48 49 www.curl.co.nz////curl #32

New Zealand is one of the places that fly somewhat beneath the radar on the surf front. We have an international reputation as being a clean green country, but New Zealand is not high on the international radar when it comes to surf. Maybe it’s the fact that our oceans are that much colder, or maybe it’s the fact that half of the world doesn’t even know where New Zealand is? Whatever the reason, we’re quite happy to keep our own little piece of surf paradise to ourselves. This has not stopped New Zealand producing some world class surfers, however, with Paige Hareb and Maz Quinn our two most successful international surfers to date. Last year Raglan’s Billy Stairmand became a world known name when he beat the legendary Kelly Slater and Sarah Mason was one step away from qualifying for the World Tour. In the recent Nationals held at Piha, Thandi Tipene shone taking out the main event from some on form rivals.

Although surfers (and Kiwis in particular) are somewhat reluctant to share their waves, Taranaki has stepped up to the plate once more and in April this year will be hosting the TSB Bank New Zealand Surf Festival. The past two years have been a huge success and this year the event will host even more events. Be sure to look out for your favourite international surfers as well as the next generation of local surfers biting at their heels. This is an event you do not want to miss!

TARANAKI PRoud

sarah mason in action at last year’s tsb bank surf festival | image by asp/kirsten

51 www.curl.co.nz//

Plus Festival village, Beach carnival, stalls, Bands and entertainment

And new ZeAlAnd women’s open

AirShow AeriAl Competition

Bog works Big wAve invitAtionAl

www.nzsurffestival.co.nz

FeAturing:

20th tArAnAki eASter mASterS

surf film festivAl & surf photo exhiBition

ASp women’S world tour

new ZeAlAnd microgroms chAmps

for up to dAte informAtion:

The lineup of top contenders to win the NZ Women’s open and be the wildcard for this year’s ASP Women’s World Tour event in Taranaki right after Easter just continues to heat up.

Gisborne’s Sarah Mason has set a high benchmark winning the event for the last two years in a row – and then providing serious competition to the world’s best even beating world champion Stephanie Gilmore in her heat. Aged 16, Mason is currently charging on the World Pro Junior Champs which has taken her out of some of the national competitions. Step up Taranaki’s Thandi Tipene who took out the women’s title at the recent Hyundai National Surfing Championships at Piha. Then there’s Ella Williams who came second in last year’s Women’s open and has huge talent, says Craig Williamson, executive officer of Surfing Taranaki who is bringing the ASP event to New Zealand.

“The ASP Women’s World Tour event coming to New Zealand has provided Kiwi women surfers with an incredible opportunity to pitch themselves against the world’s best,” says Craig.

“To create the wild card entry for the ASP event, the NZ Women’s open was rejuvenated two years ago from a period of hiatus – and wow – have we seen Kiwi women surfing go to higher performance levels. There’s at least half-a-dozen contenders out there who could take out the open and give the pros a run for their money.”

The ASP event is now the hero event in the TSB Bank New Zealand Surf Festival planned for the Easter school holiday break in Taranaki this year running from April 6 to 15.

Take your pick (depending on your age, ability and gender) from

last year’s under 18 winner, ella williams on form at this year’s nationals in piha will be one to look out for | image by cory scott

TARANAKI PRoud

a couple of groms to look out for this year are the sansom sisters. here is once of them in action at piha - sorry girls but you are just too hard to tell apart. this is either bianca or gabriella | image by steve dickinson

a Big Wave comp, an Aerial comp, a MicroGrom comp, the New Zealand Women’s open, and a Masters competition all coming under the umbrella of the Festival running for 10 days and based at New Plymouth’s Fitzroy Beach.

Generating huge interest is The Bog Works Big Wave Invitational with its prize purse of $5000. Limited to 24 surfers and is already full with names such as daniel Keropa and Sam Hawke in the line up.

“Bog Works on New Plymouth’s foreshore is a legendary big wave break not for the fainthearted,” says Craig.

“We’re looking for at least a four metre swell with a 12 second period, low tide and offshore winds to hold the Bog Works Big Wave Invitational anytime between February 7 and July 24. We often get big swells coming out of the Southern ocean during Autumn and Winter – so if one hits during that period – it will be epic for our competitors and spectators alike.”

