Phoam on trademe - a bunch of $1 reserves!

MORE LISTINGS ADDED 2nd July

Well I'm scratching the bottom of my bank account, and I have to shift some photographic artworks via the trademe game.

I'd be stoked if you could check them out, add to your watchlist, and/or BID AWAY!
Every cent goes towards upgrading my camera gear, and petrol so I can keep working at this surf blog.

CLICK HERE TO BID!

Proposed Harbour Dredging- effects on surfbreaks

The Otago Regional Council has received applications from Port Otago Limited for resource consents to:

1. Deepen, widen and maintain the lower harbour channel, the swinging area and Port Chalmers berths, to allow the passage of larger ships to Port Chalmers,
2. Dispose the dredge spoil to sea, and
3. Extend the multipurpose wharf and to construct a new fisherman's wharf at Port Chalmers.

Click here to view the consent applications by Port Otago
>> Download a submission form
Submissions close at 5pm Friday 13 August 2010

IMPACT ON SURFBREAKS
For the last two+ years members of the Otago surfing community have been regularly attending Meetings for the Next Generation Project (Port Otago Dredging) as part of the Public Consultative Group.

• Graham Carse and Brett Hastie on behalf of South Coast Boardriders,
  
• and myself, Nic Reeves on behalf of the Surfbreak Protection Society.

We have given our input and concerns over the effect the dredging and disposal of dredgings at the proposed sites will have on the quality of the surf breaks on the North Coast.
Affecting all the breaks from: Aramoana up to and including Karitane.
We have been assured through the AEE report that the dumping of spill will not have any adverse affects on the surf breaks. However we believe otherwise, as past disposal of dredgings in much lower volumes than proposed have had ongoing adverse effects on a number of breaks on the north coast, especially aramoana.

We stand on behalf of local surfers, but if you have any concerns or require assistance making a personal submission please contact any of us or leave a comment here.

Above, peaks at Aramoana

BELOW: recent articles in the Otago Daily Times

Dredging plan will cut deep Mon, 21 Jun 2010
Historically, "out of sight, out of mind" has proven an effective policy when it comes to reducing costs, for big and little business alike.

While it may be ethically wrong to muffle, shuffle or even disown damaging behaviour by acts of stealth, the policy's high success rate ensures its long life.

So it is that Port Otago Ltd with its Project Next Generation will next month seek to sneak under the public's nose the largest and most destructive single act of industrial dredging that the Otago coastline has yet seen, notwithstanding our city's proud reputation as the Wildlife Capital of the World. read more here

Channel dredging application lodged By Simon Hartley on Fri, 28 May 2010
Port Otago has lodged a resource consent application with the Otago Regional Council for its proposed "next generation" $100 million channel deepening project.

Port Otago has spent about $1.5 million on various studies so far and, following consultation on the initial draft released publicly in February, says there are only minor changes to the final, approximately 200-page application.

It appears likely the application will be publicly notified and open for submissions. read more here

Fishermen oppose Port Otago's sand, silt proposal By Allison Rudd on Sat, 27 Mar 2010

Otago fishermen have formed a working party to write their formal response to Port Otago's plans to dump more than seven million cubic metres of sand and silt off Taiaroa Head.

Port Otago will soon apply for resource consent to widen the Otago Harbour shipping channel and dump 7.2 million cubic metres of dredge material 6.5km out to sea.

The Port Chalmers Fishermen's Co-operative fears the sand and silt may create a "dead zone" along the coast, threatening fishing stocks and their income.

About half the co-operative's 40 members attended a meeting on Thursday night to discuss the issue. read more here

Three out

Stunning Dunedin winters' day again, Thursday about 9.30am.. I had about 40 minutes before I started work so took a quick spin down the line hoping to catch jay still out. I passed him returning home on his scooter, board on rack and decided to take a look and get some empties anyway. I was rewarded with lines stacking up to the horizon and three out, below.

Walking down the path the shot (two above) was snapped between paces. Below a sik sequence

Above a walk to the nose, and below a 20 frame sequence. which made me realise I had my camera set to shoot jpegs and not Raw images.

first dip in decades -1960's Quane 9'6"

A 1960's 9'6" Quane longboard - purchased with a buy now on trademe, just after it was listed. Apparently it had been stored in the roof of a farm shed up central Otago for the last 20+ years. It was in excellent condition with only a few dings in the nose, which jay fixed. He also inserted a leash plug. So today with some winter sun, a bone chilling offshore breeze, grooming clean 2ft waves rolling through the local we headed out for its' first dip in decades.

