“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Traveling is always my passion since young.. im an adventurous dork and a sucker for extreme sport ..i started my travel 6 years ago and the travel bugs just never stopped biting me since then... i picked up surfing end of 2005, started mugging around with the giant soft top board in sunway lagoon for my first time in "surfing" but didnt managed to stand up til i got into Bali. Bryan was the one who introduced me to surfing. Thanks dude.. No regrets... haha.. the memory of my first stand up wave is still pretty fresh in my head eventhough its few years ago.. i remember pretty well it was a hot sunny day at Kuta beach. For sure, i didnt managed to stand up on my first, second or third attempt.. wipe out, got hit by the board, u named it...almost got me gave up trying to surf. But once i got my first ever wave, i was stoked as and screamed to the world that finally i DID it after all the hard work!! it paid off!!Surfing needs heaps of patience and determination for sure..
since then, im hooked. i started my first monsoon in Cherating by renting boards from Mimi's back in 2005 then finally i bought my first board end of 2006 from Bali. Got a 6'5, 20 and 2 1/2 stick to start with. it's perfect for beginner like me then i spent a month up in Cherating during 2006 monsoon to work on my surfing then had a surf trip with Bryan, Joel and Leo to the Philippines. We didn't get much surf over there due to the wrong season and also i just started surfing but the roadtrip was memorable. Im sure you guys(Bryan, Joel and Leo) know what i mean.. haha..My job as a freelancer allows me to travel anytime to surf but i didnt take surfing too seriously back then cause we live in the no waves land.. So I picked up bowl skating with Fellas Bryan, Joel and Leh.. All of us will go skate together on Friday night or whenever we're free.. Skating in the bowl = surfing on concrete.. it's tough.. i got injured most of the time when i just started.. but its fun after all. just imagining yourself riding a static waves.. how cool is that ay? since then, i travel everywhere with my surfboard along with my skate board.
one day in 2007, i decided to take a year break from work and home... i have chose New Zealand cause there's a tie with our government on Working Holiday Visa. I applied it and got the visa within 48 hours. Easy as.. it was a tough decision to leave everything behind but I was ecstatic and look forward to start a new life in a new place.. finally i make my way out of my comfort zone on the 28th Feb 2008. i was pretty nervous of course to start a new life in a new place and meeting people from around the world.. but i was ready to embark and embrace a new life..
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
On the 29th feb 08, my plane has finally arrived in the land of the long white clouds after a long haul flight from Bangkok..As the plane starts its descend downwards I know I will be looking out the window to a place I will be calling home for the year ahead of me. The smile on my face would be bright enough to light any dark corners of any room. That same adrenalin rushing through my body with excitement will start as my heart beats faster with every moment that passes. its a sunny end of summer day, prob 25 degree. came with a backpack on my back .after cleared from custom, i push my trolley around the airport to find the best way to get into the city as my journey in Aotearoa about to begin... hopped into the airbus, everything i hear and see are so new to me..it's hell of a different country that i used to... people are so friendly and the surrounding are breathtaking.
I didnt bring my board to New Zealand cause i know i could get a board at cheaper price here. I got a custom board made from a shaper i know before i left so its ready for me when i arrived. went to pick up my board from the surf shop and got my necessity for surfing .. first of all, i need to get a wetsuit eventhough its summer but the water temperature isnt as warm as the one i used to.. got myself a Rip Curl 3/2 steamer to start with.. feeling of surfing with wetsuit was the weirdest feeling ever.. i felt restrained on my move.. but i got used to it after couple of days.. i started with couchsurfing for my first 2 weeks in New Zealand.. i was surprised how warmth people are in NZ.. and couchsurfing is defo highly recommended for travelers to know the local and custom etc.. spent couple of nights in Auckland suburb North Shore then headed up to Ahipara.. the beginning of 90 miles beach.. its a beautiful place.. there have one of the best left hander too in NZ called shipwrecks bay but need a fairly big swell to wrap around. when the west coast is too big to surf then this place would work.. i was in Ahipara for 10 days, no surf til my last evening there. managed to catch couple of rides there. surfing in cold water with wetsuits defo is harder than you thought. it takes heaps out of ya..
my host brought me onto a yacht race on the east coast called Opua, i was damn lucky to stay a night in the yacht and cruised the famous attraction called Bay of islands for FREE where people pay hundreds.. that was my first time had the freshest mussels in my life too.. spent total of 2 weeks up in northland.. few days in keri - keri before i start my roadtrip with a canadian mate down the west coast to catch Jack Johnson concert..
we rented a camper van from Wicked campers and begin our surf roadtrip...first destination was at Piha then Raglan... Piha is a rugged black sand beach with gnarly waves, its the nearest beach to Auckland. it has its good fun days too.. next is Raglan, everyone i know in NZ told me good things about Raglan. i was really anxious to check out this place myself.. i had this strong feeling that Raglan is gonna be my home for the rest of my trip when i first arrived there.
Raglan is best known for its surf. Eight kilometres from the Raglan township is a series of surf breaks including Indicators, Whale Bay, and Manu Bay. Manu Bay was featured in the 1966 movie The Endless Summer . i only spent couple of days there this trip cause was racing against time to catch Jack Johnson concert down south in New plymouth.. After the concert, we headed east and passed Taupo.. Lake Taupo is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the largest freshwater lake by surface area in Oceanie.Taupo is best known for its skydiving activity too. i did a 15,000 ft with 1 min freefall... i never felt so free in my life.. its defo one of the craziest
thing i ever done in my life..
with the no waves search on the east coast, we headed back to west coast for the last few days of our roadtrip and camped out at Muriwai Beach and Maori Bay.
After we split, i bought myself a campervan named MAXINE. i fell in love at the first sight when i saw her at the backpackers car market. i was in bundle of joy while driving down south on SH1. arrived safely in Raglan with Maxine but surf was flat. I was doing couchsurfing for the first couple of days then i found this place called Solscape which filled with amazing people with great energy. they do take up WOOFERS so i signed up to be one. i was pretty anxious of what kind of job they gonna put me in since i have no experience cleaning or anything. so my first day of work is cleaning. met German -Mijram and English-Jennifer in Overlander and started to make beds, cleaning toilet, sweep and mopping floors. it was pretty strange at first but i enjoyed doing it after cuz i never had to do it back home. it's good to have humble experience after all. Being a WOOFERs taught me one thing which is i get to put myself in other people shoes that do cleaning routine for living. On the same day, i was invited to join a birthday BBQ party by this Dutch couple. Remco and Sanne, we became real good friends.
At the same time, i met other nice people too. Josh and Tom. We all got along real well since our eyes met. After spending a week in Raglan with beautiful people, good surf and nice township, i started to love this place. On the other hand, I found out there's a skatepark in town too and it turned out to be the best bowl i've skated so far in NZ. So when there's no surf, you'll find me skating in the bowl...
TO BE CONTINUED....
Interesting stories! Can't wait to read more...:)
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