New Zealand in January

I’m trying to plan a solo trip to New Zealand in January. I’m looking to find some great waves, great food, great people, great times and some great scenery. Great. I’m looking on info on where to go in NZ. I’d probably like to fly in and spend some time driving around rather than flying from place to place. I’d like to hear I’m looking to find some great waves, great food, great times and…

Just some info on me: I longboard exclusively. I love the trim and glide and normally ride large finned logs. I don’t like mushrooms or black olives.

You can reply here or contact me at

Thank you!!

okay

i would recomend a 1 month at least

camper van . as there are lots of great empty break u can park up for the night or week if its cooking

Jan has north swells(cyclone) on the east coast so theres plenty of options including corammandel

eastcape and gizzy

have a look at mahia as well. its rare on the north side but the waves are epic

south side can be big and heavy

dont know much about the west coast but taranaki is the place to be (big and heavy)

with a break every 10 minutes on surfhighway

havent surfed rags but i hear its pretty crowded

kaikoura in the south has a few nice long boarding waves and it not usually more then ten guys out

southland is good and consistent but cold big and heavy

there is a book which every tourist loves and every local hates

www.surf2surf.com

www.surf.co.nz

www.isolated.co.nz

east coast has lovely conditions and it does get big but most of the time 2 to 5 foot

so pretty mellow fun hollow waves to be had

plenty of empty breaks that will be pumping (rivermouths are awesome but fickle)

locals are pretty sweet but can be thieves/car vandals in places

heaps of fruitpickers come to town around january to start thinning etc

so theres good party vibes with the odd sexy backbacker

not many sexy kiwi chicks im afraid

so backpackers or BYO

look us up

i shortboard but hang out with some longboarders

Silly did a very good job at suming it up really.

Definately stay as long as you can as waves arnt always garenteed but the east coast ( coromandel through to gizzy is epic)

Look around a lot and always check the surf report. The coasts are close together so going from east to west is very easy.

Taranaki is AWSOME so check it out. Im shure you will love our beautiful NZ.

If you are on the northshore in auckland at all check out primal surf shop ( i work there most days after school ) and glen is a choice guy.

Hope you enjoy NZ, i know you will :smiley:

NO DON’T GO, the place is full of kiwi’s, sheep and New Zealanders…

Yeah, the other guys summed it up, I just want to repeat the bit about getting a campervan, or at least a hire car and a tent… absolutely essential in NZ.

The things that NZ has to offer (scenery, untouched coastline, etc etc) are pretty much inaccessable without wheels.

Hicksy, stay away from our sheep, there all ours. we are very protective of our loved ones.

Kit

haha… west is best… forget waiting round for mythical east coast swell… head to the W side and enjoy 365 days of raw power haha…

oh oh… catlins, deep south too

prepare to experience fear…

im not sure where you’re from bro…but trust me, theres not a more interesting, diverse place in the world than here… and the “crowds” that kiwis are talkin about are not exactly the “crowds” that californians talk about…if you get my drift…

hey cheater5 are you still there?.. classic, didnt know you did after schools at primal?.. i worked with GC when the factory was on the other side of the road, down the dingey alley way…

i sprayed for glen and graham allen for fricken years… me and GC were flatmates for a few years too…pendrell,piha… thats where i dragged my (now) wife back to,after a night in town all them years back haha

do you sift in the factory at all… maybe not? all my shapes still go to the factory for my best pal M.R to glass and sand,… i wouldnt let any other human touch them other than him!!

that factory is still the biggest bombsite i ever seen- i remember our old dangerous goods shed hahaha…it was a half a sheet of 7mm ply lent up against our 44 Gl drum of lam res!!! … then one day it napes, (the laminator, after ross martin) broke the golden rule and walked away and left the tap on filling his glassing pail!..the esmonde estuary has never fully recovered!!

i normally do my factory run on a friday arvo… i might see ya there some day

With so many guys on the board from NZ, I can’t really add too much.

I was there last Feb. Had a great time. Bring lots of money, everything there

is kinda expensive. Or maybe I’m just too accustomed to Mexico surf trip prices.

Surf was great. Scenery is beautiful. You will definitely remember this trip.

I’ll second the recommendation of Kaikoura. A nice long right point break. I was lucky

and caught it pretty big for a few days. There is another wave south of town, can’t

remember the name. Bring a full suit, I had a thermometer and the water was 58 deg F.

In the North I surfed a few places, but the coolest town was Wainui. Fun wave with

Gizzy right around the corner.

Good luck and have fun.

Thank you all. I’m probably only going to do two weeks but who knows. I’m sure with air travel, ground travel and such it’ll feel like three days once I’m there. By the way I’d be coming from the SF Bay Area (CA).

Surfore if you are only doing two weeks, you might want to limit the amount of area

you try to cover.

The driving there is beautiful but it isn’t like the states.

It takes some time to get from one place to the next.

Especially if you rent a camper van, which I would highly recommend.

Have fun and post pics.

yeah mate just land

get the van

go to internet cafe

check www.swellmap.com

and go where its pumping

Roads in NZ are often narrow and wind through hills and mountains - a lot of visitors aren’t used to driving in this type of terrain and have accidents - so take care.

theres also lots of sheep to dodge

but if you hit one

its yours to eat!!!

btw locals dont stop for possums .

in fact possum sqaushing is a national sport

sounds cruel but you get used to it

i still cant bring myself to run them over!

www.swellmap.com is pretty impressive - how accurate are the forecasts?

lets just say that there are some seriously pissed locals these days

and there is talk of death threats!!

pumping everytime to the break, to the tide, to the hour,

acutally it is wrong from time to time

though i think its to give locals some respite

i like how it allows for swell refraction and sea bottom,combined with period

you can find some gems where all else is flat

the best part is that you get really good idea of how it all comes together and you can almost figure it out

using metservice wind and pressure maps