Smorgasboarder_23_winter_2014

TUTUKAKA
Jeff with Mickey T, Raglan Longboards
RANDOM ROAD TALES
Poor Knights Islands
Perfect Day crew
Schnappa Rock
Time was really starting to run out now and the
idea of heading up to the Bay of Islands and
Ahipara to see the guys at NZ Surf Bros. had to
be put off until next time. We did have time to
head up to Tutukaka thankfully, where I caught
up with Mal and Ali at Tutukaka Surf. This is
a really stunning area and Tutukaka Surf is
perfectly located in the harbour, with superb
restaurants such as Schnappa Rock right nearby.
The region is a great surf destination with a
good variety of breaks. Fishing is also a big
deal here judging by the amount of big game
boats in Tutukaka Harbour, however, one of the
areas that it’s not a big deal is the Poor Knights
Islands, a marine reserve around 45 minutes east
of Tutukaka. If you’re ever in the area I strongly
recommend that you go out there with Perfect
Day Ocean Cruises, who will give you just that,
a perfect day of snorkelling, paddle boarding
and cruising in an absolutely pristine marine
environment, crystal clear water, an abundance
of fi sh gliding past your goggles plus great food
and company.
We were lucky enough to be on board with a
local surfi ng family and members of the Ocean
Beach Boardriders – John, Michelle and Zane
Hicks. Zane recently won the 2014 Northland
Scholastic Surfi ng Series from a fi eld of 24 in a
good solid surf at Sandy Bay, someone to keep
an eye on I think.
Next day Mal lent me one of Tutukaka Surf’s
8’10” longboards so we headed around to Sandy
Bay, although not solid, it was a nice little wave
and after about 10 minutes I got chatting to a
Californian named Eric, who was catching some
nice rides on a smallish SUP. I mentioned that
I did a bit of SUP surfi ng as well and he kindly
lent me one of his made-in-California Kings high
performance boards. It also was 8’10” but only
28" wide - the smallest one I'd ever ridden. A bit
of a challenge at fi rst, but a lot of fun once I got
used to it.
people that you meet on the way, did I mention
Dave from Tutukaka Holiday Park? As well
as park owner and dairy farmer, he's a qualified
electrician (sometimes I feel like such an under
achiever) who fixed the electrical cord on our
Britz van after some clown ran over it. He
wouldn’t hear of taking any money for the half
hour of his time and expertise, but I did manage
to lay a bottle of NZ’s finest Pinot on him though.
We only scratched the surface of the North
Island, so definitely looking forward to all the
other bits in the future.
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Mal, Tutukaka Surf
Eric
It was time to head back to Auckland, then
on home to the South Island. One of the great
things about these sorts of trips is the terrific
@smorgasboarder
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SMORGASBOARDER | AUTUMN/WINTER 2014