Ratter Hakka
The day after the wind got up and the surf so I thought had completely crapped out. I convinced Pete we should go for a bike round the headland. Now there are some seriously big hills in Christchurch. We climbed from Sumner, to over look Christchurch and New Brighton. Sumner's pretty good for surf but was totally blown out when we got there. The red face in the previous pic is a culmination of sun burn + a hellish climb!
After tackling a bit of single track on the way back we ended up at Taylors Mistake beach. The wind had dropped and Taylors was pumping, a solid 6ft on sets and I had energy to burn! 
After tackling a bit of single track on the way back we ended up at Taylors Mistake beach. The wind had dropped and Taylors was pumping, a solid 6ft on sets and I had energy to burn!
Hopped back in the car, went home to get my board and spent a good 20 minutes trying to get out the back. I failed. Was heavy as you like and constant. The photo doesn't give the place justice, I just couldn't do it or be arsed!
Loaded up the car and went round the corner to see what Sumner was doing. Although a little slow, I managed to get a couple of nice waves, which made up for the pounding I'd received at Taylor's.
Heading down south for New Years, my Scottish friends had scheduled a trip down to the SE coast of the South Island - a monotonous drive through the Canterbury Plains. Five hours later we arrived in Dunedin. Dunedin is a Scottish City boasting the only castle in New Zealand! On arrival I immediately went on a wave hunt to the local beaches, St Kilda and St Clair. St Clair is the only beach in New Zealand to have a shark net installed in the summer months. Mmmm, looking at my NZ surf guide I was in Great White country - Nice.
With the swell being northerly I headed out on the Otago Peninsula, past Murdering Point (for the 70 Maori's murdered by a fishing fleet) and headed to a place called Long Beach. Spotted some classic little 2-3ft waves rolling in and then saw 3 guys in. Sharky waters or not I was going in, safety in numbers I thought. Had a classic hour and half in, got loads of long workable rights with the lefts being a little quicker and the wind whipping them into classy little barrels.
New Years Eve was a top laugh - a brewery tour in the arvo and then into town where 10,000 people had collected to celebrate Hogmanay. In true OTL form I managed to get on the Tequilla and I was soon rocking the NZ crowd up into a frenzy.
With my camera in hand, 'Pappa-rattzi' was in full effect getting random groups to pose for me. I vaguely remember telling people I was doing an article for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in the UK, so they where more than happy to oblige with a pose!
I met up with some top guys who told me to go to this club, they were with chicks and you won't hear many stories of a 'Southern Man' being any kind of Jessie if you know what I mean.
I met some top people that night, Kiwi's give good banter especially when provoked by a semi drunk Welshman ;o)
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