One of the pleasures of being an older surfer is the chance to go surfing with your children and enjoy seeing them experience new locations and experiences. An annual Father and Son surf road trip has become a tradition, between two friends and fathers, and their 14 year old boys. A diary of our 2009 trip follows;
Taranaki Tour 23 -26 April 2009
I don’t need an Alarm clock waking up ten minutes before our scheduled departure, something that would never happen if I was going to work! John and Alistair arrive and we load the boards and our gear and we are on the Motorway before 5.30am, bound for New Plymouth.
The morning is cold and clear, with temperatures reaching a low of 1.5 (Celsius) as we approach Te Kuiti, with the promise of a sunny day ahead.
A quick check at Mokau reveals clean offshore conditions and a nice swell. There is an uncrowded “A frame” peak on offer, but John wants to press on confident of even better spoils ahead. Our next stop is to drop off the trailer at Ahu Ahu Villas, our home for the trip, before heading down Surf Highway 45 looking for our first surf. First stop is at Stent Rd. We arrive to great conditions, clean and 3 foot, but with a reasonable crowd.
Concerns raised about the crowd are quickly dispelled. Johnny snares a set wave immediately upon reaching the line up, while the rest of us are still paddling out. Our timing is perfect as the crowd steadily dissipates leaving us a near empty line up.
We have a great session. Ali has a smile a mile wide as he picks off lots of waves and races through section after section. George doesn’t catch as many but throws the biggest spray from a massive cutback on one. Yours truly and John manage plenty of overhead set waves without upsetting any of the locals.Back on shore we are so excited and barely believing our luck in scoring such a good first up session.
That night we settle into the Villa, Johnny cooks burgers, and after a few drinks we are all ready for an early night and in bed by about 8.30pm. What a first day!
Day two dawns clear and bright. Mt Taranaki looks fantastic, bathed in sunshine and dominating the landscape. Our host David and his son Seth join us for a morning session again at Stent Rd. The swell has dropped slightly but we still enjoy a nice session mainly to ourselves.
David takes us on an impromptu tour, the highlight being getting the van stuck on Opunake beach, much to the amusement of all (except John). Our guide shows us all the top breaks in the South Taranaki area including Arawhata Rd, and we also visit some historical Pa sites, and an amazing bluff at Pihama with mountain views inland, and sweeping views of the rugged cliff faces along the coastline in each direction.
We return to Stent in the afternoon to find the swell has kicked. The boys stay ashore as the conditions are quite wild, about 5 ft and a little shifty and windy. Not ideal Stent, but we all still manage to pick off some pretty nice waves at times, with some good takeoffs and solid long walls, if a little lumpy.Home to Pizza for dinner and 20 questions, charades and other games to keep us awake until the ungodly hour of 9pm, before tiredness again overcomes us.
Saturday morning is again fine, but with a strong north east wind and slightly less swell. We pay our respects at a moving Anzac ceremony in Okato, before heading off in search of more waves. We have in mind a session at Arawhata, particularly for the boys, but upon arriving there we encounter too full a tide.
Kina Rd has been mentioned and on checking it out we discovered clean and uncrowded lefts and rights breaking on a rocky beach. The waves get better and better as the session wears on. Ali takes off on some big screaming right handers, showing some real courage, John absolutely nailsit, taking off late beneath the peak, time and time again, racing through section after section, kicking out just before running aground on the reef.
We all catch more than our fair share, before heading to Café Lahar in Okato, where we absolutely stuff ourselves in anticipation of a second surf. However it is not to be, with the dropping tide putting paid to the waves. Instead we laze on the beach and explore before heading back to the Villas late afternoon.
Sunday dawns grey and drizzly, sad to be leaving, but a good day to leave on. We take our time checking out the beach in New Plymouth and again at Mokau on the way home.
This is a truly amazing piece of coastline, laden with mainly reef breaks set up ideally for almost all wind and swell conditions. January to June is the best period to tour the Taranaki coast – don’t hesitate to enquire with John at Auckland Tour Company.