Surfing in Greymouth, New Zealand

Even with wetsuits this water is cold!

Our little corner

  Surfing at the 42° latitude line proved to be a colder experience than I would expect, but one well worth the risks. We happened to have all of our surf boards being in between surf trips to Indonesia and Fiji, and I knew there were surf spots here in New Zealand, but I did not expect the chance to get to surf here.

A hidden gem

Myles with the 'Green Chili'

 We landed in Christchurch on the South island but it wasn't until we drove to Greymouth on the west coast that we got our first glimpse of New Zealand waves. Greymouth is a medium sized city (for the south island of new zealand) located on the mouth of the grey river. It is this rivermouth and the breakwalls along it that create a good surfing environment. The wind was ripping down from the north as were the waves. However the breakwall blocked the wind and the waves would wrap around and wedge up creating a perfect peak...some of the times. The trick was picking out which waves were going to peak up and have a nice shoulder to ride and leave the ones that would closeout in an explosion of whitewater. The pictures shown here are some of the the good choices we made on waves.

Surfing at South 42°, latitude

Rough Entry

Going right at Greymouth

 Luckily we were able to rent some wetsuits. They weren't the perfect fit but it allowed us to surf way longer. A close encounter with a small dolphin (I keep telling myself), was a bit startling, but the fact that we were catching really fun waves in New Zealand astounds me still. As long as we can score some waves in Fiji we will go four for four with countries surfed in on this trip! Here's hoping.

Grabbing the rail and flying

Myles hitting a cutback

Jack, Myles, and me