Super Bowl Sunday we find ourselves back on Sundance after two weeks of searching the west coast of the north island for surf. We found an amazing book on all of the surf breaks in New Zealand. This was very odd to us because if someone in the states would attempt to write a book about all of the surf breaks in California or Hawaii they for sure would find them selves being chased by several pissed off surfers. Surfers for years have defended their hometown breaks from outsiders but in kiwi country the surfers invite you to surf their waves. The first break we headed for was Muriwai Beach. The first challenge was to find the best way to drive to this beach. New Zealand is very small country and this only supports one motorway north and south so when you want to drive east and west you drive on country roads. The country roads interchange through small towns and can be confusing. We were heading south on the motorway and we were near a long board surf shop that we had visited once before. We stopped in for some local knowledge and directions for Muriwai Beach. When we walked into the shop the smell of freshly poured resin hit our noses. We looked around the show room of new and used surf boards and some of the pictures on the walls and visioning ourselves on some of the waves that we were seeing on the walls. We were approach by a very tall and heavy set man. He introduced himself as Wayne and asked if he could help. As soon as we opened our mouths he could tell we were Americans and the jokes started to come. We told Wayne were we wanted to go and he gave us directions and some advise. During our conversation we ended up in the shop area were Wayne's partner Teri was pouring resin on a 1ft by 5ft sheet of fiberglass. We watched and within a few minutes Wayne and Teri had fiber glassed 45 sheets together to make a fiberglass board. When the board is dry they will use a stencil to make scags for surfboards. A scag is the fin that is attached to the bottom end of the surf board. The scag enables the surfer directional control of the board when riding a wave. During this time Mike and I had been looking around the shop talking to the guys. Mike noticed hanging up on the wall several locked up rifles. The rifles looked like 22 caliber. Mike asked about the guns on the wall and before we knew it we were talking guns. Teri took down the guns off the wall and showed us the collection of 22 caliber rifles. All of the 22 cal had silencers. These guys were into varmint hunting and big time gun collectors. Wayne brought out his photo album. Teri opened the gun safe and we are getting the full tour of all the weapons they own. 50 cal sniper rifles to every size semi and automatic rifle. We handled just about every gun they own. This is what happens in Kiwi country, everyone is so friendly. We went in for some simple directions and the next thing we were handling sniper rifles. two hours later we were finally on the road to surf.
The first break was Muriwai the wind was on shore and the surf was blown out we headed down the coast to Piha and found a car park to set up camp. We spent the night and the next morning Mike surfed the break on Piha beach . The water was confused and the waves were very sporadic. Mike was in the water for about an hour. We decide to head further south to the legendary surf town Raglan. Several hours of driving we pulled up to this beautiful little surf town. We found a great place to stay up on a hill overlooking the break, we set up camp and then headed to the break. Manu Bay was the first break. All of the breaks were left hand waves. It was late afternoon when we hit the water. We had plenty of daylight left and the sun was shining. The waves were small but fun and we enjoyed a afternoon of surfing and talking to some of the local surfers. We surfed for a couple of hours then headed to camp and made our way to town for some local food and beer. We had a early night got some good sleep and were up at dawn. the next morning we surfed Indicators break, the surf was great. Raglan is a very magical place the surf is clean and the waves are very consistent. The coastline is rocky and steep. Raglan has 6 point breaks and all are amazing. We really enjoyed our stay in Raglan and hope to visit this magical place again.
We headed back to Gulf Harbour to meet up with our friends Dave and Janell. They invites us to go diving on their boat. They have a 56ft Hatteras, beautiful boat. The trip was great we got scallops but no lobster. Two days later we were back in the marina and we again had plans to meet up with our friends Graham and Taran to go surfing and camping up north. We regrouped and the next morning, headed north to meet up. We met Graham and Taran in Whangarei and followed them to Kaitaia. We were heading to a break called shipwrecks. To get to this break we had to wait for low tide so we could drive our vans over the reef to the beach on the other side of the reef and drive down the beach for several miles. We timed our arrival perfectly. We located a great camping spot and set up camp. The break was in our front yard. We surfed and camped for 4 days and had a great time with Graham and Taran. We got back to Sundance with no cuts or bruises just great memories.
Last Friday we went to a local rugby match with some of our friends in the marina. We tailgated before the match. Good fun. Today we will watch the Superbowl at the local pub in the marina. Next week we will take Sundance out for the first since we arrive to Waiheke Island for a wine festival. We will anchor up with four other cruising boats from the marina.
