When i got to Te Arai today, about 11am, it was about the best conditions I've ever surfed in. Yep, I think the best.
It was always going to be East coast this weekend cuz it was fully choppy onshore on the west.
It was good to get the change of scene too.
It was drizzeling when i pulled up and only two or three other cars there. never know if this means shit conditions or just better somewhere else or i've lucked in and noones clicked yet.
The rain is light and just makes you damp. The sky is low and titanium white with swirls of oily grey, not oppressive, not bright either.
Me and two dudes stand on the hill and survery. It looks fucking primo to me.
It's 2-3ft and 100% offshore and every line is surfable wave that barrels. Get me in my suit.
I start changing and a couple of cars pull up and these dudes get out and then funny shit, these two surfers come over the hill and someone asks them how is it and this funny dude goes:
Oh man it was mint all morning but it just went to shit 20minutes ago.
THis is a surf joke man, no fucking doubt.
Then to ice the cake he goes:
And man saw a hammerhead out there ahy, coming straight for me.
For a split second we're all like: what?
then realise he MUST be kidding and everyone grins and two dudes from another car start going: shit man, did you hear that? he said there were hammerheads out there.
and his mate goes: whats that? two hammerheads?
nah man, at least three. big fuckers.
haha. we're all grinning. glad i'm not the only one here though ahy cuz i'd be going
reeeeeeallllllyyyy?

When i walk past him heading to the beach he says: good luck out there.
I'm like, what? with the sharks?
He and his mate are like, yeah.
I'm like, oh hammerheads are my favourite shark so i'm happy. and grin.
they grin back.

It's real clean, theres pretty much no white wash and i go straight out to backline like i told myself i would! Get out there and this wall of water starts to build, i'm going to sail up over the top of it no worries, but even so my heart starts HAMMERING in my chest, i'm sure i can hear it on the board! i put my chin down on the board for a second and grin to myself.
yup, a bit scared. heh heh.
They're real easy to catch and i get a few and then about twenty five minutes of goodness later the wind changes and the tide turns all at once and it starts closing out and being abit on shore. Still surfable as though.
Yeah its' wicked. They sky is all blue and purple like a bruise. and Te Arai.. man, for an east coast beach it's got so much grit and personality. dark dark pine green pines line the dunes and the dunes are crumbling like mounds of ginger crunch and it's just immense, i reckon you can see three different weather systems on the one beach.
The waters really beautiful sea green (coming out with all the adjectives!!) and i remember what i'd forgot about backline, it's very still, and very quiet.
Theres just me and one or two other dudes at this spot.
Today I had the best ride SO FAR. I caught this nice sized wave at the perfect time, up on the lip and then coming down the face of it, manage to stay back on the board and keep from nose diving, then i'm riding it, can stand up a bit from a crouch, felt kinda effortless too, thats good timing i reckon. Yeah that was definately my best ever drop in. And i was just starting to get too tired to keep paddling around and then that gave me all the energy i needed.
And Pim turned up in the water and saw it and grins and is like, very nice man, very nice.
Paddle back out. I've been out at least an hour and getting tired but dont' want to go in.
Managed to clear a whole sunday for this and theres nowhere i'd rather be at all.
It does get rougher though, pim calls it hard work, i think he's a pussy basically cuz west coast is hard fuckign work, this is just perserverance. ha. no fence pim. maybe he's just being sympathetic to me. i'm like fuck off i've already been in here over an hour, maybe an hour and a half!

yeah anyway rad day. funny how one good day can restore your faith to maximum strength.
I'm going to get better, i am getting better, thats all that counts. no no, just being there counts, but you know me, and you know i have to succeed at things or i can't take it.
sure i could just change the orientation of my personality, or i can succeed.
succeed it is.

told pim i was fatigued and heading in for lunch. with the finest of company of Pepper Dog I ate left over rice noodle, mushroom, tuna, onions, brocolli, olives in coconut milk sauce. gave the last few forkfuls to pepper who cleans the box spotlessly.
then left over apple and feijoa crumble with rice milk. leftovers to pepper.
after cleaning the lunch box she notices a few oats on my calf and promptly licks them up too.
i love this dog. and talk about zero waste. heh heh.

me and pepper sit on the beach and watched the long boarders come out, and watch the short boarders stand on the hill and curse their timing. refrain from saying, it was shit hot earlier. but it really was. chilled for about 40mins with pepper on my toes for warmth, then needed more warmth than one good dog and split.
pepper walked me to the car.

On the way out to the beach today i was nearly in tears. i've been feeling really down all week actually. to cut a fucking long whinge short, i'm not a capitalist at heart. these are not my values. this is not the way i want the world to run. I'm caught in the Capitalist rat race and the air in this city is poison. Sitting idling in my car burning fossil fuels and fucking with the environment.
I got burnt at the beach last weekend and my face practically peeled on the spot.
Buy sell buy sell consume consume consume. It's bullshit. We've got our values all backwards.
ahhhrgh.

I'm also having recurring dreams that i'm trapped in a black, airtight box.
i wake, panic stricken, whimpering, to terrified to even scream, and run my outspread hands feverishly along the wall looking for a crack, a door, a window. I sit up straight in bed and feel like i'm suffocating, slowly coming to, taking gasping breaths, the light from the window starts to come into focus and i lean to the curtains, tear them back and gaze with my eyes as hard open as they can be, into the night, trying to get some space into my lungs.
It's claustrophobia basically. real bad. at night. it's terrifying.

But right now i just feel weary, clean, sleepy, and happy. A little bruised and achy.
and i'm bobbing up and down in my chair like the way sailors get sea legs. surf legs.

anyway enough from me.
peace out people.
be nice to each other.
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