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Published: March 26th 2007
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We took off from Santiago at 10pm on MOnday 19th MArch and when we arrived in Auckland after a 13hr flight it was 3am on Wednesday 21st. A whole day of my life lost somewhere in space. I hope whoever finds it puts it to good use. After spending 13 hrs on a plane, all i wanted to do was sleep. When we arrived at the hostal we planned on staying at, there were no beds available, but the member of staff behind reception allowed us to crash on the sofas in the foyer free of charge. It wasn't ideal, but i was still grateful. I can pretty much sleep on a washing line. HOwever, if the mattress doesn't have the right feel. THe bed isn't 6ft1"1/4. THe lighting perfect and the sheets smelling like spring, Pete either wont sleep or will wake up with a new injury. I was expecting to have to try and find another hostal, but Pete was obviously in more need of sleep than i thought. Within seconds he was cuddled up on the sofa, hand down his pants and sucking his thumb.
After only a couple of hours sleep, the cleaner woke us
up. We decided to get all our admin duties out of the way, hire a car and head for the coast. At first it felt really strange being in Auckland. On the drive from the airport the previous night in darkness, i could have been back in Manchester. There were 24hr garages, car dealerships and i could read all the road signs. Walking around the city as everyone was making their way to work felt weird. South America was definitely well and truly behind us. Although Auckland looked like a nice city. Not very big, clean and not too hectic, as usual with most cities i didn't have any desire to stay and explore. I wanted to get to the countryside and the coast as soon as possible.
Once we had driven about 20 minutes outside Auckland, i soon realized why people always say how amazing NZ is. The scenery was spectacular. Everywhere is so green and the ecology amazing. As i write this i have been here for nearly a week, and i am still constantly amazed at how beautiful this country is. It feels like every corner we drive around, we are presented with yet another spectacular
view. I keep thinking it must end soon, but i don't think there is a square foot of this place that isn't pretty.
Our first destination was Raglan. Probably NZ most famous wave. It is a perfect left hand point (when will i ever get to surf right?). Laurence, Tom and Lorenzo from the surf school had all told me about perfect waves there, so i was looking forward to experiencing them for myself. We checked into an accommodation centre called Solscape. Situated right above the break at manu bay, Solscape has a variety of accommodation in old train carriages. It is a cool place , but definitely not as cheap as south america so it was straight into the shared dorm.
Unfortunately the points at Raglan were not breaking on our first day because the swell had dropped.
"You should have been here yesterday!"
"Yeah thanks for that"
We decided to drive for 45 minutes to a beach break called Ruapuke. It picks up more swell than Raglan and there should be a bit of a wave. I had just had the stitches taken out of my foot and was keen to get back in the water. The
road to Ruapuke is awesome. If you have ever played Colin McCrae on the PS2, the drive was exactly like a stage from the NZ section of the computer game. The car we had hired was also a Subaru, so i couldn't resist the chance to have a bit of a go at rally driving on the way.
Ruapuke didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful secluded beach break and the waves were waist to chest high. We both suited up an paddled out to enjoy our first beachie session since Ecuador. The waves were great fun, it was a glorious sunny day and although it wasn't Raglan i enjoyed my first waves in NZ and the chance to finally surf on my forehand. However, after an hour or so, my foot was starting to hurt. I probably shouldn't have surfed, but the doctor hadn't told me i shouldn't and i find the temptation of waves impossible to resist. I had knocked the scab clean off the wound on my foot and decided it was best to get out. Looking back on what happened next, i can't quite believe how stupid we were......... No, actually, i can. Pete had the
car key in his wetsuit, so i paddled over, told him i was getting out and asked for the key. We were both sitting well out back and Pete started to get the key out of his pocket.
"WHatever you do, don't drop it bro!!"
Just as i said that, a clean up set comes through. I duck under the waves, then turn around to look at Pete. I didn't even need to ask. THe look on his face told all.
"It's gone. I dropped it"
"Are you joking?"
"No... It's gone"
"F#*K!!!!!
As we both walked back up the beach and realized the situation we were now faced with, all we could do was laugh. It was either that or cry.
Luckily there were a few people still about, and we managed to borrow a mobile phone. After walking around a bit, we found the only place where a signal was available and called the number for the AA. Pete explained the situation we had got ourselves into and they found out from the car rental agency that there was a spare key under the drivers seat in the car. THe AA would send someone out to break in to the car so we could get it. After 2 hrs waiting nobody had showed up. The sun had set, we were starting to get cold sat in just our wetsuits and i was starting to worry a little. Just as i was about to start to consider throwing a brick through the car window, headlights appeared on the horizon and we were rescued.
The next day the swell was still the same, so we headed back to Ruapuke. We took a packed lunched and surfed there for the whole day before heading back to Solscape for some dinner. We had managed not to loose our car key, but this time the curse of the Kiwi struck in a different way. On the way back we got a puncture. Pete didn't have a clue how to change it, so stood watching while i got covered in oil and grease. The tyre looked totalled, but we managed to get it fixed at a local garage in Raglan pretty cheap.
The next day a new swell was due to arrive. Typically it was the weekend, so would be super crowded. The plan was to get up early, surf Raglan and then head down south to Taranaki where the waves should be just as good with less people. When we checked the waves in the morning, they were head high and perfect, but there were already 30 guys out. Pete wasn't keen to share the waves with that many people and suggested we head straight down to Taranaki to surf there. I was reluctant but agreed. During this trip the only rule we have had is not to leave good surf.
"Dude, its head high Raglan!!"
We left for Tarankai, but promised ourselves to keep a very close eye on the swell charts. As soon as it looked like Raglan would be on again, we would head straight back. Hopefully it wouldn't be a decision we would live to regret and Taranaki would provide us with some classy surf and better luck.
(pictures to follow)
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Jules
non-member comment
Cool time..
Sounds like you are having a really great time! How envious am I!