Cape Classic Westport - Comp Day One

Saturday the 20th of October - Day 1 of the Cape Classic.

Four cellphone alarms sounding at 6am in the cabin accompanied by pelting rain outside started our day. We got to Tauranga Bay by 7.30am greeted by 3 foot inconsistent surf. Events started with the junior boys and the junior women between rain showers and gusty wind. My camera was packed away for most of the morning due to the rain, but once I got my rain-cover sorted out with a few adjustments I managed to get a few shots late morning.

Above- the judges stand and the contest area.
Surf was still small in the morning as the juniors and cadets ran.

The heats of the seniors and the masters ran late moring through lunchtime. The ladies in the food tent worked miracles serving whitebait, steak and bacon & egg salad sandwiches. yuumm!


Above left Tony Schafer jumping off Jesus Rock, right paddling out through the rip. Below Tony ripping as the surf built steadily.




Mid afternoon the weather packed up seriously, a few more heats were run, and the Open Womens heats were cancelled for the day which Hayley had been waiting all day for. We spent most of the early afternoon in the car out of the rain squalls and wind, but braved the elements for Jono's open heat when and Hails wrapped ourselves in the tarpaulin and stood on the beach to watch. Ten minutes later and totally soaked we retreated back to the car. At 3pm the comp was put on hold till after 4pm as the stormy conditions blasted through the bay. With Jordan through his heats to the semis we decided to bail for the day and head back to town, settling in to 18 holes of mini golf at the camping ground.
Below- Hayley goes for the put.

Below- at 6pm me and Hails went back to the Bay to see if the comp had restarted after the lay hour. It had, and a fair few heats had been run. Most had left so we walked around the bay and waited for the sunset.

Below- I was stoked to get a west coast 'sunset over the water', here at Nine Mile Beach


Above- Left, Cows watching us. Right & Below- Sunset over Tauranga Bay from the Seal Colony.

Tea was some pretty yummy takeaways in Westport, don't ask Jordan about the baskets :0)

Cape Classic Westport - The Journery Up

Friday the 19th October.. Setting off for Westport for the Cape Classic surf comp run by the Buller Boardriders to be held at Tauranga Bay by Westport. Four in the car, Me, Hayley, Jono and Jordan. Jono did the pickups and we eventually got everything squeezed into his car and were out of Dunedin by 7.30am. Armed with some good sounds and heaps of snack food the predicted 9-10 hour drive up to Westport seemed a little less daunting.


Above two pics, Driving through the Canterbury Plains with the Southern Alps in the far distance. After a quick stop in at my daughter Ambers' flat in Ashburton to pick up a box full of Bakery ends for the weekend. Somehow while it was my turn to Drive we took a 'shortcut' to Arthurs Pass, and managed to get lost through the myriad of backroads, got on track eventually and headed cross country through the Southern Alps (pic Below entering the Pass)





After a gorgeous scenic trip through Arthurs pass and up the West Coast from Greymouth to Westport we arrived at The Camping Ground in Westport at about 5.30pm, quickly dumped out gear and took off to check out Tauranga Bay for a free surf.

(pic above, just take note of how calm the Bay is, in the next few posts over the week you will see a drastic change in the surf conditions). Below two Hayley and Jono surf the Bay.




Below, registration night for the Cape Classic hosted by Buller Boardriders.

Come back tomorrow for the next blog post in the westport trip - Highlights from day one of the Cape Classic Surf Comp

Upcoming Surfing Events

Hydro Surf is hosting a fun day surf competition on the 3rd November.
All proceeds to the South Coast Board Riders.
Format: every one surf's once per event and every one guaranteed a prize. Event: 12 years and under, 14 years and under, 16 years and under, 18 years and under, junior girls, open womens, open mens, Seniors, Masters, Grand Masters, Longboard and bodyboard. Entry fee $5 if 12 and under otherwise $10 per event. Bands playing this day also so should be a great event. Contact: hydrosurf@hydrosurf.co.nz

A surfing comp for the weenies has started up at St Kilda
Secondary School Surfing on Friday afternoons 4 - 6pm starting Friday 19th October, open to all secondary school aged kids categories are;
year 7 - 10 (aged 10 years - 14 years)
year 11 - 13 (aged 15 - 18 years)
body boarders
and open girls

surfers compete for their schools
to enter a ladder over 4 weeks this term (2007)
contact Pru Casey (school teacher OBHS) pru.casey@gmail.com

South Island Surfing Contest Calendar 2007/08
2007
20-21  October Bayhouse Cape Classic Westport SISA Rated
20-21  October Aotearoa Maori Surfing Titles Taranaki SNZ Event
3-4      November Surfing New Zealand Pro TBA SNZ Event
16-18  November Hickory Bay Invitational Christchurch Specialty Event
1-2     December South Island Mini Groms Christchurch SISA Endorsed
8-9     December Rip Curl Grom Search Piha SNZ Event
2008
12-19  January NZ Surf Nationals TBA SNZ Event
2-3      February Canterbury Men’s Champs Christchurch SISA Rated
9-10    February Roxy Canterbury Women’s Champs Christchurch SISA Rated
16-17  February Hyundai Longboard Pro Christchurch SNZ Event
22-23  February Go for Gold Greymouth SISA Rated
14-16  March Hyundai Longboard Pro Kaikoura *1 SISA / SNZ
21-23  March South Island Champs Dunedin SISA Rated
12-13  April Malfunction Christchurch *2 SISA / SNZ
3-4      May Joyce & Co Junior Surf Festival Christchurch *3 SISA Rated
30      May – 1 June O’Neill Coldwater Classic Kaikoura SISA Rated
28      June SISA Tag Team Event Christchurch
28      June SISA Prize Giving Christchurch


• *1 SISA, refers to SISA rated event for Women’s Longboard division only
• *2 SISA, refers to SISA rated event for Open Men’s and Women’s Longboard division only
• *3 SISA, refers to SISA rated event for Junior and Cadet Boys and Junior Women’s division only
• Contest calendar current and correct at time of publication but subject to change
• Final ratings will be tallied dropping one event. i.e. Best Five of Six events or Best Four of Five events or if only three events are held all three events will count.
• SNZ event dates, venues obtained from Surfing NZ website. Please refer to Surfing NZ contest Calendar for complete and current list of events on www.surfingnz.co.nz

west coast escape this weekend!

Had a quick photo session which took me to a play in photoshop in cropping and retaining resolution, trying to anyway. Below a few different crops of the same or similar pics.
Looking forward to going to Westport for the weekend for the Cape Classic. Caity had entered in the Under 18 womens, but has been off school all week and had to pull out, she's pretty gutted. For me its going to be my second ever trip to the proper west coast, last time was 8 years ago and it was dark travelling through, time before that I was nine years old! Looks like the weather is going to hold for some good photos.

Ferns & Forgotten

The new Beauty parlour under construction on Forbury Road.

Above, shadow play on the seats on The Eplanade. Below: Some ferns from a walk today through Ross creek.