Kaikoura: Part 2 – All Good Things... (Kaikoura to Hawke’s Bay)

Hawke's Bay, South of Napier

In their ongoing efforts to waylay (or at least delay) the deep sea drilling currently underway, since my last post, Greenpeace NZ, along with several other groups (NoDrill Kaikoura being one of them) and various concerned Kiwi’s, have been continuing their social actions against oil companies. Some of these actions have recently come to a conclusion (google ‘Kaikoura Flotilla’), while others have gone off (google ‘West Coast banner protest’).


Unfortunately, this activist has been unable to participate due to 1) not owning a boat to get to the flotilla; and, B) The Southern Summer Tour Team ended up getting jobs. I’ll come back to this last bit in a moment.


More than just a town sandwiched between awesome breaks, and a place absolutely worth protecting, Kaikoura is home to one of the most relaxed and easy going communities of surfer’s in Aotearoa. We happened to be there for a long-weekend (for the Christchurch and Nelson gangs), meaning the town was full of people from around the South Island, giving us a chance to see the place in nearly full-summer swing. That being said, our van, The Jack Johnson, was broken into, and a few things (namely Sam’s laptop and T-Bone’s portable hard drive, along with their backpacks) taken.

Jack in the Orchard (Jobs...)

Even though the local police told us that they would do everything they could to help us out (and, for the first time, I actually believed something a police officer was telling me), everyone we met from Ben (the clerk at Kaikoura Surf, the locally owned and run surf shop), almost anyone who overheard us talking about it, to the staff at Gropy’s Garage, one of the Kaikoura watering holes (and T-Bones’ second home when he was living in Kaikoura last summer), the community got together and tried to help sort us out. In the end, even though the stolen stuff was never found, we left with a massive feeling of inclusion and friendship that is worth more than 10 laptops.


Setting up to leave Kaikoura behind as we continued our way north, the Team lucked out in a very big way: Having stopped by Gropy’s Garage for some coffee and free internet (still trying to locate our lost stuff) we bumped into T and Kath – a Nelson couple on their long-weekend in the region. Perhaps one of the nicest couples I’ve personally ever met, T performed a hongi with the whole Team. I’ve never felt so accepted, let alone included, in another culture than I did in that moment. The hongi is a very intimate and personal exchange, and I was touched deeper than I can even find words to express.


Leaving some stolen things behind we soldiered on. The waves were gone and an unusual calm had settled into the region, so we figured we better head North. For a short time the Team split up: T-Bone and I grabbed a ferry to Wellington while Deezie and Sam went up towards Golden Bay and Farewell Spit.


Stopping in to see some friends in Wellington T-Bone and I spent the weekend making our way up to Hawke’s Bay where, as luck would have us, the drought continued. In the three days it took us to find a job the South Pacific was suspiciously calm. Despite trying to surf once, just south of Napier (which was perhaps the stupidest thing I’ve attempted on a surfboard), we hung on and dug in.


The surfing community here, unlike Kaikoura (and I’m sorry for the false dichotomy, Hawke’s Bay – it’s just that Kaikoura has become something of a magical place for me...a Gnarnia of smooth, flawless breaks filled with happy, accepting tribes of short- and long-boarders, where the surf shop and the pub are the heart and soul of the community), is a little spread out and hard to get a finger on. During our 3 day limbo, T-Bone and I visited surf shops in Hastings and Napier, mostly in search of decent intel on the best breaks in the region (Ocean Beach, many of them replied), and to see how the vibe is. Napier’s Backdoor Surf clerk (whose name I sadly didn’t get) was the most helpful. Plus, he was totally willing to explain the vibe of the scene, which he describes as chill enough.


I’ve been surfing twice since my horrible attempt just south of Napier, and the surfing here does make the shitty job worth it: Having spent last Sunday at Ocean Beach with the re-united Team (Sam managed to grab a whole bunch of long rides as the late-day swell picked up), T-Bone and I also managed to run out after work on Tuesday and grab one of the choppiest sessions we’ve had since the west coast of the South Island (Big Pink, T-Bone’s boogie board, sadly, died in the crazy swells). As for the community: We have yet to really run into a bunch of chatty people. Not, I’ll promise, because they are territorial and crazy, but because we’ve been out there catching lucky swells, on days swellmap.co.nz (one of the most helpful sites on the internet) predicts (correctly) the bare minimum. Basically: We just haven’t run into them yet (probably because it isn’t really summer yet).


Now, getting back to the jobs. All good things, they say, come to an end. And, I guess, the four of us landing the same job at the same place means the Southern Summer Tour is finally at an end. True: Jobs don’t mean we can’t and won’t be surfing, or talking to people (we’ve settled into Hastings’ Eco Lodge, meaning there’s lots of cool, like-minded people to hang out with). Plus, Hawke’s Bay is one of the primo surfing areas in Aotearoa (at least, in the North Island), and we’re sure to get our fill before the Team officially breaks up around Christmas. Either way, we’re sedentary now. Jack and Ron have settled into short trips, shuttling us between jobs and breaks. We’re going to keep plugging away and promoting the Soul Surfer message, and trying to get more riders (of all types) into being aware of their environment, and the social impact of sports travel. We’re just going to do it in a different way from now on.


And, continuing with this ‘ending’ stuff, my tenure as blog author for RA is also quickly coming to a close.

Kikila w/the biggest gum tree ever (Havelock Nth)

As of Dec 14 I’ll be heading out, leaving Aotearoa behind and making tracks through Oahu before landing (mid-winter) in Canada. Leaving summer for winter...I know: bad move. After I split in the next week, T-Bone (he’s promised) is going to take over the RA ropes for NZ. Sure, I’ll probably drop one more post in from Hawai’i (I’m hoping to make it out to the Pipe Master’s and talk up Soul Surfers between watching awesome surfers shred the shit out of...you get the idea), otherwise: Thanks everyone who kept up with the tour, and all of the people who we chatted with along the way.


Also, thanks to Sam, Dee, T-Bone, Jack and Ron. You’ve been hellish good company!

Kikila