The healthy purse will be split into $2,000 for the overall winner,

53 www.curl.co.nz//

TARANAKI PRoud

local girl paige hareb, will have her eye firmly on the prize. captured above free surfing in sydney recently during the aussie open , image by lynne dickinson

$1,000 for second place, $500 for third to sixth, as well as $500 for the biggest wave, $500 for the deepest barrell, and $500 for the most critical take-off.

At the other end of the surfing spectrum are the MicroGroms champs for 5 to 12 year olds. “The 12 and under competition we ran for the girls last year was so popular with everyone it just seemed natural to develop it further and include boys as well,” explains Craig. “The local support for this category means that Surfing Taranaki in association with the local boardriders clubs have been running their own MicroGrom series leading up to the Festival to get their groms in training!”

Another crowd pleaser will be the Airshow Aerial Competition challenging surfers to get the best air maneuvers they can – and win a three-day coaching programme at Surfing Australia’s high performance centre in NSW. The winner will be hosted by the Centre for three nights including intense coaching around technique, wave selection and use, time management and psychological approach.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity to learn from Australia’s best surfing coaches,” explains Craig. “New Zealand surfers simply don’t have the dedicated facilities and personnel that Surfing Australia has so we’re really thrilled to be able to offer this package as a prize.”

The Festival is proud to celebrate two milestones in the Festival this year - the annual Masters run by the New Plymouth Boardriders Club has hit a venerable 20 years - and the New Zealand Women’s open celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

open event organiser Jonnie Mead is just so stoked that the event has hit this milestone.

“The New Zealand Women’s Surf open began 25 years ago out of simple protest!,” remembers Jonnie.

“The defining moment for me was at one major surf comp where

I overheard the male organizers say ‘The onshore has come up now and it’s messy and low tide. Let’s run the women’s now and come back in the morning to run the men’s when it’s perfect’. I declared a silent kind of war!”

“What I was in those early days though was a total advocate for women’s surfing – believing that if we developed an event that catered for them exclusively that it would create a gap for women’s surfing ability to fill, and it would also be fun!”

The result has been a string of hugely competitive women surfers who have competed in the open.

“Misha davis who has just done so well in longboard at the Nationals competed for the first time in this division in the open and went on to be a Roxy girl and a highly competent surfer,” says Jonnie.

“Similarly Wini Paul showed up at a very young age and is currently the envy of her peers on the Jim Beam surfing lifestyle gig. And of course for Paige Hareb, the open was one of those kinds of leg-ups that helped catapult her and her innate and amazing surfing abilities to a place on the ASP world championship tour.”

The culmination of the two week TSB Bank New Zealand Surf Festival will be the world’s top 17 women surfers paddling out on Taranaki breaks to put on a spectacular show of performance surfing as they have for the last two year’s running, says Craig,

“The power, style and moves put on by these girls in the last two years is just staggering,” says Craig. “We’ve seen them surf big onshore, small offshore, windy and shifty waves as well as perfect conditions – and it is just phenomenal how they can still pull off powerful moves no matter what the surfs like. They are truly inspirational for all of us, let alone for New Zealand’s women surfers.”

Now all that should be enough inspiration to throw your boards on the roof and head to Taranaki for 10 days of surfing action!

55 www.curl.co.nz//

31” Fort Knox AquaTaylor had a hand in every aspect of the design of his signature model, from the template shape and specs to the graphics. Everything is designed to work with Taylor’s style of power surfing, from the wide tail to the slightly stretched wheelbase, which provides a bit more stability at speed. This is the board he cross trains on for strength and flow, carving it up and down the hills in front of his house

like he’s ripping at J-Bay.

Now available in NZ

NZ sole agentsPh: 06 7580400Email: beachstreet@xtra.co.nz

7 models to choose

Taste our range of beers, wines and cider, drop in for a coffee or bite to eat in our beer garden/cafe. 30min North of New Plymouth (4km North of Urenui on SH3) set amidst landscaped gardens in pastoral Taranaki.

The Trigg family will take you on a journey of flavour tasting their award winning certified organic beers, as well as cider and locally produced fruit wines. Group tours available.

URENUI

mike’s Organic BreweryBAR & GRILL

487 Mokau Road, Urenui Phone 06 752 3676 Email info@organicbeer.co.nz www.organicbeer.co.nzHours: 10am-6pm 7 days

www.harebdekenmotors.co.nzPhone 06-759-9943

LUXURY VEHICLES AND 4WD CENTRE

331 St Aubyn Street PO Box 4227, New Plymouth

TARANAKI PRoud

TARANAKI GuIdEThere are plenty of reasons to come to Taranaki these school holidays and

we’ve put together a guide to help make your stay just a little more enjoyable.

