Words and Photos by OC
The Armada team has set upon their annual team trip to the Southern Hemisphere. The first part of the trip was supposed to take place at Craigeburn and Temple Basin, the club ski fields outside of Christchurch on the South Island.
Upon our arrival, we found out that there was no snow and the Club Fields weren’t even open. Lucky that we all had our surfboards as well.
Our first morning was a 530 am wake up call for a 2.5 hour drive to Kaikoura, home of some of the more well known point breaks that the South Island has to offer. The waves were double overhead the night before, so it was looking like it was going to be an amazing session. We hooked up with Sam and Matt from Snow and Surf Ski shop in Christchurch and they were going to show us the local surf spots.
Driving through some amazing mountains and scenery, we caught our first glimpse of the ocean: but where was the double overhead pumping surf?! Upon our arrival to the point, we were greeted by 3-4 foot surf and more current than you would care to paddle in. Basically, it was one of those “you should have been here yesterday” times, but we made the best of it. The water was blue and it wasn’t even as cold as most of us expected, although it was still cold enough to require booties, gloves and hooded 5mm wetsuits.
It was the most beautiful place one could imagine surfing: glacial blue ocean water, green forest, and towering snow covered peaks were the view from the lineup. It was simply amazing. A two hour session in some serious current, left everyone pretty tired so we headed to the local fish and chips shop for some grub.
We checked out the seal colony after lunch and went back out for a session at MeatWorks, an infamous local break. Waves were a bit better, but “we should have been there yesterday”.
We spent a few days in Christchurch, hanging out at Snow and Surf, signing posters and mounting up all of our new test product to get ready for our trip down to Wanaka to visit Snowpark. The waves were decent at the local break at New Brighton beach and not too many people surf in the middle of winter in New Zealand, so the crowds were non existent, which is always a bonus. We had dinner at a local restaurant and somehow a group of local Christchurch skiers had tracked Julien and JP down for some autographs at dinner. The kids were stoked to see the guys hanging out in CHC.
Our last day in Christchurch, we decided to go on another 5am surf mission, which involved driving 2 hours to Magnet Bay, a famous left hand point break in the middle of nowhere. We got lost of course, but eventually made it there. It was breathtaking, just like most of New Zealand. The rocks on the beach at Magnet Bay were like rubber balls, they actually bounced! But guess what? No waves! We should have been there yesterday.
We are moving on to Wanaka, next update soon!
