New Zealand Waves

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I finally got some surfing in!! It was wonderful. I signed up with New Zealand Surf and Snow Tours for a 5 day surf tour on the northern part of the north island. The company owned a house on the base of Ninety Mile Beach where we only had a 10 minute drive to Shipwreck Bay, a really nice left point break where the waves are just perfect depending on the swell size. The 12 of us spent the first two days surfing perfect waves at shipwreck bay. The other three days the swell dropped a bit so we drove in search of waves. One day we went to the east coast to a beautiful white sand beach where dolphins showed up half way through our session. Three dolphins surfed a wave about 6 feet away from me, it was magical! I was sooo excited! We also drove a ways up Ninetly Mile beach and got stuck in the sand a few time, but we had no shortage of pushers, so we easily got out. The whole week was a lot of fun and I had a great time surfing. Everyday it was sunny and warm, resulting in some pretty strange tan lines since we all wore wetsuits while surfing.

After my week of surfing I headed over to Bay of Islands and met up with my uncle Jeff and aunt Kathi who arrived in their sailboat. My other uncle Steve is also visiting them, so it was really nice to be with family. One day we rented a car and drove up north, stopping along some beautiful beaches along the way. We also went on a jet boat ride out to The Hole in the Rock and got to see some rugged coastline. Right now their sailboat is docked in the marina, so we used it as a base camp. A few nights my uncle fired up the BBQ on the back of the boat and we had some delicious steaks! Man, what a life!! The weather has been really nice up north! The days get pretty warm, not too hot yet, and the sun is shining all the time. I'm trying to build up a good base tan from this intense sun. It's pretty easy to get burnt here since there's a big hole in the ozone right above nz and oz. From Bay of Islands my uncle Steve and I are going to head south and probably rent a car to explore some of this beautiful country. I'm soooo excited I have at least three months here! What a life!

Cheers!

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Photos

Shipwrecks Bay
Just look at those perfect waves. Ah, what a day!!!

Sunset from our beach house
this is where we slept for 5 nights!!!! unbelievable

Surfing the East Coast
Where we surfed with dolphins!!

Mussle Feed
The mussles we plucked off the rocks earlier that morning

Searching for Surf
Driving on 90 Mile Beach

One big happy family!
Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kathi, me and Uncle Steve on our drive up the coast

Paradise?
Beach in the Bay of Islands

Searching for bait
Uncle Steve finding bait right off the dock

The fish are biting!
Uncle Steve and Uncle Jeff inspecting the big catch

BBQ off the boat
what a life!