Hahahaha laughing hysterically like a girl

I just cant believe my luck this weekend it was so bizarre that it bordered on the insane!!

All this AND I was getting paid to surf?? I mean what is up with that???

I dropped my P2P group off in Hamilton on Friday and rather than drive back to Auckland (116 kms) "work" decided to put me up in a Hotel for the weekend (cue Tool Time's Tim Allen Aiiiiiiiii?)

My mate John (bloody legend) left his Ute at the hotel for me to use and use it I will the Friday surf report has things shaping up for a EPIC weekend of waves.

0600 the next morning still in a bit of a daze and not quite believing the situation Im in...... I set off into the darkness, doing my very best to see thru the iced up window and navigating along Highway 23 .....did I mention I'm getting PAID?

RAGLAN here I come...

My pulse was racing as I pulled up to the lookout of Manu Bay (the photo is all blurry cause my hands were shaking so much and it had nothing to do with the freezing temperature)

I parked up Johns ute and the sun just started to rise and I looked at my options.

There was a SOLID 4-5ft SW swell (with the odd 6ft set) with a very light offshore,a few of the local crew were already out smashing the crap out of the long left so I decided to take on "Bone yards" and try and avoid the "local-ism"

Althought the morning was crystal clear and beautiful the cold was like a whip "crack" I thought to myself that I cant wait to get out of this cold and into the warm water (13.3c)

The paddle out over the rocks and thru the close out sets was right up there with the "now why didn't I go thru Manu Bay "

Once I got out it was amazing and with only 6 others there were more than enough to go around with a light offshore grooming the constant barrage of waves wrapping around the point.

The crew down there are SO spoilt with the quality of waves no wonder Raglan consistently turns out talented surfers.

As the tide filled in Bone yards lived up to its reputation as being a difficult wave both to get on and to find a "safe" paddle out,the long paddle thru Manu Bay to the boat ramp (and much safer option) never entered my head I was so cold after 2 and a half hours that I just blindly followed a guy in hoping for the best.

Once again the second guessing came into play as a wave picked me up and rocketed me thru the shallows over the rocks to......some more rocks, when I stood up another wave came in a swept me over to land squarely on me rump (ARSE) just to make sure I understood and to show a bit of respect.

I popped around to Greg's place for a cuppa tea and we watched the action from his lounge

(This is the view from his lounge window).

Awesome house that hes been building/living in for the last 20 something years with a million dollar view and we just had to have a wee laugh at the 2 unfortunate souls that came unstuck on the rocks too. :)

Ka mau te wehi!!!