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The reason no doubt for Piha’s<br />
popularity is not just its proximity to<br />
the centre of Auckland but the plain<br />
fact the place is magic. We asked<br />
Mike a couple of questions about<br />
life in Piha, his boards and staying<br />
at his place.<br />
“We do love it here. Nowadays<br />
there are around 100 people that<br />
live in Piha and maybe 40 or 50 of<br />
those are surfers. We have a very<br />
small group of locals compared<br />
to the 200 that consider this their<br />
local beach because this is where<br />
they come to surf.<br />
“Piha has always been the most<br />
popular of all the west coast<br />
Auckland beaches because it’s the<br />
only one you can park right where<br />
the waves are. There are a number<br />
of quality beach breaks around<br />
Piha. Karekare is the next one<br />
down. You have a 10 minute walk<br />
down to the beach. Whites beach is<br />
north of Piha, which we surf when<br />
it is really small. You have to paddle<br />
to the point or walk there, which<br />
takes about 20 minutes. Anawhata<br />
is north of that. You park at the top<br />
of the hill and it’s a 20 minute walk<br />
down and 40 minutes back up so<br />
you don’t go there too often with a<br />
longboard.”<br />
PIHA: THE POWER<br />
“In the winter time we regularly<br />
get 5m swells. They are not<br />
usually rideable and that is when<br />
you go south to Raglan or north<br />
to Shipwreck Bay. There is just<br />
too much water breaking too far<br />
out and it’s too hard to get to.<br />
Humungous rips.<br />
“There is always a lot of water<br />
moving around, especially South<br />
Piha because it is a small beach<br />
and it cops all the swell coming in<br />
and so it only has one way to go<br />
out. The swell generally comes in<br />
on a sort of a southwesterly angle<br />
and the water rushes back out near<br />
the rocks. When it is moving, which<br />
is often, you can’t paddle against it.<br />
“But Piha is a good surf beach.<br />
Contrary to popular belief, it is<br />
actually better when the surf is<br />
smaller. It used to handle big surf.<br />
I can remember back in the 80’s it<br />
was quite common to surf 10 or 12<br />
ft waves out here because the sand<br />
was in such perfect condition and<br />
the waves would just peel across<br />
the whole bay. But we can’t live in<br />
the past.<br />
waspbags.com.au<br />
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that the things that should stay<br />
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Buy online or ask your friendly surf shop...<br />
may/jun <strong>2012</strong><br />
53
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