Last night on the coast
Whether we like it or not the 2020 Piha Pro is coming. In March, our small coastal village will be overrun with all the fixings that are needed for an international surfing event. So much so, that there is little room for the actual residents. Now, of course that's an extremely inflammatory and negatively slanted way to start a post.
Last night under leaden skies and howling onshores there was the first Piha Pro Community Meeting held at Barnet Hall, North Piha. Some might say a harbinger for what's about to descend on us.
These are the pre contest meetings where the event organisers meet and greet the natives for the first time. Where they put their best foot forward and present the event in the best possible light to cajole the locals into submission.
Barnet Hall wasn't packed; I would say there would have been about 50 attendees. Everyone was surprisingly well behaved, Piha has a reputation as being a bolshy bunch. In fact there was a round of applause for the organisers at the end of the 2 hour meeting.
Chris Simpson, former Tall Black and Event Director holding court
Here's my takeaways from the meeting; All of South Piha will be on shut down from March 6 to March 26. You will not be able to get a vehicle in unless you are a property owner in that area. Parking for South Piha will be at the Domain or spilled over into the Mill Camp [which is a kilometre away up Glenesk Valley Road]. To attend the event you will need to pre-purchase online a parking pass that will be $10.00 per day. If you are a resident you will need to get a Resident Pass to be able to go home. You can also obtain guest passes if you have visitors. If you have deliveries coming out you will have to organise passes. How you get the passes to the visitors/deliverers prior is anyone's guess. You need these regardless of whether you or your visitors are attending the event. The Piha Road will have a check point at the Nihotupu Dam to enforce the pass restrictions- no pass, no entry.
Welcome to 1984, knocking, knocking at your front door.
The Piha groms are excited, they'll get to meet their surfing stars. Generally, I'd say Piha locals are enthusiastic the event. Maybe, just maybe it'll just be a month of minor inconveniences.
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