Taranaki Surf---the big fish, and the swell is coming

In the morning we were skunked and decided to exchange numbers and meet up later for surf, if we found it.

Laurie and I once again drove down the coast looking for surf. Phil and lorna had to get supplies for her teaching gig.

we bought a fishing rod and decided we would surf and fish where ever we went.

we drove up and down the coast looking for surf but did not find anything. I called phil , who said they had settled in at oakura beach. We decided to meet up with them. when we arrived the surf looked pretty good and i thought this was time for my first surf of new zealand.

laurie was dressed in her wetsuit when i opened my surf bag to find my board dung in two spots. laurie had a loose fin and the fin key was not to be found. Phil and lorna were catching waves so we decided to quickly take our board to the shop. we got a fin key and i dropped my board off at csa board shop to be fixed by the next day. I got laurie back in time to join lorna and phil and she surfed while i fished.

They got some great waves and I got no fish, but we had fun and my board was being fixed. We had fun that night exchanging stories and hanging out in the parks kitchen, with the cookers and oven on full heat to warm the place up. Phil brought out the teachers scotch and we had a great night.

In the morning the surf looked good again and lorna and laurie went for a session. Phil had done a header into the sand the night before and was not feeling the surf. I fished for two hours but caught nothing.

we went to see if the surfboard was ready, which it was not. so i took laurie to back beach where she had a good session. Laurie went in and had a good session, I hung out with the locals. Laurie got some great waves, while i drank beers and talked about growing up in taranaki with a guy name trim. it was getting near 5 oclock and we needed to pick up the board. trim said we should surf here in the morning, so we made a plan to meet up around 9.
we went back to oakura and had dinner with phil and lorna and drank into the night once again. Phil was predicting big waves , so we decided to find some surf in the morning.
In the morning we drove to back beach where i had my first surf. It was perfect size and we all had a good session. Phil took the morning off and got some great pictures of us surfing. I made friends in the water , and performed my mayor duties well .
we had made arrangements to go fishing with a guide at noon and we were behind on time. Laurie wanted a surf t-shirt so we drove back into town and found one. we then hauled ass down to opunake to meet paddy for a fish.