The new best, Day of Days, 19th April 2023. Now available for print HERE
It was soooo hard sitting on this image. There was a quiet, nearly unspoken agreement amongst Piha's locals; while the road was closed and the bank on the Bar was as good as it was, don't post. There were some infractions, but actually they got shut down pretty fast. The idea being, yes of course a collective selfishness, but more over arching; just not create the temptation for the over-the-hill surfers. It was an incredible time, even as it was happening Piha's resident surfers knew it was something special. From 15 February 2023 until 5 May 2023 the Piha road was only open to residents. The roads and all the public infrastructures, like the carparks and public loos, had been nailed in Cyclone Gabrielle.
The idea was to restrict traffic and the weight of traffic on the roads while they were fixed. The roads have not been fixed or stabilised. The slips around and above public areas and roads continue to move. All the local walks and tracks remain closed. The vast majority of Piha surfers didn't surf at all in the immediate wake of Gabrielle. There was too much to do, volunteering at the Surf Club to wash dishes, or peel spuds for the dispossessed neighbours. Digging out neighbours driveways, handing out water to the crew walking out of Karekare, suppling power to neighbours.
This one WAS going to be a print, but then the 19th of April happened.
The bank on the Bar was already good before Cyclone Gabrielle, or more accurately the left in the middle of the bay that had hosted the Nationals in January. The cyclone flooded the Piha stream and that 36 hours of torrent running south of Lion Rock pushed all the sand into the south corner, along the Camel and the Nun. From there it groomed up more, with only the residents surfers to sample. The vibe in the water was fantastic... actually the correct word to use here... everyone smiling, everyone checking in on each other. There were sessions with only 4 or 5 of your neighbours out, where we'd all be wondering where everyone else was.
Not the best day but pretty damn pumping
Taking turns, giving waves away, laughing and never for a moment taking any of it for granted. We all knew it couldn't last. The local businesses were grovelling, banged up from the Covid years already and then into another lockdown. Nor would the bank last, a week after the Day of Days... the day that every single element pulled into alignment, a big south swell tore a hole in the bank. It might reshape and fill in, there's signs of it doing so.
But will there ever be a day with only 20 surfers out and waves peeling from behind the Nun down to in front of the surf club? Solid waves too. Truth be told 19th April maxed out over the low tide with the building swell. There where was through sets, but between the wide sets the line up pulled tight, and right on dusk the tide had filled in enough that the bank handled again. In many books the perfect balancing act.
It's a day I'll never forget.
Surfline currently have a Feature up that I co-labed with Jerry Aubertin about the Piha Road re-opening. It's HERE