Our grand finale in New Zealand was a short 1 hr drive to the Tasman Sea in the Northland to the town of Ahipara. There is a headland at the bottom of the famous 90 mile beach that is host to one of the worlds longest waves…Shipwreck bay. Ely and I rented a quad for an hour or so, and took it up on to 90 mile beach to the North. So much fun!
The bay pretty much picks up the same swells and direction as Raglan, except it is one continuous wave instead of 4 or 5 different left hand breaks. It is all volcanic rock, and breaks a lot like a reverse JBay for about 800 meters (leg burners). It is a really racey down-the-line type break , and consequently, I felt like I was flying on a few of these. I was fortunate enough to catch it chest to head high with about 15 guys out and offshore. What a great way to end the trip!
Overall, the trip was better than our wildest dreams. the final tallies are as follows: 3,148km driven, 1780 pictures taken, 8 campsites, 4 snow capped volcanoes, 13 surf breaks, 2 winery tours, 15km hiked, 1 snorkeling adventure, 1 quad trip,1 farm tour, 3 lord of the ring movies, 4 books, 1 bay cruise, 3 caves, 36 hours of total flying time logged and 690,437 sheep.
Big thanks to Tory and Brian for allowing us to share, to Matt O for tracking down an offseason Xcel that worked like a charm, to Todd for watching the house and getting me fit, and to our bosses for being so supportive of this opportunity. We are grateful for our time in New Zealand, and we are even happier to be safely back home to share with friends and family. See ya in the lineup!
Looks like such an amazing trip! I just read thru all the posts and now I want to get to NZ even more than I did before! so stoked for you two! 🙂
Aw, you lucky humans! I’m taking notes
I will find you…and when I do I want video of that left. Mu,ha,ha,ha,haaah!