I sat overlooking Raglans majestic point breaks practicing on my Ukulele reflecting on an awesome week so far and things were about to get better although I was unaware of this at the time, I was simply taking in the beauty of our land.

The time came and I went to pick my sister from another mister up and set off on our mission to Whangamata for the Longboard National Surfing Championships in a weeks time. We decided we would stop off in Ohope to pick up a surfboard from her Whanau who have a beautiful home and Motel a stones throw from the ocean. We stayed in a beautiful unit which overlooked Ohope beach and if any of you are looking for accommodation around the Whakatane area I would definitely recommend Sea View Motel, you are guaranteed a sea view and to have yourself a friendly, comfy, relaxing stay. Four days later we thought we had best be on our way after soaking up the sun, surfing super fun Ohope waves, hula hooping and searching for Moko the bodyboard thieving resident dolphin.

Next stop was onto Whangamata, the surf was looking good but we had faith the evening sesh was going to be the bees knees so we killed time on the hula hoops having a laugh. Mischa Mermaid and Sophie Stingray arrived later that evening and we had an awesome surf in 2-3ft glassy waves, the water was so beautifully warm!

Talk about town was that the waves were picking up quiet considerably along with the wind, I decided you never really know until the time comes. Sure enough we are greeted with hmmm a solid 4-6ft of chucky swell rolling through Whanga beach and onshore winds…not exactly ideal for Longboards, well not really an ideal day to be in the ocean full stop but thats cool as everyone is in the same boat and you just have to get out there and do it. The ladies had to surf twice that day, first heat of the morning and last heat of the day. There was a heap of paddling going on and plenty on hold downs. Towards the end of the day it looked as though the waves had picked up even more and it was the first time in a while that I had felt a little uneasy about heading out in those conditions. The Open Men were even talking about how heavy it felt out there!

I made it through both of my heats onto the final, thankfully day two offered some much more manageable yet still challenging conditions. I managed to get onto a few quick waves and sneaky gaps out the back until I caught one most of the way in and ended up paddling for what felt as though a solid 10minutes through white wash after white wash. Tangaroa let me free and I was back out the back and in the lead, stoked!

So again this stint is coming to an end and I will be off back to the cold cold South in a few days to catch up with friends and family with a National title under my belt…yay!!

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