new surf dialogue

January 18, 2010. Two hundred and eighty two years ago today, Captain James Cook and his crew aboard the H.M.S. Resolution sailed up to the Hawaiian islands and the great observations of surf culture in all of its early magnificence would take off. Two hundred and eighty two years later, Christine and I are landing in Auckland, New Zealand to surf, work on organic farms, get to know the landscapes of these two islands and finish our undergraduate degrees at the University of Washington.
Off the airplane and through customs without a hitch, claiming anything we thought necessary. A New Zealand woman warned us that the customs agents were a surly lot, real tough bastards and out to get you. That wasn’t our experience. Helps to be good and honest I suppose, suspicions probably arise if you have nothing on their lists to claim.
Through the arrivals gate were great big banners announcing and welcoming the Junior World Surfing contest competitors. The contest was starting just two days after our arrival, west of Auckland in the surf town of Piha. Good to know, as I’m not any sort of fan of the competitive surf scene, nor the crowds they draw and the access they deny. We had plenty to do in Auckland anyway, and wouldn’t be heading to any coast until the contest had ended.
Auckland is a city like any city with all the conveniences of home (except internet service is a costly cross to bear. Wi-fi is not readily available, be prepared to get disconnected and appreciate it!) but a very beautiful, green and floral rich city that gets quiet early. There are hardly any sirens to be heard, or cars incessantly honking nor alarms blasting off on every other block. Our mornings in Auckland were early rising tea cup yoga stretch outs either on the deck outside with the morning bird songs or inside the common area of our Mt. Eden neighborhood hostel when the rain drizzled down from the “long white cloud” reminding us of the Seattle rainscapes that we came from.
We purchased a campervan from an English couple, got it serviced and headed for the east coast, with only the destination of Whangamata on the southern outskirts of the Coromandel peninsula . The only hangup was the night before we left Auckland. We pulled into the “Fresh World” vegetable shop parking lot as it was closing to buy some provisions for the road, and were directed across the way to “Food Town” because of the hour. After loading up on the essentials and a handful of fresh New Zealand squid tubes and Kumara root for dinner, we came back out to the parking lot and found our camper gone. We assumed leaving our van in the “Fresh World” parking lot after they closed would be allright since the owner directed us herself to the other grocery mart. A couple heard us making our phone calls and public frustrations at the customer service desk inside the grocery and offered us a ride to the tow yard, which was greatly appreciated given our lack of bearings in a city with a very European roundabout, cockeyed street layout. He is a surfer from up North and she a British Columbian nanny. $220 bucks out of pocket later, we were back at the hostel and loading up to hit the road in the morning.