Muriwai and the End of Lectures!

Kia Ora,

We finally made it! The end of lectures has come and now all that’s left is studying for finals. Some friends and I decided to celebrate by going to a beach some 50km away called Muriwai beach. We rented wetsuits and surf boards and went surfing for the day! I had never been and it was incredible. The waves were crazy intimidating as we walked into the water. I finally drew up the courage to ride one. The wave pulls you faster than I ever imagined, making the idea of standing up seem ridiculous. I simply rode it out on my belly. However, the next big wave that came, I took it and stood. I rode the whole wave out. After about 30 minutes I was able to stand on most waves that came through. The weather did get windier and wilder, causing some apocalyptic size waves to be conjured up. It’s kinda alarming to be surfing and just hear expletives around you as giant waves swallow your friends. A few scary moments, but we all made it out alive. It was really a great afternoon. We then went fishing that night. I caught a snapper as well as a few others. A kiwi friend of mine told me he had never seen a snapper caught off the shore before, so I was quite proud. We also saw 3 kingfish (big ol’ guys, coming in at around 50-60cm, which is considered small!). It was an eventful trip. Unfortunately, all the fish we caught were too small to legally keep and eat, so instead of having fish we just had pizza hut. Not the ideal ending, but it was fun all the same. But everyone is pretty much starting to get ready to leave now. We have just under 4 weeks remaining, and we are planning our final trips to the places we haven’t seen yet and then we’ll all be gone just as fast as we came. I’m sure I’ll have more to share before then though, so keep looking me up. Until next time…

Kia Ora,

Clayton