update 18

Hello from Tutukaka, NZ!

Well, we finally escaped Opua. We just got a little too comfortable with the showers & laundry and before we knew it a month had passed – guess we have a different sense of time now. There was plenty to keep us busy though. We'd only been in the country a few days when we hear wild yelling and hooting outside the boat – it was Don & Kim, the dynamic beer-brewing/surfing duo we had met 3,000 miles back in Raiatea,. They were burning doughnuts in their dingy in excitement; seems they'd rustled up a some transportation. It turned out to be a not-very-sexy looking van. This would have been a big setback in CA, where surfers pride themselves on the size of their truck and the shinyness of their chrome step-sides. Don & Kim's van, however, is a box with wheels, riddled with rust holes. It took a pry-bar to get the rear door open, most of the exhaust system had rusted away, there didn't seem to be any seatbelts, the headliner sagged onto your head, the undercarriage was held together by bits of galvanized wire and zip ties. But “The Whale” was not chosen at random, for (1) it's Japanese – very light for its size; (2) the engine was mounted in the center of the van – weight distributed evenly to all four tires; (3) its a turbodiesel – few electrical components to give trouble in the salt water; and (4) it has true 4WD. In short, with the tires half deflated and the transmission in 4-low, there's no beach it can't conquer. So, before we really knew what had happened we found ourselves kidnapped, plowing over sand dunes miles from the nearest road with nothing but our surfboards, wetsuits, a package of noodles, and 20 liters of homebrewed beer. We were off to chase the swell and offshore wind across the North Island.

Surfing in NZ is a bit different than back in California. Instead of houses and roads crowding the coast, vying for every penny of that “million dollar view”, there are almost no houses and very few roads branching out to the coast—even in the 'crowded' Northland. The only reasonable surf tripping strategy is to find a road to the coast and, at the ocean, turn left or right down the coast, off-road. Then, in 4WD, one must duck through forests, plow over sand dunes, splash down the beaches, and bounce over the rocky outcrops and cobblestones. Once the ideal wave has been located, set up camp, preferably above the high-tide line (you only make that mistake once). In general, the wave quality seems higher than California, and there are very few surfers. The attitude among the locals we've met is “I sure am glad you guys are here, I get tired of surfing alone. Also, can you pull my car out of the sand before the tide gets too high?” In fact, we only saw a handful of other cars, mostly on 90-mile beach (which is a bona fide national highway) In fact, 90-mile has an enforced speed limit and a few other traffic laws. Unfortunately, you only want to take this highway on low tide when there's not much swell, otherwise its underwater. “Honey, can you pick up dinner on the way home from work?” takes on new excitement when one can stop in the middle of the freeway to dig clams or surf-cast during the commute.

We made several trips with Don & Kim, surfing both the Tasman and the Pacific. The highlight of the trips was camping on the beach and surfing at Shipwreck Bay, which resembles a left-hand Santa Cruz. A 5-mile long (mostly) sand bottomed pointbreak picks up the powerful SW swell coming out of the Tasman. (Oddly enough, these are exactly the same SW swells that we surfed in California and Baja.). At Shippy's, there are 7 or 8 surf spots along the point, and when there's enough swell, they link together for a remarkable ride. The wave type ranges from fun Pleasure-Point to super-hollow slab, and the prevailing wind is offshore. If your tetanus shots are up to date, you can surf by the rusty iron shipwreck protruding from the water just off the beach.

So, after much surfing and only a little beer drinking, it was with calm weather and minimal swell on the forecast that we finally left Opua. A sunny sail out of the Bay of Islands put us in position to make Whangamumu harbor, a flooded volcano caldera just to the south of Cape Brett. The coast is rugged and cliffy, like Big Sur, but with no houses or roads. Most of the beautiful bays and harbors are accessible only by boat. We spent two nights anchored in the flooded crater, where we had access to a well-exposed surfing spot by hiking over the southern rim to the next beach.

We're now a few miles further South, in Tutukaka Marina, to meet up with Kara's family for a long-awaited reunion. Its been over 11 months since we've seen them. In the meantime, we've come up with some figures to sum up our trip from CA to NZ:

distance traveled: 9,600 nautical miles

time away from home: 11 months

nights at sea: ~70

nights spent at a dock: 1 (Mexico)

days at sea with 12'+ seas: 5

days at sea becalmed: 4

days wasted on bureaucracy, including port captain, customs, agriculture, immigration, health clearances, etc: 25

longest time between 'real' showers: 6 months (Mexico to Fiji)

scariest moments: riding in car in La Paz (nearly hit by a bus), crossing street in NZ (also nearly hit by a bus)