Mar. 8, 2009
Billabong Pro, Whangamata
"Homeless" is a concept that doesn't exist in NZ; if you live out of your car, you (and 43,000 Germans) are "freedom camping." Or so I thought.
This morning I was excitedly packing in my tent and stuff and gearing up to surf Otu which was, as of one hour ago, 6 feet clean and fast. (=soopa!), and I was jawing it up with a local bloke, who all of a sudden asks, "so, are you living *rough*, then?"
I looked in the reflection of my car window: right side of my car is caked in goose shit and estuary muck that some kids threw on my car last night, ive got a toothbrush in my mouth and one jandal (flip-flop) on, the inside of my car looks like an REI exploded in the middle of the Sahara Desert (sand and camping gear everywhere), I'm wearing a pair of slacks that I cut into shorts after I lost my job and they are covered on one side in dried Sriracha chile sauce and candle wax(!)
Billabong Pro, Whangamata
"Homeless" is a concept that doesn't exist in NZ; if you live out of your car, you (and 43,000 Germans) are "freedom camping." Or so I thought.
This morning I was excitedly packing in my tent and stuff and gearing up to surf Otu which was, as of one hour ago, 6 feet clean and fast. (=soopa!), and I was jawing it up with a local bloke, who all of a sudden asks, "so, are you living *rough*, then?"
I looked in the reflection of my car window: right side of my car is caked in goose shit and estuary muck that some kids threw on my car last night, ive got a toothbrush in my mouth and one jandal (flip-flop) on, the inside of my car looks like an REI exploded in the middle of the Sahara Desert (sand and camping gear everywhere), I'm wearing a pair of slacks that I cut into shorts after I lost my job and they are covered on one side in dried Sriracha chile sauce and candle wax(!)
"Yis, I reckon I am."
I am at the Billabong Pro in Whangamata, which is basically the Stinson Bch of Auckland, but as long a drive as Monterrey (Aucklanders will drive 3 hrs each way in one day just to surf; kiwis and Aussies are the biggest drives on the planet per capita). Most of the competitors are teens, and I am stoked to see these young athletes going for it. (It's pretty awesome to have kids around, in general. SF is sorely adult).
Yesterday was hilarious. There was wind swell, but it was kind of stacked and onshore. Then, around 5, the wind shifted offshore. All of a sudden all of the soccer dads at the surf comp told their wives, "eh, love, I'm gonna run up to the dairy and pick up some water and chips for the kids."
I am at the Billabong Pro in Whangamata, which is basically the Stinson Bch of Auckland, but as long a drive as Monterrey (Aucklanders will drive 3 hrs each way in one day just to surf; kiwis and Aussies are the biggest drives on the planet per capita). Most of the competitors are teens, and I am stoked to see these young athletes going for it. (It's pretty awesome to have kids around, in general. SF is sorely adult).
Yesterday was hilarious. There was wind swell, but it was kind of stacked and onshore. Then, around 5, the wind shifted offshore. All of a sudden all of the soccer dads at the surf comp told their wives, "eh, love, I'm gonna run up to the dairy and pick up some water and chips for the kids."
Picture like 25 Hovey Clarks parking the family wagon just far enough down the beach that the family can't see, and guilltily padddling out to snag a couple of barrels while their son or daughter is competing down the beach! Surfers will do anything for a moment in the green room. It was working!
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