New Zealand - Outer Island

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This wave was unreal. Extremely hollow sand-sucking takeoff into a playful Lowers wall that wound off over the rivermouth sandbar for 100 yards. Some waves were sucking in so much water on the out going tide during the peak of the swell that the wave broke in almost a standstill at the peak. It was really bizarre to see the ocean swell approach the opposing outgoing river current and stall for just a moment before rifling through and across to the bar where it broke unimpeded by the rivers flow. Not many people out here and it was the peak of their season. Cyclones or tropical depressions near Fiji create most of the swell for this paradise. I camped out here for 4 nights and will definitely be back.

Raglan Lines

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We had to go back to Raglan. After passing through and not catching any swell on the points we made our way up to Auckland to drop off the camper. We spent a few days around the city hanging out with Dave Decker who was traveling through from Oz with his friend Kevin. Way to many beers over a couple of days... We closed down the last bar we hit every night together while catching up on old times.

It was time to get back on the coast. We organized a van for about NZ$35/day from one of the rent-a-wrecks in town and started thinking about where we wanted to head to. There were some small waves and good winds in the forecast for the east coast but the German couple at our hostel was raving about a swell due to hit Raglan in a few days so I thought we'd do some sight seeing on the Coromandel for a couple of nights and then shoot on over to the west coast and catch that swell at Raglan. It ended up working out perfectly. We drove up to Hot Water Beach which is one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world. Not much surf and a little crowded for our liking but stunning scenery on the Coromandel all the same. The landscape is mountainous with lush, sub-tropical forests that drop steeply straight down to the ocean with tiny little secluded bays and white sand beaches. We rambled along in our beat-up little Toyota van that couldn't be any different from the Britz camper we'd had a few days before. We ended up down at a DOC campground in the forest a few miles from Whitiroa where I had two days of really fun head-high beachbreaks to myself.

Arriving in Raglan the first afternoon we rolled up to some fun waves coming into Manu Bay. A little windy but still some of the best surf I'd seen in awhile. Long lines of swell unwinding down the point. Dave and Kevin had just finished risking their lives getting into all kinds of action down in Taupo. White water sledging, abseiling into caves and bungying. All kinds of craziness!!! We met up for a beer to hear all about it that night. This time we stayed at the campground in town. It was really great since thats where most of the local Maori families were set up. The people next to us come down to Raglan every summer with their kids and grandkids for 3-4 weeks. Rivermouths are pretty special places for surfers as well as most indigenous people. For surfers it's the pointbreak that has been created over millenia from the flow of water or the sandbars that open up after a good rainfall. For others around the world a rivermouth is a source of fresh water, food resources and arable land. And its pretty.... Think Malibu, Rincon, Mundaka, Trestles, Talebudgera Creek behind Burleigh along with many, many more. Anyway it was really cool to camp for 4 nights with so many local people. Seeing what they brought in from fishing all day, cooking in the kitchen seeing what they were fixing up and learning a few Maori words. No, I can't remember what they mean now... And the swell came as the Germans predicted. Surfed Manu and Indicators really good. Far from epic but for a summer swell I was really stoked.

Ruapuke - North Island

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Hedda and I spent our last night in the luxurious Britz camper at Solscape in the hills above Raglan. Pretty cool set up there with their abandoned train cars creating a trippy atmosphere. Beautiful crystal clear, offshore morning but no waves on the points. We took the drive around the points on the gravel road. Pretty slow and winding but with amazing views of the Tasman Sea. I did pull over at one point and spotted a nice looking left point at the bottom of a long steep valley, most likely only accessible by boat.

Just when we thought we'd past the road to the beach we found it. Black, black sand and a small Mako shark in the parking area obviously left by some locals to remind visitors where they are. The surf was offshore, head-high and pretty punchy. A few little barrels were there to be had. Unfortunately for those lonely waves I was surfing this long stretch of beachbreak and only saw 4 others all morning.