Smorgasboarder_23_winter_2014
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RANDOM ROAD TALES<br />
Raglan<br />
Mickey T<br />
Raglan Longboards<br />
Ray Finlay<br />
RANDOM TALES<br />
FROM THE ROAD<br />
...IN NZ<br />
WORDS & PHOTOS: JEFF MORRIS<br />
AUCKLAND TO RAGLAN<br />
Picked up the Big Britz Motel<br />
close by Auckland Airport, it was<br />
busy at the depot and I thought I’d<br />
be there until dark, but the crew had<br />
done it all before and I was Raglan<br />
bound in no time.<br />
Two hours later I pulled into Raglan<br />
Kopua and was well looked after by<br />
Teresa, Jo and the Kopua crew.<br />
Next morning, walked into town<br />
to check out the famous vibe. Was<br />
it really like Byron in the '70s? As<br />
they say, "If you can remember,<br />
you weren’t really there", but I<br />
sort of remember, and it sort of<br />
is... Anyhow it’s definitely a cool<br />
town and one of the coolest areas<br />
is around Raglan Roast and<br />
Raglan Surf Emporium. Popped<br />
into Raglan Roast and found Tony<br />
Bruce deep in the brown lightning<br />
cave roasting some of his magic<br />
beans. Interesting guy and had the<br />
pleasure of his company on the<br />
drive back up to Auckland the next<br />
day. If you’re in Raglan pop in and<br />
say hello, he has some interesting<br />
stories from the Volcom and early<br />
Raglan days.<br />
Moved on next door and had a good<br />
chat about all things (Sydney’s)<br />
Northern Beaches surfing with<br />
J.C. - Tony’s long time business<br />
collaborator and owner of Raglan<br />
Surf Emporium.<br />
The morning was getting on and<br />
I really wanted to check out the<br />
even more legendary left-hander<br />
at Manu Bay, on the way I called<br />
in to see Mickey T and Sunny at<br />
Raglan Longboards. They have a<br />
great old school type surf shop here,<br />
no corporate stuff, just Mickey’s<br />
boards, t-shirts and related<br />
merchandise. Mickey is a true<br />
craftsman and the quality and finish<br />
of his boards are as good as it gets.<br />
It’s worth calling in just to see the<br />
neatest shaping bay in the world.<br />
He generously lent me one of his 9<br />
footers, so I popped out and picked<br />
up a few onshore sliders, not flash<br />
but fun and uncrowded.<br />
On the way back to town I called<br />
in to our friends at Piwiwiwi,<br />
where Anna showed me around one<br />
of their newer, upmarket models<br />
complete with strings attached for<br />
hanging long boards and a couple of<br />
cunning areas to put short boards.<br />
Ray Finlay – Burning Spears<br />
surfboards were next on the<br />
way, so I also called in and just<br />
caught him as he was about to go<br />
somewhere else but he opened the<br />
shop and showed me some of his<br />
latest creations.<br />
54<br />
SMORGASBOARDER | AUTUMN/wiNTer <strong>2014</strong>
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