Smorgasboarder_11_May-2012
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Smorgasboarder_11_May-2012

smorgasboarder
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE BEACH… It’s a fitting way to start a story like this. You see we were racing to get to Piha so we could catch local shaper, Mike Jolly, before he finished for the day. It was nearing 5pm and Ben had the pedal to the metal of our motorhome, driving around clifftop corners like a madman. We got to Mike’s place just before closing time and took in the magnificent view. It was there we noticed the surf was going off. It looked like a nice clean 3-4ft swell. But we were a long, long way away. Mike informed us it was a fair bit bigger. We start chatting to Mike, who is an incredibly affable, down-to-earth bloke, and then realised the sun was starting to disappear rather suddenly, amidst the overcast skies. We cut our conversation short after a mere 10 minutes and in keeping with our ‘surfing local boards’ quest, hit Mike up for some boards of his to test, and promptly left. Driving down the road towards South Piha it dawned on us what just happened. We just met a bloke, spoke to him for only a couple of minutes and grabbed a couple of his personal boards and took off. You have to love New Zealand. (We’ll get back to Mike later - there’s a wave on!) Piha is comprised of two distinct beaches. Lion Rock, the eroded core of an ancient volcano (aptly named because it dead set looks like one) divides North Piha and South Piha. When we arrived at the beach near dusk, North Piha was near deserted, so we gave it a swerve. Most of the surfers were concentrated near the southern end of South Piha near Camel Rock. What can we say, New Zealanders love their animals but this rock did also resemble a camel. The surf wasn’t huge but it was undeniably daunting. When it’s low light, the waves are thundering in, the water is moving around like a washing machine, you’re on a foreign board and you have no idea what kind of bottom lies underneath, it can freak you out a little. A couple of big swooshes down a wave face later however was enough to calm the nerves and get us hooting and hollering. From there it was back to the campgrounds for a warm shower and up to the Piha RSA Club for a couple of beers and a good feed, the perfect way to finish the day. ABOVE: We arrive in Piha to waves and meeting Mike Jolly and his lawnmower. The next morning, the swell had dropped off a little but cleaned up a lot and we caught some of the most fun waves we were to have all trip. 50 may/jun 2012

TRAVEL SURF TRIP may/jun 2012 51

TRAVEL<br />

SURF TRIP<br />

may/jun <strong>2012</strong><br />

51

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