Smorgasboarder_11_May-2012

THERE’S SO
MUCH MORE
Kaiteriteri
WORDS: JEFF MORRIS
Our smorgasboarder New Zealand correspondant,
Jiff (Jeff) Morris gives us insight into why he
moved across the dutch (ditch) to an area that has
become popular amongst the SUPing fraternity.
Why? That was the most asked question
whenever I told someone that I was moving to
N.Z. but only from people that hadn’t been here.
My mother didn’t get it at all, for her it was like
burning the Aussie flag. She just had to settle for
– “because I want to move to a country that still
sells fireworks and China is too populated.”
Kiwi’s were also a little incredulous – “so let
me get this straight, you moved here from the
Sunshine Coast and your wife’s not a Kiwi and
you’re an Aussie” OK, cool.
With all of that I started questioning, why after
growing up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and a
lifetime of surfing of which the last 15 years was
spent in a place where the water is warm even in
winter and I could just walk across the road and surf
with all of my friends and neighbours would I leave.
The answer is because the South Island of New
Zealand is Disneyland for grown ups.
If you love the outdoors, this is it. We moved to
Kaiteriteri, gateway to the Abel Tasman National
Park and the South Island’s summer holiday
destination.
The only problem, no waves here and wetsuit
required outside of summertime. If I want to surf
I have to drive anywhere between 20 minutes
and one and a half hours depending on what’s
working. Other than that it’s an overnighter or 2
on the West Coast or Kaikoura.
No big deal really, surfing then becomes an
adventure like it was when we were young,
finding the secret spots, crossing farmland and
four wheel driving down isolated roads, mind
you I’m not as immune to the discomforts of the
adventures as I used to be.
Local knowledge is everything and fortunately
there is a boardriders club in Nelson.
Their motto is – Nelson Boardriders – Making
Shit Surfers Look Reasonable Since 2005.
Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
So what’s to do in between the long wait
between swells? The obvious answer before
I moved here was SUP, the bays and islands
around here are spectacular, crystal clear water,
and pristine uncrowded beaches.
The thought of moving to the dark side wasn’t a
particularly exciting one, but I bit the bullet and
bought a SUP. Decided to have a lesson as part of
the deal, just in case something was trickier than
it looked. That would be catching waves.
My first couple of paddles around the bay here,
confirmed a lack of adrenalin, but then it really
started to grow on me, especially when the odd
seal swims alongside for a while, checking me
out with those aquatic cocker spaniel eyes.
Now I really look forward to getting out there
whenever I can. Pretty keen to get into a break or
two. There’s a few guys around here getting into and
it probably won’t be long before we form ourselves
into some sort of collective excuse for a beer.
114 may/jun 2012