Our journey this past week has taken us through rainy Mount Maunganui and sunny, sunny Gisborne.
Rain in Mount Maunganui isn't all that bad – it means there should be some swell at least and I like to think we made the most of the 2 to 3-foot, 4-second period wind chop. Keo wasn't very impressed by the waves until the Brock sisters, Anna and Sophia, paddled out and found some excellent faces at Main Beach.
While the waves are usually pretty mushy in the Mount, the standard of surfing is way up. We got a glimpse of that when we saw one of New Zealand's leading surf coaches, Matt Scorringe, taking back-to-back video training sessions one morning. Surf coaching is getting high tech these days with instant video reviews of each wave. Very cool.
In Gisborne the standard is also high, but they have some pretty nice-shaped waves and even barrels if you're lucky. We spent our entire time in the water between two Wainui breaks called No Access and Stock Route. A small, but fun swell produced 2 to 4-foot peaks the whole time fanned by light offshores and loads of sunshine. The colour of the water at Wainui is like nowhere else I've ever surfed. Soft emerald green to turquiose to blue gradients – the perfect escape from some of the 29°C days we had there.
Our final stop was an old favourite stomping ground of mine: Mahia. I gave Keo the full tour of all the waves, but not one spot was surfable. The south coast was wildly onshore and massive and the north coast was barely breaking. Overnight the sweet spot between wind and swell cleanliness happened and by morning the south swell was completely gone.
And with 12 days on the road that was our adventure coming to an end. Stoked to be able to share it with my 11-year-old, Keo, who came along to assist with my next book project and snag a wave or two along the way. I'm pretty sure he surfed for about eight hours one day during three different surf sessions: A dawine at the Mount, midday surf at Stock Route and an evening session at No Access. Not bad at all.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS We've just hung all new artworks at our gallery at 8 Castle Street, Dunedin (opposite the Dunedin Railway Station). Because of our travel commitments we're still operating by appointment until mid-December. You can arrange an appointment with Derek on 021 139 8188. Or you can peruse our gallery online here.
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