Around The World In 80 Waves

I meet up with Anna again later in the day and we go for a cruise in my van to check out the options. The swell has died through the day and I’m a bit disappointed that there is no point getting in at Indicators because the waves there aren’t really breaking. After seeing the epic tube rides caught there a few days earlier I was itching for a slice of that action myself.

It is not to be however, so the best of a bad bunch are the waves on offer are Wainui Beach. We jump into our wetsuits in the car park at the top of the hill and then stroll down to the sand where Anna shows me the channel in the break where you can avoid most of the waves whilst paddling out.

I have no problems getting out the first time and there is barely any wind so the conditions are really clean.

However as soon as I paddle into a few waves on the 8’0″ I have hired I am pearling the nose and then getting the full force of the wave driving me into the sand I’m trying to surf over. I then keep getting stuck inside eating plenty of sand as I struggle back out a few times through the breaking waves.

I do catch a few though and have a fun final session in the Raglan area. Anna is doing better than me and by the time she has got out I have boiled the kettle in the campervan and we can enjoy a hot drink whilst we savour the sun setting over the sea before heading back into town.