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TRAVEL<br />
SURF TRIP<br />
PHOTOS: BEN VOS<br />
Bucking the trend<br />
and going right...<br />
The right way, say<br />
the naturals<br />
New Zealand, or Aotearoa, as it<br />
is known in the Maori language,<br />
means ‘Land of the Long White<br />
Cloud’. Amongst surfers it is also<br />
known as the ‘Land of the Long<br />
Cool Lefts’ for its abundance of<br />
quality left-hand breaks. Yes, it’s a<br />
goofy footers paradise... weirdos.<br />
The country boasts several worldrenowned<br />
breaks such as Piha and<br />
Raglan, but loads of less widely<br />
known, but nonetheless high-class<br />
breaks such as Shipwreck Bay at<br />
the southern end of Ninety Mile<br />
Beach (which incidentally is only<br />
fifty-five miles), the Bog Works<br />
down Taranaki way (no prizes for<br />
guessing what it formerly was, but<br />
now it’s just as famous for putting<br />
you in it). It’s a hellman’s wave.<br />
Then there’s Murdering Bay and St<br />
Clair down on the South Island. The<br />
list just goes on and on and so do<br />
the cool names.<br />
The fact of the matter is, New<br />
Zealand has 15,000 kms of<br />
coastline, exposed to swell in<br />
every direction. There are literally a<br />
gazillion surf breaks, more than you<br />
could surf in a lifetime.<br />
Our challenge was to surf as many<br />
as we could in two weeks whilst<br />
catching up with a number of friendly<br />
folk who call this place home.<br />
We were never going to be able<br />
to cover it all in one trip, on our<br />
own. Well I was willing to give it a<br />
crack but my two slack-arse mates<br />
weren’t up for driving non-stop on<br />
our working holiday, so I settled for<br />
a loose plan of attack we decided<br />
upon... which we then discarded as<br />
soon as we got there. In the end,<br />
we just drove around the place,<br />
got to some places, missed some<br />
places, had a surf and one hell of<br />
a good time and kind of made our<br />
way from north to south.<br />
Fortunately, our friend Joel<br />
Coleman of saltmotion in Manly<br />
had similar plans of NZ discovery,<br />
visiting some places we didn’t get<br />
to and scoring waves in places we<br />
lucked out on.<br />
But even between our two distinct<br />
visits to the North Island, we still<br />
only get to show you a snapshot<br />
of what the place is truly like and<br />
what our cousins across the water<br />
have to offer.<br />
Enjoy a little look across the ditch!<br />
PHOTO: SALTMOTION<br />
may/jun <strong>2012</strong><br />
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