Kahutara

earinfectors take:
This isn' t so much a tale of great surfing more the mutterings on a family day out with the Olo by a kook who got lucky.

Travelling up to Kaikoura for the weekend with Mrs Earinfector, Mrs Earinfector's Mum and Baby Earinfector and our dog, in snow and storm force southerlies, strapping the Olo to the roof of the car seemed pretty pointless. Nevertheless I was looking forward to our little adventure and felt privileged to having had the chance to take care of it for a short while, so who cares if I got to ride it or not.
We sailed up from ChCh on Friday night with the wind behind us and had a bit of a late start on Saturday after tending to all the things that need tending to with a newborn baby and mother-in-law. Mangamanu's just down the road, and is quite picturesque and as good a place as any to kick of a day of sightseeing, and I'd also be able to get a handle on what the ocean had planned for the day.
We stopped for few photos of some seals, it was a cold and windy but otherwise fine day. There were hefty swell lines rolling into Mangas but the wind was slashing it to bits, there was no chance I was heading out in that. At least I could now relax and get on with enjoying the day with the family.
So we went into town, had a look round the shops, had a nice lunch of crayfish by the beach out by the peninsular, took some more photos of seals, stood on the cliffs looked out at the tempestuous wind whipped sea and huge barrelling waves crashing on the rocks below. Nah, I won't be surfing today. Phew. Time was getting on and perhaps we should head back to the house, Kahutara wasn't exactly on the way but luckily I was the only one in the car with any sense of direction, so my suggestion of just quickly calling in at this nice beach on the way back went down quite well. We got onto the beach by the rivermouth, I was quite surprised and a little disappointed with what was there, it was less than head high, at the same time I was pleased though, it was a simple paddle, I was starting to have less fear of the Olo. There were 4 guys out, so I watched them for a while, the point wasn't really working, the surf was lumpy and unpredictable, the surfers were having a good time doing airs and stuff, the last thing they needed was a clown like me swinging 13ft of wood around, the last thing I wanted to do was go out there a swing 13foot of wood amongst them, I ummed and arrrred too long, I burned up all my time, maybe we should just head back. So all back in the car and as we left a young dog, your classic kiwi mutt that must have belonged to one of the surfers started following us up the track back to the main road, I didn't think anything of it until seeing from the rear view mirror about 2km down SH1, the bloody thing was still chasing us and going like the clappers. Feeling slightly responsible, fearing for the dog's life and getting bored of hearing Mrs Earinfector's mum's ranting about how irresponsible the dog's owners were I thought best to turn round and give the dog a lift back to the beach.
The 4 surfers were now out of the water, I dropped off the dog who promptly got a good thrashing, at which point Baby Earinfector started to demand food and Mrs Earinfector's mum was getting restless and wanted to walk our dog along the beach, looks like we'd be stuck here for a little while, I had maybe an hour or so, maybe I should surf the Olo?


So I paddle out first on the mini mal to scope the place out. It's quite good fun, there's no defined takeoff point so I'm doing a fair bit of paddling around, it's worth it, there's some good rides amongst all the chaos, although I'm glad I'm not out here with 13ft of wood and 4 other guys. I am pressed for time though, and this is kaikoura, it's a cold day, it's remote, I'm on my own and there's a funny shaped bit of kelp in the corner of my eye that's giving me The Fear. Time to swap boards.
It was a lot of board to lug down to the river mouth, I was pretty nervous, it was small, but I've very little experience at this break, I really didn't want to get caught out, I really didn' t want to wreck the Olo! I had to time it right, I knew I could make it, I just had no idea what was going to happen if I didn't, there's a lot of rocks around here and this is a lot of board!

Getting out was a breeze, of course it was going to be, the waves were small, what was I worrying about? The old heart is still racing though, still got to catch a wave, still got to get back in through that dumping shore break without getting speared by the pointy end, and that bit of kelp is still giving me the fear. I want to make this fast, paddling around trying to find position isn't easy, I'm really glad there aren't 4 other guys in the water, I paddle for a few, miss them, get caught out by one or two sneaky ones, get broadsided a couple of times not turning round quick enough, capsized, keel hauled& generally floundering around, I'm glad no one is watching this.

Finally my wave comes, they're funny shaped waves, quite malformed, look quite steep like a fat wedge of water, quite angular with no nice curl, doesn't look like the Olo is going to fit, looks like I'm going to bury the nose and get chucked head first, but I don't. The take off is great, this really is powersurfing, turning at the bottom is nice and smooth, I'm sure I can hear the sound of thunder, or is it the riff from Iron Man by Black Sabbath? Maybe it's just the cattle truck crossing the bridge. The board starts guiding me straight and true along the face of the wave, what a ride, wish I had more time but the beach is fast approaching and I'm riding high up out the water as the wave starts to wall up in preparation to dump it's all on the beach, maybe I could ride this thing right onto the sand to safety? Erm maybe not, I kind of out run the wave and fade out. Trying to get of the water through that beach dump at Kahutara has always been an interesting experience for me, I always approach it with confidence and a definite plan of attack, but there's always a point where things go wrong, and I always find myself in a point of no return, knowing that in less than a second one way or another I will be back on dry land, I always get out alright, I just wish it could be under my own terms. Being sucked into the pit of a shingle spitting 8ft wall of frothing whitewater is not the place to start swinging 13ft of wood around, I'll really need to keep track of where that pointy end is. Turns out it was easy, I kind of breast stroked my way in with the fin in my right arm, got lifted and dumped on the sand, I hit the ground running, the water chasing me up the steep sand whilst at the same time carrying the weight of the board by the nose. Piece of cake. That'll do me.

Baby Earinfector was looking contented after her feed, Mrs Earinfector had done a fine job of taking pics from the back seat of the car with a baby hanging off her breast, good work babe! Earinfector's mother-in-law was just getting back from her stroll, the dog looked happy. Now that's good timing ... selfishly surfing whilst maintaining family harmony, time to go home and put the kettle on.

Many thanks to Dumbell for suggesting I take the Olo to Kaiks with me, the surf dog for fetching me back, and Roy for sharing his board and Phoam for blogging it all!