Around The World In 80 Waves

After waking up I start the day with a drive from the caravan park into town to see if I can lay my hands on a board.

The friendly people at Kaikoura Surf give me a warm welcome and, as with all surfers I meet, are very interested in my adventures. 

I have a great conversation with them, hire this lovely 9’2″ longboard that will suit the cruisey surf  I’m feeling like having on the water today, and then asked them for directions because I have heard about a fantastic break north of town that will be perfect for that.

The girls in the shop confirmed what I had read and tell me how to find the break easily. “Drive north 5 or 6 kilometres and once you are alongside the railway line pull into the first lay-by you see.”

I head north and sure enough, right on cue the railway line appears and the lay-by too. Straight forward directions which are effective have been in short supply on this trip!

What I hadn’t quite expected was the perfect conditions I found upon arrival. It is a classic right hand point break where the wave wraps around the headland and just keep on peeling for hundreds of metres over the rocks on the shoreline.

I was barely stood looking at the break for ten seconds before I was running back to the van, jumping into my wetsuit, running across the railway line and then launching myself out across the rocks into the break.

I caught loads of rides on the bigger surf board I am using today, enjoying walking the board and getting nose rides. The rides are so long it is quicker and far less tiring to get out and then walk back along the shore than it is to paddle. What a wave!

I have been missing my own longboard at times but this really made up for it. We just don’t get waves like this in the UK.

The scenery you are surfing towards is pretty spectacular too. What a fantastic break. This wave alone almost made the extortionate ferry crossing from North Island worthwhile.