Surfer girls checking in

Friday, 19 January, 2007
8:34 PM NZST
Back in Auckland

Hello again!

It's been a few days since we've had a chance to reach the internet. It's been kind of nice to be in a place without any form of communication but letters and postcards, it reminds me of working at summer camp. However, I now have heaps of stuff to write about, so prepare for a long saga!

I left off on Tuesday afternoon in Kaitaia. From there we drove north for about an hour through some more amazingly scenic country to a beach called Rarawa, near the settlement of Houhora. Rarawa is on the east coast, the Pacific Ocean. It was some of the most gorgeous weather we've seen yet- totally clear and sunny, the ocean an amazing blue, and the sand incredibly hot. Rarawa is a beautiful beach, lots of wide sand, in a little bit of a bay. The surfing there was crazy though- Rangi's surf report said the swells were 2 feet, but they were actually 3 and 4 feet, which is closing on terrifying if you're a beginning surfer, and we had riptides to look out for. In a protected bay, the water can't wash sideways along the beach to get back out to sea-it has to go straight back out. That flow is the riptide, and it can be really dangerous if you get sucked into it, so we had to be careful. The waves and the power of the water at Rarawa was brutal- we got totally battered just trying to get out to where we could get some good distance for a ride, sometimes I would hang onto my board to jump through an oncoming wave and it would wash me back 10 or 20 feet towards shore. I think we each only got 2 or 3 rides in an hour, and in the end Rangi was the only one out there, and the rest of us were sunbathing or playing soccer on the beach. It was frustrating, I had done pretty well that morning and was really disgruntled that I didn't get any good surfing at that beach, but at least everyone else seemed to feel the same way :)

Surfing is really hard on the body. At least on my body. Until about yesterday, I was sore in pretty much every way imaginable. I still have bruises on my knees (from jumping onto the board), my hips (from the board being washed against me while heading out into the waves), my elbow (have no idea what from), my thighs (again, no idea). I have sunburned pretty much every imaginable part of my body, even taking precautions against the sun. The ozone layer is much thinner down here and you can fry after about 20 minutes of exposure. I also have surfer's rash on my ribcage- this comes from surfing just in a swimsuit (two-piece), and my ribcage being irritated by sand stuck in the surfboard wax. But it's a heck of a lot of fun, and my burn will be tan soon, and I love the fact that right now I have more freckles on my face and arms than I've ever had in my life!

Rangi cooked spaghetti for all of us on Tuesday night, and we had a great time eating in and sitting around with drinks. However, as Rangi promised, we were all totally knackered by about 11 PM and crashed accordingly.

Wednesday was awesome- we took a break from surfing in the morning, and got to sleep in a bit. Kate and Provo and I had a nice walk on the beach in the morning, and saw horse trekkers, and 4 dead stingrays (about 2 feet wide, each) that had washed up on the beach. We all loaded up and headed out late in the morning, and our first stop was a lookout point high above shipwreck bay, not far from our house. I don't remember if i mentioned Shipwreck Bay, but it's a gorgeous cove just inside the rocks, with an old mast and hull buried in the sand, and a wave that breaks for hundreds of feet and attracts surfers from everywhere. It's too bad the weather wasn't better that day, or the views would have been even more incredible.

We stopped about 45 minutes later at Awanui, just north of Kaitaia, and the Ancient Kauri museum. Kauri trees are amazing to look at and pretty rare. But there is a swamp somewhere near Ahipara where Kauri wood ended up being preserved for 30,000-50,000 years, and then extracted and worked by masters into the most beautiful items. The museum as a showroom full of dishes, sculptures, and furniture made of Kauri. It has the most beautiful sheen and colour, and is finished with beeswax, so it becomes really silky. There was also a spiral staircase to the second floor, carved out of the inside of a 15-food wide Kauri trunk. It was really neat to see, and I thought it was cool that Rangi decided to take us there to check it out. Kauri is really expensive though, so I just bought a small carved top, just so i could have some of that beautiful wood.

Next, we headed north on our longest drive yet, up past Rarawa and out through some really wild country that reminded me very strongly of the highlands of Scotland. Rolling, brushy hills covered in sheep, with a few gnarly trees here and there. I hadn't realized before how remote the northland is- there's one road that goes north from Auckland, and it takes hours to get to the north tip of the island, and there's only tiny settlements north of Whangerei. Our first stop was at Te Paki Stream and the giant sand dunes there. They're a huge tourist attraction, that we just drove up to, taking the truck down the streambed. Our purpose: dune surfing! Dune boarding is a blast. Here's what you do:

1) Take off your shoes.
2) Put on lots of sunscreen (I forgot) and your sunglasses
3) Grab a boogie board or skim board
4) Climb about 50 yards up a very steep pure sand dune. Wheeze a lot.
5) Walk to edge of dune.
6) Make sure the coast is clear.
7) Fling yourself down on boogie board, stomach-down and head first.
8) Go barreling down the dune at a million miles an hour, braking with your feet and sending and everywhere.
9) a. Make it to the bottom safely but totally covered with sand or b. Wipe out spectacularly and come out with sand in every orofice.

I did it twice, it was a riot. There were loads of people there, some on sleds. We saw lots of speed and lots of bad endings.

