January 7th 2014: Mauao

I wasn't sure if Duane was going to jump, but we had arrived at the apex of the footbridge linking Raglan to the harbouside campground. Next to us on the top rail are about 25 others – mostly kids and teenagers waiting to time their plummet into the swift tidal surge below us.

By the time you've climbed on to the rail it's hard to back out. We jump in, freefall, then slice through the emerald water. I poke my feet into the black sand on the harbour floor before swimming back to the surface. Duane emerges with a huge grin on his face. He's a super-intelligent medical professional, but in that moment we both became kids again – summer at the beach can do that to you.

After some time in Raglan we headed across to the East Coast to Mt Maunganui just in time for a small east pulse. We were told it had been flat for a few weeks so this was a welcomed swell. But Mt Maunganui isn't just about waves. It's a beach town obsessed with ocean sports and that quintessential Kiwi beach lifestyle.

We took a stroll around the mount, snorkelled in rock pools, swam with stingrays, got dumped by a small shorebreak, lay in the sand, bathed in hot pools and destroyed some ridiculously huge Copenhagen cones. Now that's what summer is about.

We hear Dunedin has been copping some nasty weather, well here is the silver lining: copious amounts of swell around tomorrow and both coasts have some favourable winds in the next few days. Get amongst it.

Derek