NZ: Taranaki Gold Mine

At first I had the video at the end of this post but I thought we should start'er off with a bang. Good place to wake up eh?

So I left Raglan with Lenny and Lawrence and headed South towards Taranaki. We stopped at a place where you can dig a hole in the sand at low tide and it fills up with hot spring water (Not the famous and super crowded Hot Water Beach on the East coast). So we drank some beers in our personal hot tub and camped in the parking lot. Good times.

TARANAKI: Basically a giant half circle peninsula sticking out into the Tasman Sea off the West coast of New Zealands North island. It's a swell magnet for a wide variety of swell directions, 180 degree swell window! In the middle is a giant active volcano, Mt Egmont (or Mt Taranaki) which has a slope open in the winter. Legend has it that there is a decent wave somewhere in Taranaki everyday of the year. I'll be living in New Plymouth for the next 3 months, Taranaki's largest city and right on the beach. Population 'bout 70,000.

Fitzroy Beachbreak, New Plymouth in the background

So after a fun surf in Fitzroy I took off down the mosty unpopulated coast in search of some gold. Long story short... I got rich!

Classic Taranaki farm road with Mt Egmont looming over

On Friday I pulled up to a nice right point/reef break and ended up camping right on the bluff overlooking the point. I met Bert and Gaelle, a cool Belgian couple and then Pipjn, the funny Hollander I met in Raglan, showed up. For the next 4 days it was like we were in Vegas at an all-you-can-eat buffet, except the salad bar had a big tray of long, pumping, shallow Rights and if you walked over to the other side of the salad bar you could find a bottomless tray of low tide A-frame peaks with a fast bowling Right hander and a long Left that I could never find the end of. Apparently the salad bar extends quite a ways down the beach and if you're up for the walk, you can find and endless variety of toppings all to yourself. We gorged ourselves like greedy little piglets. My arms are done, my eyeballs are sunburned and I'm sweating pure sunscreen. Taranaki, I love you.

If you've already been here I'm sure you know, this place is unreal!

Rounding up the wagons