Above, freshly waxed up.. ready to go. below, waiting out the back in a bit of a lull with some nice lefts coming through on the inside.

First wave Above. below: early morning light with a direct contrast vantage point gave some arty photo opportunities

After shooting for about half an hour, I was stuffed (still in recovery mode), I ditched the chill and climbed back over the rocks. The tide had moved in pretty fast, as the beach profile was lowered considerably by the storms a few weeks back, so I had o strip off my shoes and socks, hiked up my jeans to my thighs and waded back through the shorey. Jays mate turned up as I was leaving so him and Jay surfed for another hour on the inside while I crashed in the car. Jay said he wasn't too impressed with the board to start with, but after a few rock solid nose rides on the inside he was confident the Quane would become a solid part of his beloved quiver.

Sea Kayak Photo Shoot

Nice to shoot something other than surfing images. I met up with my good friend Trever for a photo shoot down at the Dunedin Harbour last week. The light was rich and warm late in the day, perfect conditions for a paddle.

Above: The Dunedin Stadium progress. Below three: After the paddle trev let his dog Elly out of the car, where she went nuts over the hose.



Above: last light on the water with boat sheds in distance.
Below: The controversial Harbour Mouth Molars by Sculptor Regan Gentry at the Kitchener Street Reserve. $45,000 commission for the Dunedin City Council. Many people were pretty rarked about the subject matter for such a large amount of rate payers' dollars. See ODT article here. I think molars are pretty apt, as I have always seen the Otago Peninsula outline resembling the cookie monster's head.. so the molars are positioned at pretty much the right point.

Getting Well Again

Close family and friends have known whats been happening with me the last 10 months, and why my blog and social life has been so sparse.. The rest of you I guess have no idea.
If you're not interested in a semi detailed catchup involving details of my womens' issues, I suggest you stop reading.

I'm also telling my story here as it may be helpful to someone else who hits google who may be at their wits end like I was.



So my story.
I had been struggling with pelvic pain and chronic fatigue for well over 5 years, all doctors and numerous acute hospital emergency visits and admissions I was always told "Nothing wrong, its in your head or go have a good shit". After the Cold Water Classic June last year things really started to go downhill for me, then in December another acute hospital 2 day admission with yet another fob off I visited my daughters' new Doctor.. who after hearing my history suggested I might have Endometriosis which I had never heard of before.
Well damn me, I was almost text book. After ringing and speaking with the ladies at the NZ 0800 Endo Hotline I arranged to see a private specialist from Christchurch in January this year, who then put me on a waiting list for an operation in Ashburton to 'have a look inside'.
The last 5 months waiting for my op date have been a real struggle trying to keep my head above water, holding on to my day job by the skin of me teeth and keeping sanely focussed. I have only had 5 surfs since Christmas, each one very precious but putting me in bed for a few days afterwards.
Last week on the 24th of May my laporoscopy operation was performed. They removed a few cysts on my ovaries and inserted a Mirena. Upon waking the surgeon told me I have Adenomyosis which is a form of endometriosis but isolated to the uterus wall and muscle. Thank god, because Adeno is curable, whereas the Endo isn't.
So since the op, its been a very painful and sleepless 9 days with yet another acute 2 day admission to Dunedin Hospital on the day of my return to Dunedin.
Now in recovery I have to wait 3-6 months to see if the mirena works in dealing to the pain and other symptoms. If not I have to get my uterus removed, but I'm not thinking about that right now. Fingers crossed.
So no surfing for me for another 6 weeks, and about 4 weeks off work.
That's my story so far. Thanks to my partner Jayin and my family and friends who have supported me so much - I love you all.

The awesome card above: cartoon of me holding my board (love the hair), was handmade for me and signed with good wishes for a speedy recovery by all the people at my workplace :0) thankyous!!!
Looking forward to being fully back on deck soon with new energy and focus for my photography, art and film making, and more frequent blog posts to boot, wish me luck!
Namaste Nic

GIG - Chicks Hotel Friday 4th June