PLACES To EAT ANd dRINK: mike’s organic Brewery is a little bit out of town but it’s a must visit while in Taranaki. Their award winning beer garden is where people go to relax and feel at home, great food and great beer!

Some say that Cafe Piccolo Morso is the best bakery in town. The sponge drops filled with fresh cream are to die for so make sure you stop here for heavenly éclairs, great pies, pastries and supreme coffee. dine in or takeaway and bury the evidence. Check out their beachfront kiosk soon to open at Fitzroy.

PLACES To SHoP: There are more surf shops in Taranaki per head of population than anywhere else in NZ, so check out all that they have to offer. Close to the contest site you’ll find Beach Street, run by enthusiastic local character, Arch. Modelled on yester-year’s surf shops, you’ll find real surfers offering real advice.

GETTING ARouNd: New Plymouth is great for getting around on foot via the extensive coastal walkway, but if you need a car to get yourself further afield then make sure you check out the guys at Hareb deken Motors.

THINGS To do ANd SEE: during the month of April, there will be something to entertain you almost every day of the week. Here’s a tentative schedule of how the week is shaping up for the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival featuring the dow AgroSciences Pro and the ITL NZ Women’s open. The base for the even this year will be at Fitzroy Beach. Keep an eye on the website for more updated information. www.nzsurffestival.com

dATE ACTIoN Fri 6th Masters Surf Comp & HurricanesSat 7th Masters and Micro Groms Surf EventSun 8th Masters Surf CompMon 9th Airshow & Fitzroy Beach Bash CarnivalTue 10th ITL NZ Women’s open Wed 11th ASP World Tour EventThu 12th ASP World Tour EventFri 13th ASP World Tour EventSat 14th ASP World Tour Event & Festival Band NightSun 15th ASP World Tour Event

2012 nz women’s national champ, thandi tipene, enjoying some taranaki treasure. image by cain alridge

56 57 www.curl.co.nz////curl #32

THANdI TIPENE

Why on earth would you choose to live right under a snow capped mountain that could erupt at anytime? A place so cold in winter that when you’re surfing you loose feeling in your hands and feet? Sure it rains a bit...but not as much as Auckland and when the southerly wind blows you freeze your tush off!

Amongst the active volcano, the occasional tornado and the mammoth drive to get here, Taranaki has an unforgettable coastline! It weaves along, providing surf spots that have some of New Zealandʼs finest waves!

Being a true northlander at heart I initially struggled with the temperament of the long cold winters and the short lived summers. But now my skin’s gotten thicker, mind a tad tougher and my wetsuits have a lot more rubber. The beauty about this place is its wild nature. You’re always put in your place. Surfing ʼSpot X on a big day is humbling and being amongst killer whales, sharks and seals is always interesting.

Between the music festivals, galleries, coffee shops and surf you can only be grateful to be living here (or married to a local), shot Bach! The place isn’t short of surf shops for all your gears and Cain Aldridge shapes some pretty mean sticks. The people are friendly and I have great friends to surf with.

An ideal day for myself and Bach would be waking up, not to early, and heading around the coast. Generally what happens next is we look at Stent Rd line-up and turn into twinkled eyed children looking to go play and get hectic! We scramble across the rocks, surf our hearts out, then head to a local cafe for coffee and a bagel. Then it’s off to see Cain on the way home, talk about new boards, maybe have another caffeine hit and off to Back Beach for another session. We skate the foreshore to our local movie store and pick up some mexican. Then it’s time to chill!!

When Bach is working and Paige is home it’s always a lot of fun surfing and hanging. I try to learn some technical stuff when we surf (not dancing though) haha, but the girl’s got skills. New Plymouth also has some great gyms and access to Boxing/ Mixed martial arts where I keep fit and smash it out.

I run my Interior design business from home which gives me a nice balance between work and surf although I love doing both so there’s no complaining there.

All in all Taranaki is a place not for the faint hearted. It’s for the adventurers, the ones with boundful energy and the determined. But if you want to feel alive with the salt spray and the roaring waves, the magestic mountain and the brilliant coffee come to Taranaki, you will be the better for it!

Taranaki local, Thandi Tipene, took out the NZ Nationals in Piha earlier this year. She shares with us what she loves about the place she now calls home...

WoRdS BY THANdI TIPENE | IMAGE BY NIKKI BRooKS

TARANAKI PRoud