes, one of the New Brighton Pier and Foreshore Promotion Society committee members organising next month's First to Surf festival.

A giant wooden surfboard sculpture, replicating Kahanamoku's original, has been commissioned and will be erected beside the popular beach. The festival, on February 28, will feature a Hawaiian theme, surf contests and a mass paddle.