From Te Paki we headed even further north, into even more remote country. On the way up, we ran into a New Zealand traffic jam: a herd of a couple hundred sheep covering the highway, being herded to a new paddock by dogs and a farmer on an ATV. We had to follow them for about ten minutes while the crossed the one-lane bridge- it was a totally classic scene. Eventually we ended up at our destination: Cape Reinga (ree-ainga). The cape is the northernmost point of New Zealand, where the Tasman sea and the Pacific come together. We walked out to the lighthouse on the point, and you can actually see where the two oceans meet: the waves crash up against eachother and form a lot of whitewater way offshore. You can also see the difference in colour of the two oceans: the Tasman is very green, and the Pacific much more blue.

While we were up there, Rangi showed us a tree that clings to a cliff way out above the water just southeast of the lighthouse. It's an ancient tree and the only one that has survived living on that rock. Its significance is this: When a Maori dies, no matter where he or she is buried, his or her soul leaves New Zealand via that tree. It is the passage through which all Maori pass into the next world, and I can't imagine a more beautiful spot for such a journey.

We drove just a few minutes from the Cape, to an isolated little beach on the east coast called Taputaputa Bay, a cove surrounded by steep cliffs and with no other visitors. After a quick lunch we hit the waves, and it was some of the best surf conditions we had run into. There were crazy sideways undertows because it was a bay, and at one point I got caught in a "V", where two waves were coming from different directions at I was at the point of the V when they both broke, which according to Dominik and Sherman created a fairly impressive wipeout, but the rest of the surfing was great. It got cold and started raining on the way home, and Provo and I both got really carsick on the drive back to Ahipara. It was about 3 hours on a windy road with a stomach full of saltwater and a cold wet swimsuit under my clothes, not at all pleasant. However, some ginger ale, a quick lie-down and a fantastic barbecue that night cured all illness.

Yesterday:

We took a break from driving (much to mine and Provo's relief) and surfed at Ahipara both in the morning and in the evening. Our schedule has been controlled by the tides for the last five days, we surf at high tide because especially at Ahipara that's when the swells are biggest. It was great conditions though, warm enough in the morning that I surfed sans wetsuit, but it started raining in the afternoon. It was nice to just have the middle of the day to sit around, journal, talk, walk up to the store for a treat. In the afternoon some of us drove out on the rocks past "Shippy's" (Shipwreck Bay) with Rangi to pick mussels before the tide came in too far to reach the mussel beds at his "secret mussel trove." We didn't quite beat the tide though- Rangi and I got our lower halves drenched by a wave as we attempted to reach the biggest mussels.

We hit the waves out in front of the house again at about 7 PM. It was great to be able to just suit up, grab my board (which I feel to be a good friend now, I got so used to it's pattern and the way it handled), wade across the channel, walk across 100 yards of beach, tether up, and get my surf on. Last night was some of my best surfing yet. We surfed in the rain, and Kate didn't want to get in, so she stayed ashore with me and Provo's cameras, so we have lot of photodocumentation and proof that we both can surf pretty well by now! Unfortunately all the pictures look like we could be in Oregon- it's gray and wet!

Provo and I were the last ones out of the water, and as we came back up to the house, we could smell divine dinner smells wafting down. We had an awesome sit-down dinner with all 11 of us around a big table on the porch, with lots of laughter and good food. Jean cooked the mussels we picked in a white wine sauce with onions and parsley, and it was probably the best seafood dish I have ever had. Rangi made butter chicken, served over rice, and we all realized how lucky we were to have a tour guide who was not only funny and unpretentious, but a fabulous cook.

Provo and I were the first ones in the waves again this morning- the weater beautiful again, but we all wore wetsuits now that we were familiar with surfer's rash. We all surfed for an hour or so before we had to load up all the boards, rinse the wetsuits, get 11 people cycled through the 1 shower, get all the bags packed, beds stripped, dishes washed, and lunch eaten. Just before noon, the Fellowship of the Surf (Martin's term) was broken: Martin, Dominik, and Ino headed to the Bay of Islands for a fishing trip, and the rest of us piled back into the surfmobile to drive back to Auckland, with our final stop at Bidz, the local shop where ice creams (New Zealand makes the best I've ever had) are $1. The trip back was really fun, and none of us got motion sickness this time. It's great to travel with people who feel like family, through gorgeous countryside with Green Day on the radio, talking about politics, laughing at Rangi getting upset at other drivers, and making fun of Kate sitting between the 2 Ethans in the back seat.

We got back to Auckland at about 6, and we all finally had to part ways. It's really weird, and sad, to spend every minute of 5 days with the same group of people, and then realize that you'll probably never seen any of them again. Jean especially felt like a kindred spirit, and as the trip's unofficial photographer promised to hook us all up with photos of the group.

There's so many other details I want to mention, but I know I'll forget something. So many little things happened: running out of water at the house (New Zealand houses run on tank water, trucks come periodically to refill the tank- all toilets here are dual flush, to conserve water.) and having to shower at the local campground at 11 PM, learning that "Pants" is Dutch for stomach, and adjusting to a totally unfamiliar eating schedule. Surfing works up a massive appetite, so we usually would eat one light breakfast before heading out front, then have "second breakfast" after, lunch at 3 or 4 PM, and dinner at 9 or 10. Definitely took some getting used to.

This is getting long and I'm almost out of internet time. We fly south to Wellington tomorrow and start the next phase of our trip. Provo is uploading some surfing pictures, so I'll try and figure out how to post some on here. Here's me sending you some sun (but hopefully not a sunburn!).