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Perhaps the most critical ingredients<br />
of our New Cal trip, without which<br />
we couldn’t possibly have expected<br />
to travel and access most of the reef<br />
passes - or indeed either surf camp<br />
- was hooking up with The Perfect<br />
Wave’s local guide Sebastian.<br />
Seb was our host, our cook and surf<br />
guide all rolled into one. He and<br />
his team (Manu, Pierre, Fabricio,<br />
Dominique and Gill all went out of<br />
their way to accommodate every little<br />
request our crew of six demanding<br />
average Aussie surfers – Jamie, Matt,<br />
Charlie, Josh, Ken and myself threw<br />
at them.)<br />
Our crew were probably more<br />
demanding than most, as all six of<br />
us work for The Perfect Wave Travel<br />
Experience and were effectively on an<br />
educational recon mission, sampling<br />
the waves, food and travelling<br />
conditions first hand so we can pass<br />
our knowledge onto all prospective<br />
individual clients.<br />
During autumn and winter in the the<br />
South Pacific, storms charging through<br />
the Roaring Forties push swells up<br />
through the Tasman and Coral Sea,<br />
directly towards the SW Pacific island<br />
of New Caledonia.<br />
Strong storm activity in the Southern<br />
Ocean extending into the Tasman Sea<br />
delivered a solid eight to ten foot SW<br />
swell to New Caledonia’s offshore<br />
reef passes during the second week in<br />
June, coinciding with our visit. It was<br />
the same swell that delivered fifteen<br />
foot plus Cloudbreak and eight foot<br />
Restaraunts during The Volcom Fiji<br />
Pro. The long 15 to 18 second swell<br />
period ensured the swell wrapped<br />
into all sorts of nooks, crannies and<br />
reef passes up and down the New<br />
Caledonian coast.<br />
Based on our experience, I strongly<br />
recommend you take a quiver of three<br />
boards - Your standard shortboard,<br />
a step up 6’3“ and a 6’8“ or 7’2“ to<br />
cope with the reef passes, open ocean<br />
power and long-period swells you will<br />
encounter.<br />
Open to swell from the Tasman and<br />
Coral seas, all of the surf spots are at<br />
least a few kilometres from land and<br />
so are well and truly at the mercy of<br />
local winds.<br />
New Caledonia can occasionally<br />
get a tad funky in winter with the<br />
predominant wind being SE. Most<br />
south-facing Pacific coasts are<br />
onshore or cross shore in these<br />
conditions. However most of the<br />
surfable reef passes on New<br />
Caledonia are on the west coast<br />
which means the majority of setups<br />
are offshore or at least side/offshore<br />
in SE trades - the same trades that<br />
effect SE Qld.<br />
This, combined with the fact that<br />
New Caledonia picks up mostly SW<br />
to SE swell makes it an awesome<br />
alternative for an uncrowded autumn/<br />
winter surf trip.<br />
If New Caledonia sounds like your<br />
scene, go to www.theperfectwave.<br />
com.au and type your details on our<br />
enquiry page. One of the experienced<br />
surf consultants will be in touch to<br />
advise you about the trip of a lifetime.<br />
Alternately, call 02 9939 0890 and<br />
we will be able to connect you with<br />
Seb and even Gill if you wish to<br />
have your trip documented by a pro<br />
photographer.<br />
www.theperfectwave.com.au<br />
BEN HORVATH ON ONE OF THE MANY REASONS TO VISIT<br />
LEFT: Jamie Gray director of The Perfect Wave<br />
on a R&D mission at Tenia.<br />
BELOW: The Perfect Wave<br />
Sales Consultant Charlie Pierce out of the office and<br />
into the field researching what he sells with a solid hack at Tenia Left. Photos Gill.<br />
62 jul/aug 20<strong>12</strong>
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