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Published: March 27th 2007
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Arawhata Driving away from head high raglan was something i was hoping i wouldn't regret. On the drive south to Taranaki the spectacular secenery took my mind off the waves for a bit, but i was still a bit nervous about what we would find. We had spoken to Scotty on the phone the previous day, and he seemed to think Taranaki was the place to be surf this swell. he had decided not to drive down the coast and join us, but recommended a great hostal to stay at called the Wave haven. We checked in and headed straight out in search of waves.
When we arrived in NZ we collected a surf guide that laurence had left for us in a hostal in Auckland. It is the bible for surfing in NZ and if you follow what it says you can't fail to score good waves. All the breaks in taranaki are located around a 2500m volcano. It provides one of the most spectacular views i have ever seen from the lineup. Acording to our surf guide, within a 30 minute drive of our hostal there were at least 10 different spots. We decided to check a
few out before decideing which was working best with the least crowd. i was keen to surf the most famous break in the area. A right hand reef point called Stent Road. When we arrived there it was absolutely firing. Double overhead, but extreamly crowded. We decided to check out a few other spots in the guide before we eventually paddled out at a break called Graveyards.
Graveyards was a left reef and when we got out the waves were overhead with only two other people out. It was a relief that our gamble to leave Raglan had paid off and we both enjoyed some good waves. As the tide dropped out the waves grew to double overhead on the sets and as it was late evening the wind was perfect. After we had been surfing for just over an hour, i was paddling back out to the lineup when i saw Scotty surfing towards me. It turned out he had checked the swell charts and couldn't resist coming down from Auckland to surf for a few days. I gave him a hoot as he surfed past, stoked that he had come down to join us. He kindly bashed
a turn off the top and sprayed me as he went by. After our surf we went to get fish and chips (somthing we had been craving since we left home) and returned to the hostal to exchange stories with Scotty about our experiences in Chile and South America. We set our alarm for 5:30am and got an early night. we wanted to try and get in at Stent Road before the crowd hit it.
In the morning we woke to find the wind blowing in the wrong direction for Stent Road, so we jumped in the car and headed 30 minutes south to another right hand point called Greenmeadows. We walked for 15 minutes over some farmland to check the waves. It looked pretty good. It was hard to tell exactly how big it was from the cliff as there were no other people surfing, but it was lined up perfectly. We hurried back to the car to get our wetsuits on and paddle out. Unfortunatley two more cars had turned up full of surfers and when we paddled out there were about 10 of us in total. However, it didn't matter, there were plenty of waves to
go around and we had another awesome session. It was my first ever time surfing a right hand point and after months of perfect lefts in South America i was having the time of my life. The swell was still a good size but the wave was a little fat. After a couple of hours, hungar dictated that it was time to get out and get some food. It was still only 9:30am. Plently of time to have a rest, get some food and decided where to go for the afternoon session.
After having dinner watching "Letting Go" the story of Kelly Slaters 7th world title, i was ready to get back in the water. We headed back to Graveyards to hopefully find the waves lokking like the previous day. The swell had slightly dropped off from the morning, but there were still some nice rides to be had. Once again we had a brilliant surf, made even better when we got out and watched the sun set next to Mt Taranaki. The colours set against the mountain were amazing . A perfect end to another perfect day in New Zealand.
On Monday morning we were in the
car and on our way to the beach again by 5:20am. We wanted to surf a break called the Komene patch, which was another long left hand reef point. However, the swell wasn't quite big enough so it was back to Graveyards. The waves looked smaller than the last few days. The wind was also making the waves a bit bumpy and break a bit in sections. Despite surfing wearing a waterproof dressing, plastic bag and wetsuit booty to protect my foot, spending 5 hours a day in the water was taking it's toll. As the waves didn't look as good i decided to sit the session out to give my foot a rest. It turned out to be a bad choice as i sat in the car and watched Pete and Scotty get some great waves. However, this time my common sense prevailed and i managed to resist the temptation to suit up and paddle out to get some waves of my own.
After checking the swell charts back at the hostal, we were hopefull that it might get a bit bigger for the afternoon. Due to the wind we drove back down the coast to yet another
right reef point called Arawhata. The swell had picked up but it was still a bit windy. Me and Scotty went straight out but Pete stayed on the cliff to take some photos and videos with his camera. It was back to double overhead, and once you had negotiated all the bumps on the wave face on the takeoff, it was a more powerful and faster wave than Greenmeadows. When we paddled out there were a few guys sat on the inside, but we had the choice of the set waves coming through. After 40 minutes of watching Pete couldn't resist any longer and came out to join us. By the end of the day all three of us enjoyed having the break all to ourselves.
Our last surf was on Tuesday morning. We surfed the last of the swell at a right hand reef called rocky rights. There were some fun fast waves to be had. As the swell died out, it became clear why the break was called Rocky Rights. As you surfed along the wave you could see the water boiling up infront of you over the rocks. Sometimes it was just a guess as to
whether or not the water was deep enough to get over without hearing the noise of your fins scrape on the rocks below. Afte just over an hour the swell had almost disappeared and our 4 days surfing in Taranaki was over. Scotty headed back to Auckland and myself and Pete planned to head inland to hopefully do a skydive at lake taupo. As soon as a new swell appeared somewhere we would head straight back to the coast. It was probably the best 4 days surfing i think i have ever had, in one of the best locations, in a truely amazing country. Having Scotty along to provide us with some local knowledge and share some waves with made it even better. Hopefully we would get the chance to meet up again before we leave for Australia.
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Em
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Wolverine
oh my god - THE HAIR!!!! ..... and the BEARD!!!! kind of cute (but scary) in a hugh jackman wolverine way! xxxx