There is something curious about living out west as a surfer. It's an opportunistic kind of lifestyle borne of a relationship tied to a tempestuous little ditch of water: the Tasman Sea. Take Raglan last weekend; pumping and filled to the brim with those who have engineered their lives to dedicate entire days to just such an occasion. Even if it does occur mid-week or on a Monday as this last one did.
Then there's Piha with daily nuances and windows of opportunity all set in a bushclad amphitheatre. I watched local ripper and surf coach Zen Wallis and an entourage of young groms paddle out into onshore frothy slop like it was the best day ever. Two groms, Milo and Zeke, had somehow managed to wrangle the day off school (learning early to seize an opportunity). I'm pretty sure they spent the whole day in their wetsuits and appeared to be at 110% stoke levels throughout. They rip, too. What an enviable learning environment.
In other places in New Zealand we're a bit too fussy to embrace the full spectrum of surf conditions it seems. And maybe we're missing out ...
While in Piha for a new book project I was introduced to a young cliff diving athlete: Iris Schmidbauer. She's the top ranked German cliff diver and well inside the world's top 10 – one of only three women to complete one of the world's toughest dives across her 2-second, 20-22m graceful leap of faith. She discovered surfing in New Zealand about six months ago and is already quite proficient in what most would consider a sport with an incredibly long-learning curve. I was impressed. Iris just tells me that most people don't realise what they are capable of. She's a unique blend of athleticism and mental fortitude, and she likes to snap convention at its knees. My money: she'll be world cliff-diving champion one day.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS It is with great sadness that we share the news that New Zealand surfing has lost one of its really good guys with the passing last week of Andy Vette. Andy was a life-long Makorori local, proud parent of Saffi and Finn and husband of Ness. Those of us in the south send our love to his whanau and friends in Gisborne, and a constant stream of south swell. You can check out the amazing paddle-out held at Makorori for Andy right here.
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