Visited N.Z. in March of 78 with 2 mates.
3 guys 9 boards packed into a second hand 64 Renault R4 for 1 ½ months.
First stop was Piha.
Closed out at about 8'. Get a few mad runs and come into some locals asking how we even made it out?
Next stop Shipwrecks.
2 weeks of BLISS so beautiful, long emerald green walls. Mostly 4-5', couple 6-8' days Nobody else there.
Next stop was to be Raglan but it was getting dark and we’d driven all damned day. The map showed a river mouth and a small Pt. With a camp ground.
Pull into Port Waikato.
The kiosk at the park (closed) had a sign that said WELCOME TO SUNSET BEACH!
We were from Sunset Beach..........it
was a sign !
Checked a hot little left beachie peeling off as it got dark.
Next morning surfed said beachie at 4 ft and roping for 100 yards.
2 more days worth then wake to pumping swell.
Amping to get to Raglan but paddle out for a quicky as it was really good. Only a fool would bail on great surf at hand.
Tide drops and this MEAN AS HELL left hander starts to fire off the cliff at the little headland down the beach.
Reminded us of Jockos reef here. We paddle up and rush the thing. A few sick pits and I take the wrong (smaller deeper) wave and end up nearly colliding with the cliff as I get spat out the end.
Tide gets lower, swell builds, wave becomes easier to make as it gets hollower and bigger. The backwash off the cliff actually kept you away after a wipeout.
We stay and surf this for 3 more days.
Last day a local shows up. Stoked to see us. Asks how we found out about it. He lives an hour awayand surfs alone mostly.
Off to Ragalan.
Arrive mid day to 6' offshore swept walls but doesn’t seem to be anyone around.
No clue as to exactly where we are (at the top of the headland).
Looks fast and fun. It is.
I manage a long, long, fast one and can now see way down into the bay.
Plenty of guys out! ?
I yell to my friends that maybe we are missing something.
I head down towards the local crew.
First guy I meet tells me, “You can’t surf up there, it’s too fast !”
But we just did......... for an hour?
We ride with the crew here (Whale Bay?) for a bit and spend the rest of the time there (1 week) surfing the Indicator, mostly alone.
Off to the East shore and surfed all over the Mahia Peninsula and surrounding area........scored!
Gisborne was great. Good beach breaks and the rock shelf off that island was nice and sucky.
Met a beautiful girl of Thai decent.........mmmmmm cuddles on the beach in my sleeping bag.
Time to leave.
Sell the car there for $50 more than we paid. Catch a bus to Auckland.
End up in the wrong part of town. We are clueless to this fact.
Check into a hotel / pub for the last night before the fligh to Oz.
Go down for the “counter tea” dinner. We are early and the only ones there save the waitress and bar keep.
Both Maori and a bit surly to us. (a hint we didn’t pick up on........yet!)
Food comes and in walks the first after work regular.
A HUGE Maori with an afro as big as the moon.
He gets his beer turns around looks us over and says, “ Oy! What’s this!” then laughs and says, “ You can’t be from around here, where you from?”
Now we are 3 white guys just comprehending the gravity of our situation.
I’ve got dirty blond scraggly long hair, my mates have bushy WHITE hair. They are the kind of guys that CAN NOT EVER GET A TAN.
Man mountain comes over to our booth and squeezes onto the bench with me.
As he squashes me, I pipe up with a squeaky, “Were from Sunset Beach Hawaii, gulp”.
His eyes light up and he says, “Hawaii !?, They grow a bit of the green stuff there don’t they? Wanna smoke some?”
Of course we do, but.............. we are in no position to say no, even if we were choir boys.
In unison we say “SURE !”.
He proceeds to pull out and fire up a 5" X 2" thick spliff!
We gleefully puff this phatty down and buy a couple rounds to chase it.
Mean while the place has started to fill up with a very rough and tough group .
We are getting HEAVILY VIBED but our new “friend” (still hoping here) is the biggest of them all.
He introduces us to all his mates stating our nationality and home base. Some are friendly some just glare.
He tells us that we have stumbled into a bar for warfies.
I nearly s*&^ myself thinking, “We’re in a f---ing MAORI WARFIE BAR ! ! !

) and imaging the beating soon to be doled out to 3 white idiots.
Our new “friend” Stewie, is enjoying our obvious discomfort.
At one point a very tough, very fit and buffed guy comes up and confronts us with , “So! You are from Sunset Beach Hawaii are you? Do you know Vince Kline” My mate John says yea, he’s one of the hot young Hawaiian crew at V-Land.”
The guy replies, “You do? He’s not Hawaiian, he’s a Kiwi! His mum’s Maori and me auntie!”
This is news to us! We assumed he was Hawaiian. (Vince later got a staring role as the CYBORG with Jean Claude Van Damm.)
After that it’s smiles all around.
We buy rounds for everyone until the money runs out. The night wears into a drunken blur with the crew having a great laugh at our being so clueless. Ending with a wild cat fight between 2 huge local lasses. Cheers and betting erupt as they roll all over the floor screaming and pounding each other. Nobody interferes until they draw blood from pulling each others hair out and biting each other.
Wake the next morning with a pounding head, very dry mouth, the smell of spew and musky odor of our dingy quarters.
But alive and in one piece!
Oh to be young and stupid again.
