A week out and the forecast looked superb: a rising swell and southwest winds at Raglan with a hint of an East Coast swell and offshore winds by the end of our trip. We were heading to the Waikato for a family wedding that was going to be bookended by great surf. Superb. My daughter Taya had heard enough stories about Raglan to be bouncing off the walls at the chance to surf the points.
We'd just paid an extra $25 each way to take our boards with Jetstar when the forecast started to churn in directions we hadn't anticipated. Suddenly, the Friday session, that had looked close to perfect a week out, was looking massive, stormy and onshore. Then a northerly airflow was marching in to strangle what swell was still coming around the corner by the end of the weekend.
The east coast wasn't showing any signs of a pulse and Gisborne, my pick of the options, had just a small swell that was mostly going right past. We deemed the five-hour drive too far for our 36-hour window.
It's a stark reminder of how tough surfing can be in the North Island at times. And how easy we have it in Otago.
We ended up surfing junky Manu Bay with about 10 of us out – most of them family and the rest close friends. For Taya, that's not a bad way to get to explore Manu Bay for the first time. For me, it's nice to share waves at such a cool spot with family and friends. The surf may not have been great, but the moments were.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS While we were stranded up in Christchurch recently we got to meet a really cool guy called Jay Jackman. He escaped from Australia's East Coast and is a second generation surfboard guru. He's the man responsible for the vast array of shapes and designs coming out of Sadhana Surfboards. He builds boards with an open mind and just one goal: to improve the connection between surfer and the ocean. We reckon that's a pretty cool philosophy. You can learn more about Jay right here.
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