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Published: July 19th 2006
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mini-Cows on the Road
Cows blocking the road during a surf check New Zealand is a very beautiful place. I've heard that the South Island is even more beautiful because it has more dramatic scenery but the North Island is very beautiful too. Both islands have very drastically different environments within a very short distance which makes it so beautiful. Its colder than I was expecting. I was expecting a San Diego type winter but I think it's more like Central California. I heard that this is the coldest winter they have had in 10 years. I guess I timed it perfectly. Coming here is kinda like going back in time when your coming from Southern California. It reminds me a lot of Ireland because it's really green, it rains a lot and inbetween the bigger towns/cities are heaps of farms. Also, there are no major highways, most of the roads are 2 lane country roads with heaps of roundabouts. The roundabouts are cool because it cuts down on traffic lights and stop signs. New Zealand can be so rural that I'll be driving to check the surf and there will be 50 cows in the road with farmers on quads trying to herd them back onto the farm. It real mellow here
mini-Tuamotu Island and Sponge Bay.
Sponge Bay with Tuamotu Island in the background. and I haven't met an unfriendly or grumpy person yet. Even the local surfers are friendly and like to ask you where your from, what your plans are while your here, ect. The other good thing is the dollar goes so far over here. The exchange rate is about $0.62 USD to $1 NZD.
So when I left off, I had just met Mike from San Diego. He had just graduated from USD and was on a big surf trip as a graduation present to himself. We drove through the night on Sunday so we would be there when the swell hit. We pulled up to this place called Makorori Point late at night. There were a couple dirt roads from people checking the surf. There were also a bunch of trees and bushes so we decided to tuck the R.V. behind a few bushes and camp there for the night. Mike was being overly picky about where to park the R.V. and ended up getting us stuck in the only muddy spot in the whole area. We tried to drive out but were unsuccessful, so we found some wood to put under the tire but that didn't work
either. After about an hour, we just gave up and decided to deal with it in the morning.
The next morning Mike put on his wettie because he felt responsible and got in the mud to try to dig and push us out. We weren't getting very far so I decided to try to flag down some help. Within 15 minutes we had like 4 people stop to help. One guy Kelly said he would go home to get his truck and come back and pull us out. After he pulled us out, he told us where we should look for surf which was very nice of him. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the R.V. stuck in the mud. We drove around and checked a heap of spots in Gisborne. The spot that looked the best was at this island less than a mile offshore. There was about 12 guys surfing it and there was a boat in the channel filming these guys. It was a slab of a wave breaking probably double overhead with a small takeoff zone and right infront of a big rockpile which is why its called Rockpile. It's like Big Rock in
mini-Line-up @ Rockpile
The lineup with film crew in the channel at Rockpile on 7/03 SD but a bit sketchier and a Right instead of a Left. We decided to let the locals have it and we surfed Sponge Bay. It's a mushy, right point break that reminds me of a shitty Sunset Cliffs. We camped at Makorori Point again but this time not in the mud.
Tuesday Rockpile is a bit smaller (6-8' with the occassional bigger set) and no one out. Mike and I paddle approx. 3/4 mile to the island. I caught a couple good waves and got washed through the rocks twice. It's a heavy wave and I was surprised I didn't break my board. I did manage to bash my shin on one of the rocks but felt lucky that was all. On the paddle back to shore, I stopped and surfed Sponge Bay again. Mike ran into a guy Alex he knew from USD that had rented a house close by at Wainui Beach with 2 of his friends Andrew and Anthony and invited us to stay. It was nice to sleep in a warm house even if it was on the floor.
The next day the 5 of us drove South to Mahia. There is another
mini-Rockpile
That is the inside section at the Rockpile on 7/03. You can see the top half of the rocks that you have to takeoff infront of but trust me there is a lot of rocks that you can't see. slab called The Spit. It gets its name because every wave barrels off a shallow/dry reef and spits at least once. The Spit is a left but there is a mellow, mushy right that fun too. The Spit was CH to HH with some bigger sets and noone out but it seemed too fast to surf. I took off on one left when I first paddled out, got barreled but didn't make it out and got caught inside. I was trying to duckdive these big set waves in less than 3' of water. After that I decided to surf the right until the tide filled in some more. Once the tide filled in, it didn't get any more makeable but was surfable further down on the shoulder. On the way back to Wainui, Mike and I stopped at a natural hot spring and I got soak my aching muscles. We stayed with Alex and his friends in Wainui again.
I woke up very early Thursday morning to torrential rains. Mike and I had already decided to head back to Raglan the night before so we decided since we were up we might as well get on the road early.
mini-Outside Island
Here is another wave that breaks at The Island but I didn't surf that wave. I saw a couple guys try but no one was making it. We were also hoping to get back to Raglan in time for a evening surf. Thursday was the first day since I arrived that it wasn't sunny and beautiful.
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Johnny Lane
non-member comment
Good pics
It's like I am there! Wild Bill, Wild'n out! Keep the log and photos coming, I am enjoying them a lot (while stuck at work). Not much surf here, just some beach parties and the hung-over morning surf the next day.